Chiang Mai Day 2: Doi Inthanon

---

Saturday was our day trip to Doi Inthanon, the highest peak in Thailand. We paid 900 baht per person ($27 dollars each) through our guest house, which included transportation, entry fees, tour guide, and lunch. The taxi that took us to our hotel on Day 1 had wanted to charge us 2500 baht just for the transportation. We had asked him to come back Saturday to pick us up since we were naive at the time. I was the "evil one" as Zach said that needed to go down at 7:00 a.m. and send the taxi away. I felt bad and told the driver that Zach was really sick with the poops (haha, call me evil, yeah??). Just to put everyone at ease, we have not suffered from traveler's diarrhea, even though we eat anything and everything we want. I take an Immodium every day to prevent it; Zach just has a stomach of iron apparently.

Back to our day trip. We were picked up at 8:30. Our guide was a cute young woman named Ben. We had about 12 people in the mini van: a Swiss couple our age, a ton of Thai tourists, and us. We have a hard time finding other Americans here, which suits us just fine (no offense, but sometimes when you come to another country you don't want to see your fellow country-men). The Swiss girl kept blowing her nose and sneezing, so of course I sat right next to her. I still feel fine, knock on wood.

The trip to Doi Inthanon is about 1.5 hours away from Chiang Mai. The peak is about 2500 meters above sea level, which honestly doesn't mean much to me, but it is pretty big! I get car sick easily, but I was shocked I did not get car sick on this drive... especially since it was a roller coaster ride not for the faint of heart. The views are amazing and not to be missed. Zach about passed out when he looked over the railing as we were driving and realized it was probably a verrrrry long way down.

Our first stop was a waterfall. I think it was especially beautiful since rainy season just started to end. The mist felt so wonderful. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, Z finally brought his camera and took his first picture here. He couldn't stop taking pictures after that and wanted me to pose on every rock. He reminded me to take his camera with me to today to the internet cafe since he has "better pictures."

We continued our climb up the mountain, watching the crazy drivers and the people who rode on the very backs of the songtows (like pick up truck taxis). We stopped at a Karen village (a tribe in the mountains), and bought ourselves two beautiful hand-made scarves. Zach bought his own to hang up, and I think I will do the same with mine. We hit the second waterfall, and by now I just really wanted to jump in... but not allowed! Boo! Hit the Hmong market after that and had the best Mandarin oranges and dried strawberries ever. Lunchtime was a set menu at the park headquarters: Tom Yam soup, red curry, chicken and vegetables, and fresh fruit. The curry was so delish. Zach liked the soup ONLY because it was full of mushrooms.

After lunch, we made the drive up to the King and Queen temples, near the top of the mountain. I will let the pictures do the talking. The view was the most amazing, jaw dropping view I have ever seen. Pictures won't do it justice, but hopefully you can get an idea how amazing it truly is.

I noticed that a bunch of people (mainly Asians) were wearing coats, gloves, and hats. I had my tank top on and was just starting to feel like my normal self. It was about 65 degrees and beautiful. When we reached the very very very peak (No view from here since it is covered with trees), our tour guide Ben kept blowing into her hands to warm them up. She asked if we were crazy because we were wondering around with summer clothes on. Nope, just your typical Wisconsiner who wears shorts in 40 degree weather.

The drive back down to Chiang Mai took 2 hours. About an hour of that drive is going down a very very steep mountain. We saw a terrible accident where the car was teetering past the guard rail, smashed to all hell. Would not want to get in an accident up here. We made it back safely of course and hit Patty's massage parlor.

Now, I have had it with Thai massage, since it hurts so terribly. I opted for the oil. The massage parlor was absolutely beautiful. I had a fairly young Thai boy as my masseur (clearly not interested in the ladies). It was good, but he could have pressed harder. I am going to admit something here. He massaged my boobies!! Yes he did! I was mortified and was not expecting it. I asked around though afterwards, and it is pretty normal with oil massage here in Thailand. I thought at first he was getting frisky, but he really didn't do anything, um, inappropriate to the girls. Just massaged the muscles. Embarrassing moment of the night, yes sirree. Zach got the foot massage and he was in heaven. Going back later today for another (going to do Swedish instead).

I will end this blog here since the next one will talk about the kick off of Loi Krathong, which happened Saturday night.

---

Comments

[Tricia]

Ahahhhhaaa
Your story about the young boy and the massage STILL has me laughing! How embarrassing!

[Home and Away]

Your blog brings back memories
I enjoyed your entry as it brought back memories of my time on Doi Inthanon. My first time there was in Dec 1967...it took two days to hike to the top. I was on the survey crew that mapped the top of the mountain. We worked 12 hours per day, seven days per week. My second time there was from Feb 1974 to July 1975, when I was construction supervisor for building the road to the top, and the radar station. My last visit there was in May 2007 with my three children. I wanted to share my expereinces with them. I blogged about that trip. I just subscribed to your blog as I enjoy your writing.

[NatashaNoel]

Thank you for your kind words and for subscribing! Doi Inthanon was so beautiful. I don't know if I could do the 2 day hike though. Wowee!

[NatashaNoel]

I am getting all your comments, but I just now figured out how to reply to them hehe.