Chiang Mai, Thailand
Trip Start
Dec 08, 2007
1
100
133
Trip End
Aug 14, 2008
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Next day we decided to go sightseeing and shopping. We purchased a few souvenirs for our house - oh forgot we haven't we got one - and took them to the post office to send them home
1 - Flower Market
. After nearly half an hour the guy who did all the packaging had a made a box to fit perfectly and it was a work of art. We wrote the address on and the young lad said Preston? Preston North End and Bill Shankley!!! That afternoon we went around a few temples including Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Chiang Man, the oldest temple in Chiang Mai, built in 1296. It was nice to walk around them, but I think we are getting a little templed out!! We then went and a had a foot massage at the disabled centre. The centre provides opportunities for people to work, but it was heartbreaking listening to the story of the massuese. She's only had 4 customers all month including us and recently had her wages cut by 45%.We then went on our trip to the Doi Inthanon National Park. In the morning we drove to the park where we stopped at the Vachiratharn Waterfall, where Nic slipped coming back down!! We then carried on up to the summit stopping at the Phra Mahathat Napha Methanidon and Phra Mahathat Naphaphon Phumisiri (phew), twin pagodas which were built to commemorate the 50th birthdays of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. The views are meant to be stunning, but the weather wasn't kind and visibility was terrible!! It is much cooler up there, about 12 degrees.
We carried on to the summit which is 2,565 above sea level and it was even colder
2 - Wat Bubpharam
. We were in shorts and tshirts and everyone else (Thais, Malaysians and Singaporeans) were in waterproofs with scarves on! Us Northerners are tough! On our way back down we stopped at the Doi Inthanon Royal Project in the Khun Klang village. The project was initiated in 1979 to help the Hmong hill tribes to cultivate cash crops other than opium and train them on modern agricultural practices. The project itself was good, but we didn't get to see how they lived and the markets themselves weren't selling much of the goods they were producing. After lunch we stopped at the Sirithan Waterfall another of the 100 in the national park. Our final stop was to see another hill tribe village, the White Karen people. They are semi nomadic and originally came to Thailand from Burma. the village we visited has been there for 30 years. They are called the White Karen people because the young and single women must wear white until they get married, then they can never wear white again.
We were a bit hesitant about visiting the villages as we'd hate the people there to feel uncomfortable with having tourists coming to gawp at them and take photos of them. However the Karen people are known for being friendly and open to visitors compared to other hill tribe people, and they also benefit from having tourists visit them through government grants. We wandered around the village and watched them as they made beautiful scarves, rugs and cloth which are for sale. The tribe are very poor and rely almost solely on the sale of their goods to survive. Unless people come to buy things from them directly, they are at the mercy of middle men who exploit them by buying at much lower prices, so we were glad we went there in the end.
Comments
No writers cramp yet????????????
Well who would believe 100 and I have enjoyed every one of them. Will we see One Hundredddd and Eightyyyy. Love the elephant pics and they all looked so healthy. You hear such horror stories about those kind of places but not so of that one by the look of them. Your getting very close to Burma hope your saving that for another time???????????
Take care Lynn xxxxxx