Temples, elephants and waterfalls, oh my
The day after the wedding which would be last Friday the group headed outside of Chiang Mai to visit Doi Suthep which is a very important Buddhist temple high in the mountains. It sits atop Thailand’s highest peak at about 8,000 ft. It is a beautiful complex; however, the trip up is winding and steep and in the back of a songteaw (covered pick up truck taxi) it was cause for serious nausea. Once you reach the top you pay a few dollars and take the cable car up to the temple itself. The mystique of visiting a Buddhist temple is quickly taken away once you realized the amount of tourists are there. The view of Chiang Mai from above was hindered from the lingering haze but it was still nice. We had about an hour to walk around the entire complex. Bells surrounded the temple as well as statues of Buddha and depictions of different stories of Buddha’s life.
View of Chiang Mai from Doi Suthep
Main pagoda of Doi Suthep
Statue outside of the temple
Statue of Buddha inside the temple
On Saturday we went on an organized one day trekking tour. It started off at 8am which consequently is about when my stomach started to take a turn for the worse. I took some immodium for the long day ahead and made it through the day but we will revisit this scenario at a later time. The driver took us about an hour outside of Chiang Mai to the hills where we would ride elephants through the jungle. Everyone paired up into groups of two except for one person who had to ride solo. Guess who that was? The single guy of course. We rode the elephants for about an hour and came back to where we started. I have now ridden elephants, camels and horses and I must say the elephant is the least enjoyable. I was ready to get off after the first 30 minutes. It may have been because the scenery itself wasn’t very stunning. It is the dry season here so everything looks dead.
Elephant trekking
The driver then took us to a river nearby where we took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and boarded thin bamboo rafts for a nice trip down the river. I was very concerned about the last scab on my right leg that still had the potential to fall off prematurely so I wrapped it up in gauze and then taped a plastic bag over it. The driver said the more wet you are the more fun you will have. I actually got on the raft with Marisa’s sister who had a foot problem and couldn’t get it wet so I felt that we were safe enough at least from one of us trying to flip it. The water was shallow but I have no idea what kind of bacteria is floating around in there so I didn’t wanna take any chances. We made it about 3/4th of the way down and came across some drunk Thai’s probably coming in from the city to get drunk and float down the river. (Sounds like some of our days on the Hillsborough River) They looked like trouble right from the start and as soon as we got close to them the attack began. The kid in the sideways hat and the 40 ounce beer in his hand looked the most dangerous. He splashed and splashed and yelled as me and Alyssa begged for them to stop. I tried covering my wound even more with my hand but it was a wasted effort. After about 10 seconds of being mad I just gave up and enjoyed the deluge. They all dumped water on us from the back and we were all soaked. I really wished I didn’t have the leg problem because I would have been in that water in a heart beat giving the same treatment back. It would have been fun. We crossed through a few really fun but not so dangerous sections of rapids and then to the end.
After a quick lunch we headed to a small Karen Village. Karen is a tribe originally from Burma that made its way across into Thailand and Laos mostly as refugees. Visiting the hillside Karen tribes are a huge tourist attraction in Chiang Mai but I can’t say I enjoyed this portion. I was unaware we would be visiting them and already made a conscious decision prior to arriving in Thailand that I would not go on any organized tour to disturb local villages. The tourism industry here exploits their culture and treats them as an exhibit at a zoo. I don’t even feel as though the village we went to was authentic. For all we know it could have been set up by the government in order to bring in hoards of tourists to purchase the scarfs that they sit around and make all day long. I have no problem with anthropological studies or small groups visiting tribes but this didn’t have a good feeling associated with it. I only took photos of some of the scarfs and long shots of the village itself but opted against shooting the people in the tribe.
The tour ended with a trip to Maewang Falls and a short jungle trek. The spot was beautiful and the water was cold but unfortunately I couldn’t join in swimming with the rest of the group so I propped myself up on a rock and watched from a distance. Sean and Sarah both took jumps from the rocky edge into the water. I was extremely jealous but I vowed to find another waterfall before I come home.
Maewang Falls
We arrived back at the pick up point around 5pm and most of us went our separate ways. I was really tired and wanted to rest so I headed back to my hotel. My stomach made it through the day but was slowly beginning to come back and bother me. (to be continued…)
Tags: chiang mai, doi suthep, elephant, Photos, Thailand
Joey
I know how that river water can be… had a bad experience the day after going down Rainbow River last spring. We’ll be doing it again this year after you get back… I am just getting a better raft this time.
Looking good Joey! Glad to know you recover well. The waterfall would have been awesome to jump off of, I would have. I hope you have the chance again. Take care my friend, I miss you….Paula