Chiang Dao

Lucky January Friday the 13^th. We had Monday the 16^th off courtesy of “teachers day” so I got a group of kids together for a mountainous adventure located in a northern region called “Chiang Dao.” Chiang Dao is the 3^rd largest peak in Thailand (2,225 meters –just higher than the city of Denver) and has reputation for being a sweet spot off the tourist track plush with mountains and friendly people. My good friend Clay had been previously and not only recommended the peak, but also recommended a great spot to stay called “The Nest” as well as a 2 day guided trek up the mountain that included spending a night at the top combined with 2 days of hiking. For some reason you need to hire guides to go up this mountain if you are not Thai…hence the trek.

myself and clay

Anyway our group was 5 big and Clay and I and a few other people all met in Chiang Dao (little north of Chiang Mai) on the morning of Saturday the 14^th at the “Chiang Dao Nest.” Our spirits were a bit grim to start as Clay accidentally left a bottle of whiskey on the truck taxi we caught to “The Nest” from the Chiang Dao bus station. That would have been a nightmare in itself however it was also raining heavily and the lady who ran “The Nest” was very rude with us (very un-thai – she did go to culinary school in England) and told us that we would have a miserable time on our trek…she made sure to mention that she “wanted our money” anyway and did in fact want us to go. Clay had been to the nest 2 years prior and had actually gotten kicked out of the establishment by the very same lady who was barking at us for drunkenly singing Beatles songs in the shower at 5 in the morning with several other comrades…perhaps she remembered Clay and was upset that he had not heeded her harsh words of “never come back again.” Anyway we were soon rid of the “wicked witch of the nest” as we decided to go through with the trek and made our way down the street to her sister’s spot called “the nest 2.”

a most inviting door

The nest 2 had stellar accommodations. Delicious authentic thai food coupled with lavish bamboo bungalows complete with white cotton robes, home made soap, beautiful mountain views, and incredibly soft beds. Most Thai beds feel like rock slabs so these more forgiving, angelic sleeping pieces were most welcome. We hung around that day and got ready to go off hiking the next day. We would leave for the mountain at 9 am on Sunday the 15^th. After a few delicious scrambled eggs and some ginger green tea our guides arrived in a pick up truck to haul us off the trailhead located about 20 minutes away from our place. 3 of our guides were from Burma and the 1 leader was Thai. They were all super nice and after winding up a muddy trail in the midst of bucolic beatific greenery we stopped for a quick lunch of sticky rice coupled with a small and very rare salad. After lunch I decided to take my shoes off as the trail was soft and cool. It felt great to hike barefoot as it really gives a sense of being connected to the great, wonderful, one of a kind Earth. After a few more hours of meandering up through dense bamboo forest we arrived at our campground spot.

sunrise

The hike was great and I felt like I was walking through a big bowl of green bamboo with clear blue skies dashing across the mountain islands that protruded from the earth like big green earth teeth. We arrived at the summit at around 2 pm and had a few hours to kick around and breath in the deep clean air before we set off on a quick 30-minute hike for a nice sunset viewpoint. The faded tired old orange sun descended down into the far misty mountains with haste and the delicate orange red light warmed the expanse of green mountainous forest beneath our feet. After the sunset we ate beautiful rice and sweet green curry and even some hot soup, which all provided warmth. Our guides got stumble mouthed drunk however 1 managed to get up at around 5:45 am and was in decent enough shape to show us a different trail up a different peak to glimpse an inspiring sunrise. A blood red disc slowly came back around and the whole thing was great. After an easy breakfast of cold cereal and pineapple we headed back down the mountain to conclude a quite incredible weekend amongst good friends, good trees, and good food. 

sunset

It's a break!

Chiang Mai Dec. 23^rd – Dec 27

So the small kids and all the other kids were taking midterm tests the week of this one and the staff told me to just hit the road. I had all this free time off about 10 days to skip around the country. First things first hoped a bus to Chiang Mai arrived late on the 23^rd. Stayed with m friend Clay and one of his friends Mark at a large guest-house. Went out for drinks that night and actually got well into the whiskey that night as I turned 24 right at midnight and there was Christmas Eve right in Thailand. Must have been about 70 degrees that night as we turned into some more whiskey sitting on a rooftop reggae bar. Finished the night with a bit of dancing. The next morning on the good 24^th I was feeling rocky so took the morning slow then took most of the evening slow as well. Feasted on a spider roll and a little nigiri at a fine sushi restaurant on Hoyt Ghao Rd. Had a Thai waitress whose smile made me smile.

Called it quits early on the 24^th as I got into a half marathon run at 5 am Christmas morning. Trained a bit for the run but don’t like running a whole lot although sometimes it feels pleasant after. Actually had a great run that morning. Passed a lot of drunk people motoring in tiny tuk-tuks jeering and cheering at the crazy early morning runners. Finished the race without too much trouble and put in a decent time. When I saw the finish line I was happy and felt a happy buzzing feeling. I was sick of running at that point and was glad to finish in well. Got back to the guest house that morning around 7 am with a big run under my belt so I tucked back into bed alongside my whiskey eyed friends who were to be slow that whole day as the whiskey hit them hard. And it was a fine Christmas day as we all laid into some good food at the Riverside bar and grill for dinner just off the nice River. I laid into some Khao Soi and it was about the most delicious meal. It consisted of friend egg noodles, noodles, mushrooms, and vegetables all bathed in a nice velvet red curry. The music was good too and that drifted up to us sitting upstairs gazing out to the river. We finally had our hands on some nice beer. Figured it was Christmas and enough of those rocky Chang beers so we turned into some Belgian white ales and those were comforting. We cleaned off the dinner around 9 and hopped a truck taxi over to Club Warm-up on the other side of town near of not sure what. Met up with some of Clay’s Thai friends and we must have went to four different night clubs that night mostly turning into the Johnny Walker with splashes of soda but also a beer here or there. Had a wonderful night and was mostly laughing. Stumbled home must have been about 5:30 in the morning before Clay, Mark and I finally turned in.

Hobbits?

The 26^th was a Monday and we all thought a waterfall would be good for the bones so we all hopped in a truck taxi and you really get smothered in smog on those things if your sitting in traffic and if you feel slow from whiskey the last place you want to be is in the back of one of those red truck taxi’s idling behind traffic leaking smog. Told the driver to go straight on Hoyt Ghao Rd. up toward Doi Suthep. Transferred at the bottom of the mountain to another truck that pulled us up to the forest temple where we did indeed find our waterfall and other nice things. Temples and Saffron robes and I did see one door in the side of the cliff with detailed etchings and quite hobbit-ish. We were in among green trees and faced with soft rolling hills. Saw a carve in some stone that said “low ego” and that was among the other nice things. The good waterfall did its trick and then it was time to go eat some Mexican food on Hoyt Ghao Rd.

Indeed

 Pie Dec 27^th – Dec 29^th

We left off to the town of Pie early on the 27^th of December riding in a 10 person slate grey mini bus full of foreigners. The drive to Pie from Chiang Mai was rocky. It took 3 hours and every piece of it is a switch back.  All we did was turn back and forth and I was nearly green by the end. Arrived to Pie and booked a sub par guesthouse and started wandering on wobbly legs after that drive. Wandered down the street to pass food fenders and had a delicious friend rice dish with egg to start the night out. Slowly drifted down the main Rd. passing lot’s of reggae jewelry beaded dreaded out shops dishing out wheat grass and mushroom t-shirts and I don’t think I have seen as much wheatgrass anywhere else as in Pie. 

BIG yawn

They sure do love wheatgrass in Pie and I did have a shot or two a few days later and liked it. Ended the night of the 27^th drinking with a few girls from South Africa at the Luna Bar where mostly we just drank local Thai beer listening to a band playing some of this, some of that. We decided to all go a big set of caves the following morning and then indeed the next morning around 9 or 10 we got a knock and sure enough it was the girls. Didn’t think they would follow through with setting off to the caves but here they were. James and I had rented a set of motorbikes so that made two of us per bike and off we rolled through the cool hazy green bucolic hills of Pie. 

The hills must really bake like rust during the summer but now it was the cool season so they didn’t bake so much as they just sat heavy-laden with the mist. The drive to the caves was a bit icy and we all felt a chill. Must have went 30 Km through windy switch back mountain roads before we arrived to the Lad cave. We walked up to the entrance of the Lad cave and it was a big wide mouth with water running through. 

caves have mouths too

We paid a guide 500 baht to take us on a bamboo raft into the wide arched grey slated cave that included a 1 hour walking tour to see how the Lad cave worked on the inside. Our guide was sweet as can be and the inside of the caves were sweet but she may have been sweeter. Thai people can just be so nice and sweet.

The caves were indeed large and we trekked up stairs and through tunnels of Jurassic darkness and vampire rocks while our guide carried a gas lantern than glittered and faintly hissed and spread out a soft even glow that shadowed and danced upon the salty grey brown cave walls. James was taking pictures and the two South African girls were also a bit and I was just trying to talk Thai to the guide. We climbed a large set of stairs and at the top peered over the wooden railing to see about ten other little gas lanterns bobbing on down below just like stars and at that point they probably could have been as caves can really throw you for a loop. 

Our guide showed us a great tour and the nice thing about caves is that when you finally get out of the damned things you feel absolutely spectacular and you know that those caves aren’t any good for humans except maybe the quick jaunt through. Caves are bat country.

The next day on December 20th before we left James and I headed to a local canyon located about 10 Km south of our hostel. This canyon had a desert feel to it and as I dusted through its windy chambers I was instantly transported back to my Americorps NCCC work in the Anza Boreago desert out in San Diego county. 

Loved that work incredibly as the suns iridescent glittering off the still and silent cacti in the evening glow of dusk or the shiny clear dawn was just mellifluous. The dessert brings forth such a peaceful raw wisdom.

 After the nice canyon hike James and I crawled back in a slate grey mini bus and slowly wound back through the corkscrew route to Chiang Mai. We were to take a bus from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, where we would then catch a plane south to explore some of the islands. As a brief preface, James and I saw a bus that would take us from Chiang Mai to Bangkok for 280 baht…very cheap…almost too cheap. We saw this advertisement not at the bus station, but at one of those sketchy tourist booths on the side of the road with flamboyant coloring of zip line advertisement and cheap trips to Laos. I believe we were warned not to take these buses at orientation. Hey the price was great, and I didn’t have much money so that was that. Anyway we were scheduled to take the bus around 5:30 pm from the tourist booth. At around 5:30, a song-tao (truck taxi) took us along with 6 French tourists 30 minutes out of town to a random gas station. There was about 10 of us and we were told the bus would be arriving shortly as we paced around the sulky fuel station. An hour passed and then we noticed the tourist police parked in the same gas station we were at. After talking to them briefly, we found out that these “tourist buses” routinely and consistently rob people. I was surprised to learn that there is a designated person who sits underneath with the luggage and systematically rifles through all the bags taking anything of value. We were also informed that “stewardesses” routinely go through valuables on your person while you sleep on this overnight carriage. I suddenly felt like a prisoner of a 17^th century black pirated vessel bound for who knows where the hell, the floor seemingly falling out from under me as the tourist police laughed at my ignorance. Moments before I had asked if this bus would serve water or snacks, maybe a nice cool towel?…that thinking soon changed to “will they use weapons or just force?”

James, Captain Sparrow, and I in Pie - we could have used him on the pirate bus 

James, this Isralian chick named Ofri, and I decided to stay awake in shifts and guard our baggage closely. I felt like weaponless fool about to board captain hooks ship. The black, decrepit pirate shuttle finally arrived 2 hours later around 7:30 pm and immediately the tourist police surrounded the vehicle and proceeded to snap photos acquiring the license plate. The trip was actually uneventful and around 4:30 am we were shoveled off in hast near the infamous Khao Son Road; a noxious street full of dirty foreigners drinking Chang and eating pad thai. We crawled around the street for a second then got some sleep in a kitten infested Bangkok hostel near Khao Son Road. The next morning we had a flight down south. I was looking forward to this.

Just to clarify – all the buses I have taken from Thai bus terminals have been fantastic…only the sketchy tourist ones not affiliated with these terminals have been an issue.

Koh Phi Phi Dec. 30^th –Jan 3^rd

Caught a plane ride from Bangkok proper to Krabi, a southern town. Took a ferry from Krabi about 90 minutes to an island called Koh Phi Phi. In the sea now. Things become a bit more salty and I’m ready to get to the beach. Koh Phi Phi is a beautifully constructed concatenation of slate grey rock formations dotted with ineffable small green tree’s jutting over the salty sea vortex I was now suddenly a part of. There was a group of about 10 teachers or so and most of us slept in the cheapest hostel on the small island, located about 15 minutes from the beach. We arrived just in time to check in and then wandered on down to the beach for a quick dinner before jaunting down to a beach that well reminded me of San Sebastian in Spain. The beach had a large curl to it and had two large slate grey shoulders protruding outwards creating a large bowl of peaceful ocean. The only difference really between the former beach and this one was the rows of beach bars blasting house music as Europeans, Australians, Kiwi’s, and some Americans drank whiskey buckets into the early morning.

Koh Phi Phi Viewpoint

New Years day I got up a bit earlier and paid 400 baht to go on a cruise around the surrounding islands of Koh Phi Phi. I spent the day snorkeling and wandering around the many large rocky bluffs surrounding the main island. There was a group of about 10 of us in this boat and most were in rough shape. I quickly befriended a guy from Japan named Robert who responded to most of my statements with “Oh Realllllyyyyy!!” (in a rising, astonished tone).  Koh Phi was beautiful, however I was a bit flummoxed by the disparity between such pristine natural beauty and the raving madness that went on every night by the water.

Malay Bay

After a few maddening nights on a truly incredible formation of islands it was time to hop back on the ferry and head back to my small rural back woods village of Thawangpha…it was time as I was tired.