Highpointing Thailand!

1 May 2006 continued

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From Doi Suthep just west of Chiang Mai, we head via a taxi we've hired for the day for 2,000Baht ($50) southwest to Doi Intanon National Park. It's about 65km one way to the entry station for the park and then another 30km or so winding up a mountain road to the highest point in Thailand.

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Along the way we observe lots of non-touristy Thailand--which is exactly what we set out to do. Once in Doi Intanon, the air grows cool and crisp as we ascend the 2,565m mountain to Thailand's highpoint. One of the reasons we're in the area is because a handful of 'virtual' geocaches have led us here. We explore the peak and enjoy the wonderful sweet aromas of blooming flowers--fuchsia, rhododendrons (interesting as rhodies are our state's flower!), hydrangeas, and azaleas. The flowers appear in a rainbow of colors and they obviously love their location as they're thriving unlike I've ever seen before.

Claiming credit for the 'highpoint' cache--got a couple of travel bugs in my hands (3 of them) and a our newly secured GPSr. From here, we descend back down the road to Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail where we set out on a 4km hike. This hike is exactly what we're looking for in Thailand!!!

Apparently some folks planted a geocache on a cliff along this trail some 5 years ago. It's long gone missing but we're elated to even have seen the clue because we'd otherwise never have learned about this awesome trek! We have to hire a guide (200Baht--$5) as Thailand is starting to get rather serious about their national parks and trails. The guide is to ensure we don't get lost ;) but probably more to ensure we don't dump trash along the way. It's supposed to be a 2-hour hike as it includes a substantial elevation change but it takes us about 1-1/2 hours even though we go at a snail's pace just to explore little things along the way. We start off hiking through dense tropical forest with large 'acer family' trees covered in thick sopping wet moss and loam green lichen.
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We know the outing is going to be special because we immediately come across a tree that has 'buffalo bear tracks' climbing up it as seen in this picture.

Then our guide points out some acorns to us. We've never seen any this shape before.

They come from this oddly shaped pod.

And the acorns are shaped like cone-heads as trkr displays here on his hand.

Next we come across a rhinoceros beetle. I'd seen these once before when I went to Tunisia, Africa, for Spring Break in 1984. Somehow I unknowingly brought one (an egg perhaps?) home in my suitcase to Germany where A-Bear later found it in her bedroom closet where we stored our luggage. Needless to say, this one on the trail was alive & well--unlike the state in which she found the one in the closet--it was well dessicated by then.

We also saw blue-black beetles and teeny tiny mushrooms--quite different from those we find in the Puget Sound region.

We cross rushing streams using man-built platforms and bridges covered in algae and moss. We climb through dark forest (it's mid-day right now but it's almost as dark as night on the trail due to the thick canopy overhead). Cicadas and birds are chirping all around. Eventually we hike out of the forest and find ourselves on a high savannah.

This is what was so spectacular. One minute we're in dense tropical forest--the next we're standing out in the middle of this grassy plain--on one of the tallest mountains in Thailand. It was absolutely spectacular. We could see for miles! Possibly even into Myanmar. We're high above the trees and there is only tall, parched grasses, sandy trails and an occasional thirsty tree. We enjoy massive panoramic vistas of the Mae Hong Son valley some 2,000m below us.

There are rolling hills, jagged cliffs, rough crags and lush green rainforest all around.

We can see rain clouds off in the distance but we also see rays of sun that penetrate the clouds every so often.

This slope is where the geocache was hidden! There's some 300' drop off a cliff not terribly below the bush under which it was hidden. Scary!

Our guide points out spots of previous wildfires and even picks us some Boii Pah fruit from vines deep in the scrub-brush on the edge between the rainforest and the savannah.

It's got a soft, green, bulbous outer layer that reminds me of the shape & size of lychee fruit. When you bite into it it tastes tart like a lemon but with a slightly sweet after-taste. Its taste reminded me a bit of a kiwi. We meander around the crest of the mountain and eventually re-enter the rainforest after we get a glimpse of the Queen's & King's Chedi far down below on adjacent hilltops. We complete our hike back through the rainforest, sign out of the trail log and cap it off with a bag of Lays (yes, Lays) potato chips that are flavored with blazing hot chili peppers and sweet basil. I guess it's a flavor unique to Thailand and it's incredible! We also find these small round tubular shaped cookies filled with cream, chocolate or strawberry flavored icing. Mmmm...mmmmm...

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We hop back in the taxi and continue our drive back down the mountain. We visit the Queen's & King's Chedi that we observed from the mountaintop.

This purple one is the Queen's Chedi. It was tiled in 3 different shades of lilac and purple tiles. Beautiful. It had these meticulously manicured gardens and ponds around it. Apparently this is where the bones of the Queens & Kings are kept. Not sure if there are any on the premises though as we couldn't read any of the signage. Better work on our Thai language skills before our next trip. ;)

This is the King's Chedi. You can get a feel for the enormity of the temple based on rnrB & trkr's stature on the massive staircase leading up to the Chedi. Impressive!

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Our next stop down the mountain was Watchatarat Waterfalls! Gorgeous! It was a gigantic waterfall! It was also 'free' compared to the other 'tourist-trap waterfalls' in the national park.

trkr & I snap a shot in front of one third of the falls.

Here are two other 'trickles' on the far right of the falls. They must be about 15m tall!

These are all the falls together in one frame. I can only imagine what these falls look like in the rainy season!

There were several families picnicking around the falls who must've come up from the valley. The air around here is much cooler than in Chiang Mai and it's a lovely getaway from the heat & humidity of the city. Air conditioning is a 'tourist' luxury in Thailand so this is how the locals cool off.

We spy some street vendor BBQ stands near the falls and are ravenous after our 2/3 day long outing without a real meal. We order an entire chicken & some sticky rice. The chicken is probably the best we've had in all of Thailand to date! It's barbecued perfectly with a spicy chili pepper sauce with plums, honey, sesame oil and lemon grass. The sticky rice comes in these tiny little baskets woven out of palm leaves or banana leaves that have a little woven cap. It's cooked in a steamer on the grill.

rnrB displaying the rice 'basket' at the table.

Our entire meal is 80 Baht (around $2.50)! Can't beat that in the US anywhere! This is by far one of the best meals we've had in Thailand!!!

We continue on our long trek back to Chiang Mai--I don't remember much of it at all because I fell asleep in the taxi. Once in town, we check in on the tailor to see if my silk dresses are completed but not quite yet. We decide to burn some time exploring the Night Market.

We see this gorgeous array of soap flowers for sale at one of the stands. We haggle our way into owning a few trinkets--magnets for one of my co-workers, coin purses, t-shirt/short sets for the kids & more wooden puzzles.

We sneak into McDonald's for our one and only visit to see what unique things they sell in Thailand. We order a Grilled Chicken-foldover (unique to Thailand?), Big Mac, Hamburgers, iced coffee and a Coke Float. The local options seem to be "Samurai Pork" burgers, taro root or milo (Ovaltine equivalent?) milk shakes, Taro, Corn or Pineapple pies. Interesting--still quite different from the other McDs we've visited in Asia.

We wander around the Night Market square a bit and meet an Ex-Patriot couple (the first Americans we've met outside of our hotel in all of the Chiang Mai region who had nothing to do with the missionary conference that was occuring at our hotel!) outside a street coffee stand who just happen to be talking about our Alma Mater. Our 200-year old school has had just over 20,000 graduates in its history so it's not something we usually hear discussed much in the US much less something we overhear being discussed in little villages in SE Asia! So we strike up a conversation and before long we learn all about the 'secrets' of becoming ex-pats in Thailand. Get this! They're from San Diego and retired before the age of 50 from modest income jobs (warehouse manager and school counselor who insist they just squirrelled money aside for retirment--the only way to do it!), they sold their way, way, way suburban San Diego home before San Diego got 'too' expensive and moved to Thailand (7 years ago?). They live in a fully furnished 5 star hotel in Chiang Mai for $300/month. That comes with regular hotel maid service, access to the gym facilities including an Olympic sized swimming pool & they get $900 annual health insurance through Blue Cross UK (they insist that Thailand has incredible medical facilities--which is something we've heard before). The drawback is that they are on 30-day tourist visas (aren't we all?) and must monthly make the 'visa-run' trek to a neighboring country to renew their visas. So their visa-treks occasionally take them to Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia (too bureaucratic to do it often), New Zealand, etc. Very interesting! We file it mentally for a future retirement option!

We continue along our trek through the night market, my dresses are soon complete and we cap off the evening with wonderful foot massages for the entire family! Yes, this could only happen in Thailand!

The massage therapists get a royal kick out of the kids. It's 11pm when they start the massage. Thai time is definitely different from what we're used to as life seems to occur when the sun is shining on the other half of the Earth! The kids' massages last about 30 minutes. Trekkie's & my massages continue beyond the feet and include facial, neck & scalp massages & finish up with upper & lower back and arm massages. Incredible! What's even more incredible is that all of that was 150 Baht ($4.75) per person. That was also the going rate for the 1-hour Thai massage or the 1-hour aromatherapy massage! Awesome! Yes, ex-pat life here is looking pretty tempting!

trkr enjoyed his massage so much that he fell asleep 20 minutes into it!

We return back to the hotel and notice that the moon shines differently here. It's waxing now and it's angled and in the shape of the lips on a smiley face. Beautiful! We conclude the evening with a nice relaxing stroll back to the hotel. We've fallen in love with Chiang Mai and can really see why so many ex-pats have decided to stay here. Tomorrow we're heading 1,000 miles south to the island of Phuket for some fun in the sun.