We went on a day trip from our guesthouse which was not included in our Intrepid trip. A driver took us on about a one hour drive into the mountains. It was a great drive and we saw elephants along the way. We were dropped off pretty much in the middle of nowhere and were taken down to the river and shown our rafts. These were the most interesting contraptions I’ve ever seen: approximately ten pieces of bamboo, each about 4 inches in diameter and 40 feet long, with a couple cross pieces (including one for us to sit on) and strapped together with deflated bicycle tires.
So they were floating there waiting for us to climb on…. But how fast was this water moving? Were we going to go over rapids in those things? Well, life is short, right? So we got on and headed with our guide down the river. The guide was not a guide in the sense of telling us about the scenery – he was the raft driver. He stood on the front of the raft (good balance is a job requirement) and steered with a long bamboo pole.
One of the couples on another raft got their driver to let them try steering. One of them did well for a while until the water got moving too fast for him. His good natured guide immediately jumped to the front and saved them from crashing. The girlfriend also gave it a try but promptly ran the raft into the riverbank. It was quite amusing from my perspective. These drivers were definitely skilled and strong.
The river portion of the trip lasted about an hour (plus the two hours to drive there and back). It was a good trip overall, but I was sort of disappointed in the amount of trash I saw along the river banks. I know that is to be expected in Thailand, but it did detract from the trip. The total cost of the trip was 365 baht per person (about $8 or so), and overall worth it. A fun afternoon.