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I did the 2 day inthanon trekking trip on my own with this company and had the most amazing experiences. This activity was the highlight of my experience in Thailand that lasted 5 months which says a lot about this company. A massive shout out to Crazy Sam, my tour guide, and Bipes, a local karen tribe village member and owner of my overnight home-stay house. This company uses local karen tribe village members both on the trekking tours and all the local walks throughout the villages such that almost all the cost of your activity is distributed to as many different individuals within the tribe as possible so that everyone benefits. My guide was very skilled in conversing in English and explained everything i asked and more during the many activities we did. I initially had my reservations about going on this overnight trip myself but after doing it, i will be recommending it to everyone going to Thailand. It was the most humbling experience i have ever had to see how the villages live directly off the land. My tour guides were farmers and hunters from the village and pointed out the many different, fruits, trees, herbs, plants etc that they harvest for food, construction materials, medicine etc etc during our treks. The opportunity to sit with a local village family while we cooked and ate dinner in their bamboo hut in a fire pit and experience a day in their life was truly beautiful. This activity allows you to immerse yourself in their culture and makes you realise how petty some of our 1st world worries are. I cannot recommend this activity highly enough.
dreams DO come true in chiang mai!!! thnx to AMAZING SAMART who was soooooo kind to share the knowledge of his culture with me. I enjoyed every second of our elephant and rafting trip…. swimming with elephants was fantastic… the best thing was that it wasnt just a tourist attraction but meeting with a real thai culture as Samart is friends with all the people looking after elephants so they treated us like friends not just some of milion tourist. i managed to ride an elephant without the set…just me and the beautiful animal… which i would had never thought i could do!!!! the whole beautiful expirience was fallowed by rafting and again it was just like in heaven! because of meeting Samart I have learnt so much, Ive expirnienced so much and Im sure its not my last visit in chiang mai!!!
The goal of my travel experience in Thailand was to immerse myself in the culture and to see as much of the “real” Thailand as I could in the short amount of time that I had. Next Step Thailand stood out clearly above the plethora of tour companies in terms of what they offered and the ethical approach to their business and its connection with the local people and environment in which they operate.
My guide was Kwan and if you are doing the 3 day trek through Doi Inthanon I recommend you ask for him as he has an incredible local knowledge and was an absolute delight to spend the time with.
I cannot recommend these guys highly enough and to know that my money is making a difference in the local communities that we visited as well as ensuring the 3 days were conducted in a way that was as environmentally sustainable as possible ensured that I left this amazing place with far more than just a life changing experience.
5 Stars
My guide was Kwan and if you are doing the 3 day trek through Doi Inthanon I recommend you ask for him as he has an incredible local knowledge and was an absolute delight to spend the time with.
I cannot recommend these guys highly enough and to know that my money is making a difference in the local communities that we visited as well as ensuring the 3 days were conducted in a way that was as environmentally sustainable as possible ensured that I left this amazing place with far more than just a life changing experience.
5 Stars
Merci a Joe et a toute l equipe de nextstepthailand pour cette experience de deux jours a la Spicy villa.
c etait juste parfait : se prendre pour une aventuriere sur un raft en bambou, descendre la riviere en tubbing et en rigolant, dormir dans un bungalow plante au milieu d un cadre extraordinaire, se lever tot pour observer les premieres lueurs du soleil et la brume se dissiper lentement, se ballader dans la jungle et cuisiner au bord de la cascade dans des recipients fabriques , en bambou et enfin finir en beaute par la ballade en elephants, se baigner avec eux et les ramener dans la jungle pour la nuit….
et sans oublier la gentillesse, l hospitalite, l humour de mes hotes. Merci encore !
c etait juste parfait : se prendre pour une aventuriere sur un raft en bambou, descendre la riviere en tubbing et en rigolant, dormir dans un bungalow plante au milieu d un cadre extraordinaire, se lever tot pour observer les premieres lueurs du soleil et la brume se dissiper lentement, se ballader dans la jungle et cuisiner au bord de la cascade dans des recipients fabriques , en bambou et enfin finir en beaute par la ballade en elephants, se baigner avec eux et les ramener dans la jungle pour la nuit….
et sans oublier la gentillesse, l hospitalite, l humour de mes hotes. Merci encore !
La decouverte et participation au projet de Samart est sans aucun doute une belle et riche experience. De la cavalcade a dos d’elephants, a la decouverte de l’eco-site bungalows en passant par le bamboo rafting, tout est penser sur un mode de durable et equitable pour la faune, la flore et les populations locales. Elle permettra sans doute d’ouvrir les consciences sur un autre mode de vie, une autre facon de voyager et de partager!
Merci pour ta generosite et ta gentillesse,
hope to come back again!
A 3 day jungle trek with Mr. Samboon was a completely culturally immersive experience, exactly what we were hoping! We learned the history of Thailand and especially about the Karen people through our multi lingual guide. Mr. Samboon is a remarkable self taught man knowing history, ecology, ornithology, anthropology and much more. He was able to meet every need and interest we had along the way. I loved learning about the flora and fauna of the the area in Doi Inthanon by our local Karen guide who trekked us to waterfalls and his village. Who knew you could eat wild cinnamon, teak trees wrapped in yellow material mean they are protected and sacred, and most villagers own a pig tied up to their house for their food supply. We were fed delicious foods and comfortably put up in Mr. Johns house for one night. We spent other days touring the King and Queen’s memorial chedis, spotting birds, photographing elephants and communeny with other tourist at the Spicy Pumpkin cabins. WE saw and learned so much. Thank you Mr. Samboon you are amazing. WE will be back and look you up!!!!!
I worked for about two weeks in the ecologde bungalows in rural Chiang Mai. I did not know what to expect about my workaway experience at the beginning. Now I would not like to miss this two brilliant and wonderful weeks. Me, and a girl from New Zealand, spent the time with helping John (the farmer) in the garden, getting rocks and sand from the river for preparing a new path, we helped him to get wooden sticks from the forest… the time with John was very funny and we learned a lot. He is a very smart and active men and showed us a lot of new things. We had a lot of great meals and the guys showed us to prepare the best dishes ever! We also spent two nights in a Karen village. It was such a great experience to see the village, the work and the people, how they live. Samart took us up to go to the elephant camp, the waterfall, to go tubing and bamboo rafting. Samart is a very smart and funny guy, and I am more than happy so met him. We had so many great experiences and I even cannot believe that we have met so many opend minded, helpful and nice people. I am sure I will remember the time here forever.
I had one of the best experiences of my travelling life with Samart who introduced us to authentic village life, local people and culinary joys in the stunning mountains of Northern Thailand. The bungalows were absolutely kicking, and the balance between super-fun activities and getting to know a real rural Thailand was superb. His friendly tours and fascinating information open doors to a world otherwise never experienced in Thailand. He is a facilitator between distant worlds ensuring a great time is had by all. Spicy sense of humour with professional demeanor. Can’t recommend him and the experiences you will have there enough.