Comments for Travel and Life in Thailand
No updates for a while as I have been having a long recovery from last weekends motorbike ride up Doi Inthanon in the freezing rain. Still got 5 days meds to complete but I am thankfully feeling much better.
Just like to say a big Happy Friendship Day to everyone.
Hold hands like you mean it.
Found this lovely quote that fits exactly what I wanted to say.
‘Don’t walk in front of me ,
I may not follow.
Don’t walk behind me,
I may not lead,
Walk beside me and be my friend’……..Albert Camus.
This entry starts with a big thanks to David Piper, visiting from Brisbane, Australia, who sponsored the mornings outing to The Elephant Conservation Center at Lampang this Sunday.
We were due to get there at 9.30 so it was an early start. Unfortunately Somboon couldn’t come as his Aunty, from Chiang Rai, is ill in Chiang Mai Hospital and he needed to go on an apartment search for his Uncle.
I arrived at the childrens home at around 8am and the kids were milling around, finishing their breakfast.
Glen arrived with David and Marc to, just after 8.30.
After quick hellos and rounding up the children it was time to get on the road.
David, Glen, Marc and myself were in the car , and with most of the kids in the childrens home truck, driven by Roz, and the others in the car with us, we got going and arrived at The Elephant Conservation center just after 9.30.
We had a guide from the Center to show our group round, who was very friendly and helpful. First feature was “wash time”.
As usual on such trips, the children were very well behaved and sat at the viewing terrace to watch.
It was quite funny to see the kids jump from their seats when one of the elephants came over to see them after wash time was over. After their previous experience with Elephants, I thought they’d be more relaxed.
This place is much more landscaped than where we had been before, but on the whole, what you see and do is pretty much the same. It is very professionally landscaped, with fairly modern ‘shop’ buildings spotted about, where you can buy the usual Elephant paraphernalia.
After the morning wash, it was up to the Show Ground. The main difference here was the inclusion of Farang Mahuts. This centre offers various Mahut training courses, from 1-3 days, and it was fun to see the current trainees joining in. A testament to the skill of the resident Mahuts, considering that it must take years to build up that amount of trust.
The show included the usual displays of mounting and dismounting;
examples of the sort of work the Elephants would have done in the past, such as log pulling;
one elephant, carrying a farang lady, walking on a log, and turning a full 360 degress on it to;
a cute display where one of the smaller Elephants helped himself to water from a hose outlet and turned off the tap when he was finished;
a musical routine where they played a recognisable Thai tune by tapping bamboo ‘pipe’ sets, in turn…our kids sung the song;
and, near the end, three Elephants showed their skill at painting. These paintings were sold at 500 baht each, with one of them sold even before it was finished.
I think maybe the last one to be finished should have sold for more as this one was actually signed by the Elephant.
Then it was off for a short Elephant ride. I was slightly happier with the level of concern for the weight limit on the Elephants here.
When I stepped forward with two of the children the handlers put one child with someone else as they said I was to fat!! More trips to the gym I think.
This was a very short 15 minute stroll round, but plenty enough for the children who all enjoyed it.
The visit was nearly over, jsut time to pop up and see the recent arrivals at the Elephant Nursery, including one that was just 2 months old.
David joined in the feeding, actually getting one of the mother elephants to take a banana from his mouth.
One of the slightly older babies was very keen to meet us, unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to catch the point where he tried to get over the fence.
Thanks once again to David Piper for making the visit possible, thanks also to the Conservation Center for giving such a good deal for the group and making it a fun and informative visit for the children.
Back at the Childrens home, it was time for food.
This time around was quite a lively affair with a couple of Davids Australian friends turning up as well as a couple from England, who have been living in Chiang Mai for 18 moths now, and a Swiss gentleman…..sorry folks, I am notoriously bad at remembering names.
One that I do remember,(hope I get it right), was Pam, the English lady who now spends a lot of her time in Chiang Mai painting.
She brought some her work along, including one she had done when she was 10 years old. I thought this was a great idea for encouraging any of the Kids who might be aspiring artists, showing something similar to what they might draw now and then seeing what she does now. The largest one was a stunning example.
After a good feed it was then off to the Mae Tip Reservoir for fun in the water.
I didn’t go in this time. Although generally ok, I had been fighting a thick head all day and was concerned that maybe it was still the effects of the chill I got at Doi Intahnon yesterday.
David seemed to enjoy the dip tho, as did all of the kids.
for many more photos of the elephants and the children, please visit our photobucket album here.
Felt like a marathon today, most of which was, as usual, most enjoyable. But let me say one thing about going up to the top of Doi Inthanon in rainy season….**#@@**##……[edited for family viewing].
This weeks meeting point was in Hang Dong, at the Kow Soi Restaurant opposite the Hang Dong Police station, 9.30am.
Allys doing her best to make sure I’m not complaining about my empty stomach all the time.
After an excellent Kow Soi breakfast we headed off toward San Pa Tong and turned right onto the 1013 to Mae Wang.
The title says ‘via’ Mae Wang, but in actuality Mae Wang was a short detour to see yet another stunning reservoir.
Close to large reservoir, which, like Huay Tung Taow, has many cafes and shelters on the waters edge, is a beautiful ‘shrine’.
Up a easy set of steps, this shrine features many model Chickens, and two horses reared up on their hind legs.
Close by is also another small shrine featuring three model wooden Thai houses.
That detour done, it was back on the 1013.
Some way along there I spotted a sign for Mae Sa Pok Waterfall and called Ally back so we could investigate.
Well worth it! More of those stunning terraced rice fields on the way.
When we reached the end of the track I wondered if we’d been duped by the sign, when we spotted a very cute waterfall, pretty, but not what we’d expected.
Fortunately, a group of young girls, busy washing empty drinks cans for recycling, pointed us to the path to the main event.
Another lush forest track, just a couple of hundred metres and….WoW!!.
Not only was there the sublime beauty of the waterfall in the middle of glistening green forestation, but also some wonderful bird life, no doubt attracted by the insects brought out by the damp, and fish washing down with the strong water flow too, no doubt.
Although its not the biggest I’ve seen it rates as one of the most beautiful, with a touch of magical quality about it.
Back to the road we were on, Allys reliable directions tell me that it changes from the 1013 to the 5118 after Mae Win.
Turning left out of the waterfall road we carried on to Khun Wang. Here you can find the Khun Wang Environment and Natural School. Quite an immense growing set up.
Again, as well as the many rice fields, you see so much more going on up here, with huge nursery set-ups sprawling all over many hills.
Carrying on along this wonderfull road,
which varied from newly laid tarmac to potholed tarmac that required a lot of weaving to and fro,
we rode on to the Doi Inthanon Shop, through rain that got quite heavy for a while. There we had lunch and coffee and for a while the rain had stopped, but by the time we got going, so had it once again.
Honestly I can’t believe we carried on up, through the clouds and worsening rains; which were exacerbated by strong gusting winds. But battle on we did. I was hopelessly unprepared and got saturated.
My legs were threatening to cramp up and my whole body was shaking by the time we reached the coffee shops at the top.
It took me quite a while to stop the shakes and the coffee was very much needed.
Even my hope of buying a dry t shirt to change into was dashed, with the souvenir shop being closed.
And to add insult to injury I had been charged 100 baht at the summit check point, for the pleasure of putting myself through that hell. Hey ho, beats sitting at home.
Ally kept assuring me that the views up there are amazing, some of the best you’ll ever see. Even tried to tell me that there are two massive Chedis on the way up to the summit, “stunning, beautiful they are…right there!!” Staring at thick white cloud hugging the hillsides, I told her that I didn’t believe her. Whats more, at that point I couldn’t have cared less if the Taj Mahal had been moved there.
Still, although we still had to go back down through the icey cold squalls, it wasn’t so long before we were down to Wachirathan Waterfall in much more pleasant conditions, and after that short visit, on our way home.
On the 108 to Chiang Mai, not so far from Chom Tong, the highway was blocked for quite a way by huge numbers of Lamyai growers turning up at a big fruit buyers warehouse.
I said goodbye to Ally at San Pa Tong, where I turned right for Lamphun.
Looking forward to our next ride.
For many more photos from this trip, please visit our photobucket album here.
Home In The Hills.
This shot was taken during this weeks ride out, Mae Wang and Doi Inthanon.
| © 2011 Travel and Life in Thailand | You can find literally hundreds of other photographs in our photobucket album |
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