This is a continuation of my trip to the North of Thailand which started on 21 Dec till 1 Jan 2008. I have managed to finish till Day 7 and now I am onto Day 8. It has taken a little more effort than I expected. But I know that its good for me to keep a written memory of my trip, for years and years to come.
In total, our trip was 11 days. 5 days out of it was a guided tour. Today's trip will be the 4th & 5th day of our guided tour.
28 December 2007, Friday
We spent a night in the Long Neck Village. Slept in a small hut which was basic but comfortable. We didn't really expect 5 star accommodation in the middle of the jungle with breathtaking scenery and fresh air which was not easily available in our city life at Bangkok. I doubt air can ever be more fresh than it is here. Inhale... exhale... I can live to a 100 years old with their homegrown fruits, vegetables and rice.
I honestly cannot imagine myself living in a place where excitement and entertainment consist of... hmm... not sure what. As far as I can see, it does not have all the excitement and entertainment which we normally enjoy. For one, no internet... therefore no BLOGGING. That's serious!
I woke up early to a very cooling morning. Mist surrounding the edge of the hills and fresh air void of pollution. Surprise to see my elder son awake and surrounding the campfire. He obviously was still very interested in playing around it because he does not normally prefer to wake up before his younger brother.
We were scheduled to leave the Long Neck Village by late morning. So we did a little shopping of their local crafts, just to support their livelihood.
Upon arrival at the mainland, we hopped onto the Elephant Trekking ride. Being a new experience for all of us, we were very excited! There seems to be heaps of elephants everywhere in Thailand, not uncommon to spot one at the streets of Bangkok. The owner of the elephant will usually sell peanuts or bananas to the public to feed the elephant. We have done it various times, pretty fun.
The Elephant Trek lasted 1.15 hours. A little too long under the 12pm afternoon sun. Phew! Riding on top of an elephant is like "watching wet paint dry". Its mighty sloooow... I enjoyed the ride but 1.15 hours was enough. More than enough.
We checked into the hotel after the Elephant Trek and rested till dinner time. We were scheduled to go to the night market after dinner. I sure look forward to it!
This is Korean BBQ style. Very popular throughout Thailand. They have very cheap buffet for THB89 (RM8.90 / USD2.60) in Bangkok. Here it costed about THB60 (RM6.00 / USD1.70).Checkout my online album.
Sure enough after dinner we went to walk around in the market. Things are generally cheaper comparatively to Chiang Mai or Bangkok.
Local products
"Roti canai" is an Indian pancake made out of flour. In Malaysia, it is usually eaten with some spicy gravy or curry as a main meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner. But in Thailand, its a dessert added with butter, jam, sugar (?) or condense milk (?). Very sweet! Its an acquired taste but once used to it, it can be pretty delicious. 
Eating "Kao Soi", similar to Malaysian Mee Curry. A new experience sitting on a picnic rug on the side of the street in the night market enjoying the local food.
Bright lights at the templeAfter a long walk around the market we were ready to go back to snooze.
Check out my online album.
29 December 2008, Saturday
We woke up very early at 6am, had a quick breakfast and headed towards Kaew Komon cave. It is like a cave full of diamonds with sparkling walls that are a result of calcite and makes it look like shards of clear ice. There are only 3 in the world i.e. Thailand, China and Australia. So, it was a must see. There are no personal photos taken. I managed to get a photo from the internet. We were not allowed photo taking because they were afraid that it might destroy the crystals inside the cave.
After the Kaew Komon cave we were planning to go to Doi Itanon, which is the highest peak in Thailand but unfortunately the 4x4 we were traveling in was having some problem so we had to go back to Chiang Mai.
2 comments:
What a pity u didn't go to Soi Inthanon Park, the highest peak in Thailand. It was absolutely gorgeous there, Chris. In the middle there is the last batch of Popi-or drug- plant left because the King has encouraged ppl to plant other plants for a living instead of ganja. Very good learning experience. Next time, maybe?
That sounds like a fun trip, even though there was no internet.
Smile!``
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