The following day we hopped on a songtao headed up Doi Suthep, the mountain west of Chiang Mai that Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep sits atop of. Unfortunately after climbing the 309 steps to the top and paying the entry fee, we discovered that the gold chedi was under construction (probably the reason for the big "No Refunds" sign out front!). We were able to get a nice view of hazy Chiang Mai and a nice jackfruit tree, though. Jackfruit |  Hazy Chiang Mai |
The next day we decided to venture onto the roads again, this time in a rental car (a beat up Honda Jazz). After a slight mix-up with the rental car company (we unknowingly were given someone else's car), we were finally on our way, this time about 2 hours southwest of the city to the highest mountain in Thailand, Doi Inthanon. We visited a ton of waterfalls, the 2 chedis on the hill, hiked the Ang-Na Nature Trail (which has a spur trail to a helicopter crash memorial site), and finally made it to the summit of the mountain (the highest point in Thailand). We were eager to hike the Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail, but decided against it when we learned we would have to hire a mandatory "local guide" who didn't speak English and expected us to provide him with food and water for the 2-hour hike. Overall it was a really nice day though, with lots of beautiful sights.
 Mae Ya Falls |  Mae Klang Waterfall |
 Wachirathan Falls |  Sirithan Waterfall |
 Chedis |  View from Chedis |
 Ang Ka Helicopter Crash Victim's Spirit House |  Highest spot in Thailand |
We kept the car again the following day, and headed first to the Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden, which has a lot of beautiful trails, greenhouse plants, and a waterfall. We enjoyed a couple hours there, despite the hundreds of unsupervised Thai schoolchildren who were running around everywhere! Here are some pics:
 Bottle Tree |  Carnivorous Plant - The lid closes when insect enters |
 Orchid |  Water Lily |
 Brian with giant rainforest leaf |  Unidentified Pink Flower |
Our last stop of the day was 2 hours north, near the border of Burma, at the Chiang Dao caves. These are five interconnected caves that extend more than 7.5 miles underneath Doi Chiang Dao. We again were forced to hire a "local guide" for a significant amount of money, but since we had driven so far, we decided to go for it anyway. Unfortunately the only words she knew were "elephant", "chicken", and "diamonds", so all of the cave formations were described to us using one of those three terms. We're still getting used to the whole "having to hire a guide and getting no educational value out of the tour" thing here in Thailand, but I guess it does give the locals a source of income. Certainly wouldn't fly in the US, though! Overall the caves were really interesting to see, and we were encouraged to take pictures and touch the rocks, which are big no-nos in the caves I've toured before, hehe. My favorites were the "elephant rocks". :-P Here are some pics:
 Us in the cave |  "Chicken" |
 "Elephants" |  Some ominous religious thing near Chiang Dao cave |
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment