One of the pitfalls that Brendan and I really want to avoid on our trip is merely hopping from one tourist destination to the next. Because we are hoping to travel for such a long period of time, it is easy to always be planning "where to next" and get caught up in the race from one tourist attraction to the next "must see" location according to the travelers' holy grail - the 'Lonely Planet'. Don't get me wrong, the Lonely Planet is a fantastic resource and we would be lost (literally and figuratively) without it. However, as soon as a place is written about, you will seldom arrive alone, let alone feel like you are getting an authentic cultural experience. Not that I am looking to go bush bashing and discover an unknown civilisation, but sometimes it is nice to feel like you have found something special and unique.
With this in mind, Brendan and I decided to ditch our big packs in Chiang Mai, hire a motor bike, and see what we could find. We headed out of Chiang Mai and started weaving our way up into the mountainous Doi Pui National Park which is about 10km or so north of the city. It must have been a pretty funny sight seeing two large foreigners squished onto a bike with day packs and cameras - and of course Brendan's helmet was just on for decoration and to avoid police attention as it perched on top of his head (think to that terrible movie Cone heads and you will get the picture). Our poor bike Henry (as in Henry the Honda), as he became affectionately referred to, was probably wandering what he did to deserve the task of lugging us up those hills. We stopped at the Doi Pui National park camping ground and then headed up some pretty hairy roads that were often 40-45 degrees and somehow operated as 2-way roads... Our next stop was a beautiful coffee plantation where you sat on the side of a mountain overlooking the coffee trees and sipping some very strong but very tasty coffee.
About 10 minutes ride down a winding dirt track brought you to the Kun Chang Kian Mong Village. This place gets a one-liner in the Lonely Planet book as being an alternative to the more touristy Hmong Villages around Doi Pui. Although our arrival didn't stir a lot of attention which probably means they see some tourists, we were the only ones there apart from 3 American guys that we later sat down and had a few beers with. We arrived early in the afternoon and had a look around the village, finding a beautiful Christian Church that was only opened 2 weeks ago according to its plaque. With sunset only a couple of hours away and the thought of driving those roads in the dark very unappealing, we started looking for somewhere to stay. The most stable looking structure in the village was the school and whilst walking around the grounds, we bumped into Mr Kop, a teacher at the school who spoke better English than we could speak Thai. We managed to communicate that we were looking for a room, and before we
knew it we were following 3 young students from the school into the nearby jungle in search of this magical "room". They soon decided to skip off, obviously bored with the task of being our chaperones. Luckily we found another teacher and she offered for us to stay in a room attached to a building behind the school. Although incredibly basic - no power, no real bed (bamboo mata) and no shower, we were made to feel incredibly welcome as they fussed over us, made us makeshift pillows and organised a bunch of blankets for us. Thanks to the dog that cried outside our door all night and the roosters who were obviously confused about the time since they were crowing all night (biggest myth of all that roosters only crow at dawn) we didn't get much sleep...but who cares.We were also invited to eat dinner and breakfast with the teachers of the school and hung around the next day for the start of school and a school assembly. After saying our farewells we slowly made our way back down the mountain. What an amazing experience!
Next on our bikey bonanza was to head 72 km north of Chiang Mai to a town called Chiang Dao. We had a tip off from some travelers that this was a pretty cool place and worth checking out. 72km doesn't sound very far...but on the back of a 100cc motorbike....my backside still hurts!! The drive there was incredible. It felt like we were going back in time as the city landscape disappeared to be replaced with rice fields and lush green forests. Chiang Dao's main claim to fame is the limestone mountain of Doi Chiang Dao that stands at 2195m looming over the town. There is also a series of caves that run through the base of the mountain that we spent a couple of hours exploring. After rushing about on the bike for a few days, it was nice to chill out in such a beautiful place and take in the scenery. With time slowly running out before we need to get down to Southern Thailand, we had to say goodbye to Chiang Dao and ride the 72kms back to Chia
ng Mai this morning (not before we discovered that we had a dead tyre and had to take poor Henry to the corner repair shop for a new inner tube...dodgy!!). We will probably stay in Chiang Mai for one or two nights before starting to move down south...Apologies for the lengthy post - it is as much for you as it is for me so that I can look back and remember all the crazy and wonderful things that have happened. Hope this finds you all well and love to you all.
//Kate
P.s I have added a stack of photos to the Thailand album - too many amazing photos to put on this page.
P.ps 29 days to Christmas people!
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