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