The top of Thailand
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Sunday, October 27, 2002
Sunday we had organised to go on another tour to see Doi Inthanon, the tallest mountain in Thailand, and the King and Queen's Pagodas. We got a discount of 10013 for having already booked a tour through our hotel.
At 8:30am we met with Non who was to be our guide again. There was one other person on the tour, an Irish woman called Isabel who was on her way to see her daughter in Australia.
The bus ride was almost two hours and as we made the ascent up the mountain you could feel the temperature begin to drop. The road was quite steep and took the mini bus, with only 5 people in it, significant effort to inch up. Interestingly in some places we were overtaken by other vehicles, but then we overtook them again at other sections.
The weather was not in our favour and was misty and rainy. When we got to the Pagodas it was raining and we were handed umbrellas by Non. We had a choice between the Queen's or the King's pagoda to visit first, although they were only a couple of hundred metres apart.
We elected to go to the Queen's (in my mind I wanted to see the Queen's first as I thought the King's would be far grander). The Queen's Pagoda, built to celebrate her 60th birthday, was purple and around the levels outside were amazing mosaics and carvings. Inside there was a white standing buddha with many offerings in front. Many Thai people were praying and taking photos of the buddha. Around the top of the chamber were mosaic pictures telling a story of buddha and a beautiful woman. The walls of the pagoda chamber were carved into white stone. On one particular wall carvings of international landmarks included the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumphe, Big Ben, the Colleseum, tulips and windmills, Chinese gates and even the Sydney Opera House.
After visiting the Queen's Pagoda we climbed down the steps through the terraced garden and walked across to the King's Pagoda - a large black building with a spire. Whilst the King's Pagoda was larger than the Queen's Pagoda it was not as opulent. Inside the chamber was bare except for a buddha in the centre. Non explained that the King's Pagoda cost 43 million baht to build and the Queen's cost 134 million baht.
The pagodas were followed by a further winding drive to the peak of Doi i.1thaiicn. The mini bus parked near a top secret fenced in compound which was some military or communication building. We got out and followed a short trail to a kind of garden. At the entrance there was a thermometer which read 15 degrees Celsius. There were lots of Thais doing some local travel, they were all rugged up in big jackets and fleece lined caps with earflaps. They looked as though they were bracing themselves against the cold. I must say I felt a little insensitive in my thin long sleeved top and pants. We walked to a point and stood on the `Top of Thailand' just in front of a monument.
The much quicker drive down the mountain was punctuated by a stop at Nam Tok Wachiritan, a large waterfall that was rather ferocious and sprayed a lot of water our way.
After descending Doi Inthanon we were driven to Wat Phra That Si Chom Thong, apparently it is one of the most important temples in Thailand as Buddha's ashes are there (or something like that). We saw lots of gold figurines chained away in a wooden cage.
We then went to a village and were told about the tribal Thais. I felt very uncomfortable being there and couldn't wait to get in the mini bus and move on. The bus then stopped for lunch at a tacky roadside cafe. Lunch was included in the tour price and we ordered rice and shared a number of dishes. Just before the meal came out I felt a funny gurgle in my stomach but tucked into lunch, which was quite delicious.
It was a fairly long drive back to Chiang Mai, made all the longer when we came to a roadblock and had to stop. We were waiting for a member of the royal family - the youngest princess I think - to drive past. For some reason, probably because we were foreigners, we had to get out of the van and we weren't allowed to take pictures. Meanwhile I was beginning to feel worse and when the escort finally zipped past in big four wheel drives with dark tinted windows I was relieved to get back in the minibus and loll about in queasiness until we got to the hotel.
Once we got to the hotel I was much more relaxed as I knew that I was only a few steps away from the toilet for when I needed it. I made Nicole use the toilet first whilst I lay on my bed. Nicole then called Stefan on her phone and as she was speaking to him I suddenly had to throw up and was heaving my guts up. After quite some time and when I was almost over the nausea, Nicole finally came in to see if I was okay. I rinsed my mouth out and lay back on my bed until I had to return to the toilet. After a shower I crashed onto my bed and flaked out. I managed to sleep off my sickness as I felt much better the next day.
Waking up on Monday I felt much better - and very hungry. I didn't want to risk anything much but we had breakfast at a nearby cafe that had Vegemite, so I had Vegemite on toast which was exactly what I needed.
We had two days left in Chiang Mai and decided to explore the other end. We ended up at the Wararot Market which was a fabulous discovery. Warorot is a big building filled with so many shoes, food stalls, clothes and other things. It was very interesting. There were so many things and they were all so cheap. Nicole and I bought bags, belts and jewelry by the truckloads.
While Nicole was purchasing several bags, I was in the concourse listening and watching music on a video screen. I was captivated by the song and luckily for me they had their name `The Sis' in English at the end of the song. I let it go but the tune kept running through my head and so I asked the ladyboy behind the counter about the song. He didn't understand me, but when I mentioned `The Sis' he showed me a VCD but I wanted a normal CD. Disappointed I was determined to get it before I left Thailand.
On our way back to the hotel we took a couple of pics of some other wats although we didn't bother checking them out, we had both seen more than enough. We then spent the afternoon reading and shopped it up at the Night Bazaar again.
Tuesday was our last day in Chiang Mai and I had decided to move on to Phitsanulok and needed tv oiyanise my bus ticket. After a morning of packing, we went by iun ,u.: to the bus station. The tuk tuk driver said he would wait for us so I went in and went to a teller that had Phitsanulok above it. For some reason I was pointed to another teller and I bought a ticket for a bus on Wednesday at 11 am.
We then went back to the hotel and thought we should go for another walk, so we walked around the canals surrounding the old city, had a drink and got a bit wet when it rained.
Our last night together was spent at a bar followed by a massage. Nicole had a foot massage but I opted for a full Thai massage which was very interesting and involved a lot of manipulation and pushing with all parts of the masseuse's arms and legs.
The bar, Up 2 You, was like a shopping centre of drinking holes. At first I thought it was one nightclub with an overwhelming number of bars, however on closer inspection each bar had their own theme and signage proclaiming a Western name.
Some bars had pool tables and there was different music and different crowds at each bar. All the bars were set around a boxing ring that showed fights. I was excited to get to see a bit more fighting action but was disappointed when the fight was rigged and purely for show to get Westerners to pull out their wallets. Despite this 'Farang Show' there were hardly any other Westerners, most patrons were Thai nationals. We only stayed for two drinks before drifting back to our hotel room.
We awoke the next morning and packed our bags. My bus was due to leave at around 11 am so I was first to leave. Nicole walked me to the main road to catch a tuk tuk. I wished her a safe flight home and fun at Stefan's sister's wedding. I waved to Nicole as I sat in the tuk tuk with my two backpacks beside me and entered the steady stream of traffic.
