Doi Inthanon, Lanna Folklife Museum and seeing the Gals one last time

Hey Internet! My time in Chiang Mai is almost at an end, I leave in a few hours (I will do a final Chiang Mai wrap up later) and I am not in Thailand for many more days after that. While this is quite sad, looking back on the incredible times, spectacular places and wonderful people I have met, the trip is already one for the record books.

A few days ago, I had just completed the Bo Sang trip and then seen the gals from 6ixcret, I was exhausted after such a packed day. I did not have much free time left in Chiang Mai and was debating about booking another tour, this one for the final thing I really wanted to do on my Chiang Mai list. Doi Inthanon National Park includes the mountain itself and a number of other worthy attractions. Was it worth doing? Obviously, but I was tired, it is 100 kilometres from Chiang Mai (from the city centre to the top) and was going to cost about what you would expect. The other worry was the rain was pretty constant, showers coming and going everyday so that was also a concern. I had spoken to Otto about it and he said the roads become dangerous in the rain – what with the area being a rainforest. Personally, I was also worried about spiders and giant bugs in the rainforest as well as excessive hiking, I am an active person, just not too outdoorsy.

I was in touch with Otto on Wednesday afternoon because I had been in two minds and asked about the weather as that would be a deciding factor. He said that rain was due and I resigned myself to not going and this being one of a few things being curtailed by coming in the rainy season. Then a short while later he contacted me again to say there was also a sunset option and that later in the day the weather was meant to be better. When it had seemed to have been taken away from me and then to be given the opportunity back, I had to take it.

So, Thursday afternoon we were driving to Doi Inthanon National Park. Otto made a stop at a petrol station to allow me to use the toilet as he advised me that the ones in the national park were rough going. When I went into a stall, I got a shock as there was a recessed piece of sanitaryware in the floor, water reservoirs and sluices. Yes, this was one of the famous (or infamous if you ask me) more traditional toilets. Now if the later toilets were going to be worse, I had to manage here as at least it was clean and bug free. I sort of made an effort and manged to relieve myself and not cover myself, so I call that a win (also there are no photos of this, I call that fortunate).

We drove the 96 kilometres to the entrance of the park (the last 4 kilometres, or more, are the distance to the summit) and paid the entrance fee to the soldiers who clearly administer the national park. This was the most overt sign that Thailand is controlled by the military, but as I said to Otto, these were the first smiling and jovial soldiers I had ever seen, and I have seen some soldiers over the years.

Once in the park we headed to Watchirathan Waterfall and boy was it a waterfall! Otto apologised for the brown look of the water, which was obviously due to the heavy rainfall over the past week. But even if the waters were not clear, they were incredibly impressive. Just standing at the viewpoint for photos, you got completely soaked by the spray. I took many photos from many angles at that point. I ventured a little higher up the path but rejected the steep, slick rocky stairs as a sure way for me to fall, ditto for the soaked, large wooden stairs going down – I had seen plenty and needed to end the day in one piece.

Next was a visit to the Karen village of Ban Mae Klang Luang. The Chiang Mai Province and the Northern parts of Thailand have various hill tribes who subscribe to traditional ways of life to varying degrees. According to Otto the Karen are by far the largest of these tribes and can be found in a variety of locations. Ban Mae Klang Luang has three main sources of income. They grow organic coffee under the brand name Mae Klang Luang Coffee and Starbucks Chiang Mai order their coffee from them. They also grow short grain brown rice which uses less water than traditional long grain white rice. Both of these fall under the Royal Project to end poppy farming for Opium in the North and replace it with legal, useful crops like coffee, rice and flowers. The inhabitants of Ban Mae Klang Luang also engage in tourism with guest houses and homestays available in the village. We walked around the village a bit and saw the traditional stilted houses, raising the floor and living area from flooding and animals. Under a number of houses, large pigs were tied up, with some of the younger ones frolicking with each other. We then went to the coffee tasting and I ground some roasted beans with a hand mill, after which a Karen woman made the coffee with old fashioned metal pitchers but poured it into modern espresso cups with the coffee logo on it. Talk about old world meets new world. During the drive up, Otto had been pointing out Catholic Churches and I had previously read about some of the hill tribes being devoutly Christian following conversion by missionaries hundreds of years ago, this Karen village clearly being one of them as the lady was wearing a big silver cross, not a common sight in Buddhist Thailand.

On the way out of the village we stopped off to admire the paddy fields which were incredibly green but not as soaking wet and under water as the ones on the way to Doi Inthanon planted with the regular rice. Overlooking the fields were some of the guesthouses, charming wooden structures in quaint though also modern design, we had also passed a more modern stilted Karen home for homestays and near the start of the village, much more swish looking brick structures, clearly, they are catering to all tastes.

We then headed up to the summit of Doi Inthanon which is over 2 565 metres above sea level. It is the highest mountain in Thailand and known as the Roof of Thailand. Otto took a photo of me in front of the sign and then explained that Doi Inthanon was originally named Doi Luang (literally big mountain) but renamed Inthanon in honour of the late King Inthawichayanon, last King of Chiang Mai. He tried to protect and look after the forests of the North and after his death, his wife brought his ashes to be interred in a shrine – which is right next to the summit sign. I then walked along a raised wooden platform as the rain fell through the trees (it was raining, it is almost always raining there – it’s a rainforest). I stopped for photos and to read some of the information on flora at various spots along the platform. Once finished, I met back up with Otto at the other end and we walked through the visitors’ centre which gives concise information on the mountain, the history and the flora and fauna endemic to the area. Apparently, the national park is a bird watcher’s paradise with 400 species appearing throughout the year. When I was finished with that, we headed back to the car.  

It was about 4:40PM when we reached the Royal Pagodas (one for the late King Bhumibol to honour his 60^th birthday and one for Queen Sirikit to honour her 60^th birthday). The soldiers here were stony faced and didn’t want to let us in as they said it closed at 5PM, Otto charmed them and in we went and another couple after us also managed entry. This is where you are meant to see the view of all the countryside and all of Thailand. I say meant to, because of the light rain but more the mist and cloud cover, I could only see the surrounding forest. But I knew this was a risk on going on this tour and the trip in general, coming in the cheaper, rainy season means some things will not be as spectacular as other parts of the year and you may miss out on some things altogether (like some of the islands off Phuket are closed this time of year). The pagodas themselves are gorgeous, the surrounding forest magical and the Queen’s gardens (adjacent to the Queen’s pagoda) beautiful. I hurried to see it all and took many wonderful photos of the pagodas, the gardens and the surrounds. After that we got in the car to drive back to Chiang Mai.

Although obviously incredible I was very tired after the trip and hopped up on antihistamines (my skin is going crazy with allergies here) but decided to go and see the gals of 6ixcret one more time before leaving Chiang Mai as I had had so much fun the first time. This was my last opportunity as my remaining nights were already booked up with other things. So, I raced into the shower and trotted off to the cabaret. Although I was a little late to the start of the show, it was still incredible and I would say 80% of it was different to the previous visit, which is quite remarkable as it is a long show. The gals were as fun and spectacular as before but the audience was different. There were groups that came in and watched and then left, not staying for the whole show. There was a couple who made a fuss of Kandy Zyanide and asked for a drink and then left, with Kandy coming back with the drink already poured. Also, there was a middle-aged local man who ordered one beer and when asked for his next order by the waitstaff refused and then refused the urgings of the barman and the sad faces of the gals. Seriously, no one should go to a place if one cannot afford the entrance fee or requirements. But those were the negatives, the show itself was great and the gals recognised me and were so overwhelmed that I had come back, I got “thank you” a lot and hugs and chats from so many of them. While the audience may not have been spectacular, the gals were gracious and fabulous as always.

Then one of the waitstaff had a birthday and they had a cake for him. This devolved into one of the backup boys getting some cake to the face and the gals pulling off wigs. It was all in good fun though. Then Monica came to chat to me, she was tired as she was off to her “day job” as a makeup artist (naturally) and she was going to have to work for five more hours. I wished her luck and we hugged again. I also got enthusiastic hugs from one of the backup boys and lots of selfies, such a sweetie pie. It may have been a different vibe than the first time, but I was glad I went back again.

Friday was a busy day with commitments in the afternoon and another room switcheroo taking place. I was finally leaving my less than beloved guesthouse for another one I knew would be better (it was, they accommodated me for anything I needed). But before leaving the Old City, I used the proximity to finally visit the Lanna Folklife museum. It had many beautiful items and displays and had a lot of interesting and useful information. The online recommendations are right, if you can visit before you do your touring of Chiang Mai it gives insight into some of the things you see, but it also offers lovely context after the fact as well.

The red hat must run to the airport and take care of itself now (both me and the hat, as the hat itself is a little worse for wear after three and a half weeks…)