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.
Had another free day on Friday and used it to get a few things done. Going in to Chiang Mai around midday we first stopped for coffee at a relatively new coffee shop on the bottom moat road on the edge of the Old City.
From there we paid a visit to DK books, on Moonmuang road. Boon was after more reading material and I decided to join him when I discovered the secondhand, English language, paperback sale upstairs.
More coffee at Chiang Mai Coffee in DK car park, and then it was into the Old City so that Boon could have lunch by Wat Phra Singh. Not hungry myself I killed time in the Temple grounds.
On the way we stopped for Lunch at the Chiang Mai Kow Soi cafe on the highway from Saraphi to Hang Dong road.
This time I made sure I got good photos of the strange fruit out front of the cafe…..can anyone identify them?
Outside the Gym there appeared to be some sort of break dance class going on, with many local youngsters practicing their skills.
Heading over towards San Kam Paeng on the Banthi road, I should have remembered from Saturdays ride out with Ally, the distinct lack of decent eating stops along this road.
On the way back we called up to Wat Pa Tung and I got a photo of one of the possible sites for our Foundation plans.
As apposed to the normal ‘splash about’, I actually did about half an hours serious swimming.
Our other lunchtime companions were the cafe cat, who happily ate our leftovers, and a beautiful yellow and black butterfly, possibly a cousin of that hairy caterpillar.
On the way home we called in at Chompoo where we fed the fish and I bought a new Moneybox.
We also saw these amazing looking toads.
oh, and watching Wispa playing with her latest buddy, Fleabag.
Its been a great couple of days at school, with the kids behaviour having settled well and the whole experience becoming more fun for both them and us.
Laying the pictures out on the ground and splitting the class into 2 groups, I called out an item, e.g ‘swing’, and one child from each group had to go find the right photo. Its a great game, that gets a little heated at times as the kids are very competitive, and i believe a great aid to learning.
After school Boon and I went into Chiang Mai for our second session at the gym, stopping on the way for high energy ‘Kow Soi’.
The ride home became a battle with nature as the winds rose and we did our best to avoid a very visible rainstorm ahead of us. At one point we hit the edge of the storm and did a hasty U turn, outrunning the storm for a while and staying dry. But as we rejoined highway 11 it was obvious that the way ahead was being hit by a heavy deluge and that it was heading our way. So we took shelter for a while and escaped the worst of it.
