A Walk in the Park

Doi Inthanon (2565m) is the highest mountain in Thailand and the National Park which surrounds it, while geared mainly to wildlife conservation, is also home to a number of Hill tribe villages -mostly Karen on the lower slopes with Hmong higher up. According to the guidebooks it shelters a huge variety of Flora and fauna - including 380 bird species and a number of orchids - which should all be at their best during the cool dry season (now).
It was therefore disappointing that our guide - Daeng, from a Karen tribe who live on the upper reaches of the mountain - did not make the effort to tell us about the trees and plants that we were trekking through. He led the group fairly well and the trekking (about 30km in total), meals, accommodation and rafting were all well organised but he rarely volunteered information about flora and fauna and was only really chatty when we were sitting round the fire in the evenings.
There were only 7 of us on the trek so there was no pressure on space but we did spend a long time sitting on benches in the song thaew (a covered pickup) on our way to and from the park. Our companions included a thirtysomething couple from Helena, Montana who were good company and three gap year graduates from London who could have been scripted by Matt Lucas or Catherine Tate - 'Am I bovvered?' was a regular response to each other in their nonstop inane chatter.
Two nights sleeping on bamboo mats in the Hill tribe equivalent of a Long House was enough for me - not least because it got down to about 5C on the first night and my sleeping bag was a little on the thin side - I was very glad to get back to the guesthouse and a bed with a mattress and pillow on Monday night!
On the subject of nonstop chatter I must acknowledge that two of our Austrian friend, Kai's, recommendations were excellent - the Blue Diamond has been the best breakfast place we have found in Thailand while the food at Taste from Heaven was also very good - even if it was veggie!