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We left the next day - four of us being Pom, his Mum (Kingkarn) and the two of us - on our Northern trip. Pom had been planning to buy a new car so when he heard we were coming he made the decision to do it then - a nice new Toyota Vios which carried us for about 2500 km in the 10 days we were with him (more about the car later!). Breakfast was our first experience of the roadside food stalls but we felt quite safe eating there with our local guide - although we were certainly having things for breakfast which we would not normally try at any time of the day!! Like chicken and rice soup with boiled blood - or boiled pigs feet with bean curd (tofu)- Hmmmmm. We stopped on the way at the ancient capital of Ayuthaya which had been sacked by the Myanmar (Burmese) in the late 1700s - incredibly sad feeling knowing that all of the beautiful things there had been destroyed leaving piles of rubble and some of the shrines - which had apparently been sacred to the Myanmar as well. However, this was the trigger for the King to
Middle of Asia?
Road sign on the way to Uttaradit. finally expel the Myanmar and the new capital of Bangkok was eventually established in 1782 - until then it had been a sleepy fishing village but you would never think that seeing it today!
Our first day’s journey took us to the Uncle and Aunt’s house in Uttaradit which is about half way to Chiang Mai - our eventual northern destination. We had visited in 2001 and their house was just as fascinating as we remembered. They run a private English language tutoring school for local children and the house is one huge learning centre - everything is labeled with its name and maybe a short description (just like being in a house with new Exchange Students ). We could see great improvements had been achieved since our first visit with new rooms inside the house (lovely bedroom with air conditioning and ensuite where we stayed) and especially several air-con classrooms for the English lessons. Such is the improvement in the school that they are now working at it as a full time business and employing other teachers to take the classes - school runs for 6 hrs Saturday and Sunday and 3 hrs after school Mon - Wed
Ayutthaya
By the ruins. so they are busy.
We stayed a couple of days visiting some new places and some of those we had seen the first time - including a lovely waterfall where the local children swim. This had been swept away by a mudslide a couple of years previously and the reconstruction had recently been finished - pity we hadn’t brought our photos from last time so we could have the before-and-after shots. We also visited morning markets (don’t think I have ever seen so many chillis in one place before!), a night market which was rather like a noisy Easter Show (complete with Thai style Combine Harvesters) where we declined the offer of fried maggots and crickets, and a Chinese theatre performance complete with elaborate costumes and very shrill singing. We took our leave of Anap and Da on Sunday morning and continued on to Chiang Mai.
We dropped our bags at the “Motel” in Chiang Mai (Kingkarn knew the owner) then set off to the nearby Hill Tribe village. While this village is quite commercialized - being so close to the tourist trail - it was still fascinating to see the different way of life. They are very
Ayutthaya
Feeding the elephants. recent arrivals in Thailand - most much less than 100 years - and are mostly refugees who were escaping some form of conflict in their own countries. Their traditional economy has been slash-and-burn agriculture with the best earner being derived from the Poppy plant - although recent efforts to divert their efforts to other cash crops such as flowers are having some success. The village is perched on the side of the hill with much use being made of corrugated iron and there was the usual parade of stalls selling the locally produced souvenirs making up the bulk of the shops. The clothes are very different to the Thai dress - much more variety of colours and obviously a lot heavier to cope with the colder weather in the hills. Our guide was a girl of about 10 years with no English - once again our local guide proved most valuable. We went to a night market back in town and I managed to buy a Hill Tribe hat for Wendy - Kingkarn was most concerned that I would pay too much but seemed happy that I had bargained from 400 to 150 Baht The town was so busy
Aquarium
We stopped at a new aquarium on the way north. that Pom couldn’t find anywhere to park so he dropped us off and picked us up when we had finished looking. We drove out of town to a restaurant for dinner - went quite a long way as Pom couldn’t find the one he remembered so we ended up at another which was just as good.
Monday we drove up to Dai Inthanon National Park via Wood Carving shops - once again we admired something which was then bought for us!! - even though we protested that we had no room for it! However - it turns out that Kingkarn, Anap and Da are coming to England for a holiday 10 days after we get there and will be staying less than 30 minutes drive from us so the carved Teak box will be getting a personal delivery Once we were in the National Park we dropped our bags off at the house at the Rangers’ Headquarters - Kingkarn knows someone high up in the National Park Service so we got the best house which is not normally available for hire (this was the case in most places we stayed!). We visited two shrines near the top of the
Reconstructed Waterfall
Not sure how close to the original but it looks nice now. mountain - a matching his-and-her set for the King and Queen of Thailand. Beautiful gardens and lots of Monks visiting - they were just as digitally shutter-happy as the rest of the tourists!
We then went for a 2 hour walk in the forest with a local guide - was only 3km but very up-and-down. The views were incredible - especially when we got out on to the savanna and could see the town in the valley and were looking down on the two shrines on the ridge below. Quite hard work though as it was hot and, at 2500 metres up, the air was a bit thinner than we were used to. But we made it! We then drove to the top of the mountain - which is the highest point in Thailand and incidently the southern-most point of the Himilayan mountain range. The views would have been even more incredible had it not been for the persistent haze which is apparently caused by cooking fires and field burning at that time of the year. We went for another walk (short this time!) on a boardwalk through the forest canopy then back to the house for a rest before
English School - entrance
Everything with a name and description. Note the classroom doors behind the table. dinner at the restaurant near the HQ - Pom bought a couple of bottles of locally-made Mulberry wine which he and I finished after dinner. The net result of that of course was that I snored the rest of the night away giving Wendy a very disturbed night - oops!
We left at 7am as we were going all the way to Bangkok - about 750km - so I drove for the first couple of hours - until Pom realized that although I had the correct license, he only had the car inured for him to drive. We visited Vachiratarn waterfall while still in the National Park then it was just a very long drive home. We arrived about 6.00pm then spent the rest of the evening convincing Pom that we did not need to drive another 700km each way just to spend one day at a Park in the south. We compromised and decided on a 300km drive to Hat Wanakon National Park for two nights - so it was a more leisurely start the next day.
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Eve
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Look like you guys have heaps of fun there :D Miss you loads well i better get back to uni work :S