Today we are doing our join tour of Doi Inthanon – the national park that has the highest mountain in Thailand. We are hoping for a small tour – but no such luck – we’ve a full mini-van with 13 people. Oh well. We are picked up at 8:15 on the dot – and then get to the next hotel, where the passengers aren’t ready – long story short – there are 6 young guys from Dubai who seem nice enough during the day – but who are always late for the bus – including the first pick up. Sigh – there’s always got to be somebody…..so we leave their hotel (without them), make a sweep of the city to pick up the 5 other passengers – who were all ready and on time – then back tack all the way to the hotel (right by our condo) for the boys. Oy!
That out of the way, we head out to the mountains – and hour or so away. The mountain is a named after Chiang Mai’s last sovereign king who was concerned with ecology, forests and water for the countryside. The park is home to hundreds of different bird species, along with beautiful waterfalls and Karen hill tribe people. In 1979, the King instituted a Royal Project to help the hill tribes cultivate agricultural cash crops (besides opium) and to protect the forests and the rivers. The Royal Air force also built twin pagodas commemorate the King and Queen’s 60th birthdays in 1987 and 1992 respectively. We’ll get to see it all!
The drive is relatively boring as we make our way through the suburbs of Chiang Mai, out past the airport and the ring road to the night safari and into the more remote areas south of the city. We’ve both brought our phones, so we read our kindle books for most of the journey – very nice having that option and not having to haul hard copy books around.
We finally get to our first stop, the Wachirathan waterfall, which is a lovely waterfall spraying mists about the area. There is a very pretty rainbow at the bottom of the falls, where the water rushes into the stream.
After a nice little walk, and leg stretch, we use the facilities (ugh – facilities….the definite HUGE negative of SE Asia!) and then wander about the little food stalls here – it’s too early to eat (and we don’t have enough time) but they’ve got salted fish! Oh – we’re drooling…..
We’re all back to the van at the appointed time – all but the Dubai boys that is. Our guide has to go and find them….this is going to be a long day……
Finally on our way, our next stop is the summit of the mountain – it’s way up there – at 2,565 meters (about 8400 feet). It’s a beautiful day though – clear and cool, and on the summit a bit chilly with the wind. But not badly so. We walk through a path to the memorial to the Chiang Mai king – where his ashes are supposed to be buried, then out to the summit for a glorious view.
Back down the hill – slowly we go – I don't think the brakes were working or something because our driver kept the van in first gear the entire time and never touched the brakes going down. We finally reach the highlight of the tour – the matching pagodas for the King and Queen. These are truly beautiful edifices, all granite and marble, with Buddhas and incredible mosaics inside. The gardens surrounding the pagodas are beautiful as well –and we spend a good amount of time just wandering around the area taken in the elegance, beauty and love the Thai people have for their reigning monarchy.
Once again we wait for the Dubai boys…but at least it’s nice and sunny and a pleasant day. As we are cooling our heels in front of the cafeteria – we noticed the sign below. Pretty funny – but if it’s true (we didn’t look), nice to know!!
Next up is a stop at the local fruit market. It’s a nice place to stretch your legs and if you haven’t been to any markets, I guess ok. Everyone gets out and some folks buy fruit, but we’re spoiled and will wait for Wararot for our next purchases. Plus we’ve not eaten lunch yet, so it’s a bit odd to be getting fruit now…especially since the next stop is lunch! Of course we didn’t really know that – but back in the van, we’re only minutes away from lunch. It’s a big spread in an open air space. We have sweet and sour soup, chicken with cashews, stir fried veggies and omelets. Then pineapple and watermelon for dessert. The Dubai boys have their own table (and different food), so we end up at a table for “everyone else”. The everyone else includes a young trio from Boulder, Colorado. Of course we strike up a conversation there- they are out of school but still living there and are traveling for a few months here – and then onto New Zealand where they have a camper rented and will drive around the South Island for a month. It’s so great to be able to travel that way! The other part of our group are 2 Japanese girls who seem very sweet, chatter away in Japanese, take lots of cute pictures and speak a little bit of Thai (our guide has told us this). They may speak English, but they don’t speak to us. They just sat and watched us at lunch. Cute, but somewhat disturbing after a while.
Over all though a very nice little lunch (except for the facilities- again yuk! But when in Thailand…). Off again for our next stop at the Sirithan waterfall, where our guide escorts us down to a viewing area over the waterfall. It’s pretty and we spend a few moments here watching the water cascade over the boulders – and watching the Dubai boys take cheesy photos. They are certainly an interesting bunch those boys!
The last stop of the day is the Karen Hill Tribe Village, part of the Royal project, trying to reclaim the land for agricultural and rural pursuits. Here we visit the ladies who are weaving scarves and bed covers by hand. It takes 3 days for a scarf and 3 weeks for a bed covering. They are beautiful and of course we have to buy one – it’s like $8US,how can you go wrong? We stand inside the “weaving” house, watching to ladies weave, then wander outside to take some pix of their houses. We can’t decide if it’s like San Blas – and they go off to live somewhere else when we leave – or if this is a real village. We’re leaning toward real though….
Back in the van, we make our way home – and hour plus ride – where we continue to read our book-phones. Makes the time pass quickly. We get the tour of Chiang Mai again as we drop everyone off at their respective rooming houses and finally make our way back to Twin Peaks. Nice day – out in the mountain air!
After freshening up – we pick up our laundry – it’s all folded so nicely – and they’ve even packaged our underwear and socks, almost like new packaging!!! Too cute!
We’re feeling low key tonight – so we saunter off to Gekko Garden for burger night (89b or $2.80US) for a big burger and fries. We hit the bar, get our drinks, and order. We’re pretty lucky in getting their attention. They are the nicest people around, but tend to get a little in the weeds occasionally! We’re in no hurry, so we hang out and talk to the bar crowd. I strike up a conversation with a guy who’s been coming here for years, started out as a professor on a grant, now teaches for 3 months in Annapolis and lives here the rest of the time. Ed talks to a guy from Maine who lives here now – well most of the year – he’s selling his house in Maine and will be here permanently soon. Neither of us catch their names, so they are now and forever referred to as “your guy” and “my guy”.
At any rate, we spend a pleasant few hours chatting, eating and drinking, then head home for some work and sleep.
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