We started out with a cross country drive, Mukdahon to Mae Sot. Mae Sot is a frontier city right on the border of Myanmar (Burma). It was a great little city and a huge cultural mixing pot, Burmese children and women with gold powder on their faces, Muslims with head coverings and Thai Hill tribe members all in the same place. We tried to cross the bridge to Burma but unfortunately the visa office was closed and we were unable to get our re-entry paper work.
Next we got on a Songtaew (a pickup with two benches in the back and cage around it to strap luggage to) and embarked on a 5 hour trip on "death highway" to Umphang in order to see the largest waterfall in Thailand, Nam Tok Thilawsu. The highway is through the mountains and has over 260 twist and turns and steep grade changes, it is only 169km but takes so long because of the amount of curves. There were 15 people in the truck with some standing on the bumper, holding on to the top of the truck and others on top with the luggage. We passed through thatched roof, hilltop villages and held on tightly for all the turns! After arriving in Umphang we arranged a tour to the water fall and the next day we rafted for 3 hours down a lazy river, limestone cliffs and jungle on both sides. We then walked to the water fall Thilawsu and spent three hours swimming in its pools. The day after the waterfall adventure we had to embark on the 5 hour songtaew ride again, but this time with 21 people in the back of the truck! Village women sat on the floor between our legs and held on to us like we were safety bars. They also brought plastic bags to vomit into since they are not used to traveling in cars and I felt like they should have renamed the "Vomit Highway". It was a long five hours!
Our Songtaew to Umphang
After enduring the ride of “death highway” we boarded a regular bus for the northern city of Chiang Rai. We spent most of our time there wandering around and enjoying the local fresh market. One day we did decided to go on an adventure and signed up for a day trip of biking through the country side. For some reason none of us thought “Hey guys, 53km is a lot, especially up and down mountains and during the hot season…” Yet it was still really fun, even if I have never sweat so much in my entire life! We biked through beautiful country side and stopped to see a beautiful temple that was designed by a famous Thai artist and made all out of white. We ended our bike trip with an 8km uphill ride to see a waterfall. When we reached the top the bike company had a little celebration for us, snacks and sodas and congratulated us on our achievement. All of us had wobbly legs and were so exhausted we thought we could hardly make it up the small hill crest to even see the water fall…boy were we mistaken! Our trip leader let us finish our snacks and then said, “OK! Now we walk 3km to the waterfall!” We almost died!! It was all uphill on a little trail and once we got to the top it was a beautiful water fall but we were too tired to walk down to swim in its pools. Instead we took pictures looking down at it and then used the rest of our energy to drag ourselves back down to the truck and head home.
After Chiang Rai we moved on to the small bohemian mountain town of Pai. It was a fun little town but was not very “Thai-like”; it was almost like being in another country. Pai is a city inhabited by Thai hippies and artists and seems to be on the farang hippy pilgrimage trail as well. I hadn't seen so many white folks with dreads in one place since UVM! We celebrated our six month anniversary in Thailand in Pai, renting motorbikes for the day and exploring the countryside on our “hogs”. We also went for an Elephant ride that included swimming in the river with our new elephant friend Mai. It was an excellent adventure!
From Pai we traveled to Chiang Mai, a truly magical city. The “old city” is surrounded by a moat, complete with parts of the medieval walls and gates that once encompassed the city. Temples in the city are beautiful; some even have ancient ruins within their walls. There were great street markets and a wonderful night bazaar where I got to practice my haggling skills. We stayed at a fabulous hostel and met many new friends. Songkran, the Thai New Year/ water festival that borders on utter chaos, happened to occur during our time in Chiang Mai and we had a great time joining in the celebration. The moat around the old city became the epicenter of the celebration as the primary way to celebrate is to throw water on everyone around you. For Songkran the owner of our hostel piled us all into the back of his truck to bring us out to the moat surrounding the city to engage in the giant water fight that is Songkran. It was so much fun! The whole city stopped working for about a week and just had the most massive water fight you can imagine.It was almost impossible for anyone to stay dry! People walked around with giant squirt guns or buckets and dumped water on anyone they saw. People sat in the back of trucks and drove around the moat waging “war” with those standing around the moat. Vendors sold giant blocks of ice so one could chill the water being thrown and really surprise one’s victims. By the third day of the festival traffic was at a standstill and the best way to enjoy the festival was by foot. While walking we met many new faces and danced with a few outrageous lady boys while trying to soak as many people as possible. At one point I wandered down to the moat to fill my bucket only to be surrounded in a circle and splashed for ten minutes straight! Thank god it was hot out; the festival was a great relief from the heat.
After Chiang Mai we headed south the Krabi Province to lounge on the golden beaches of Ko Lanta (Ko means island in Thai). We spent five days lying on the beach and swimming in the ocean, it was magnificent. One day we also managed to go a kayak trip to feed some monkeys, paddle around giant limestone mountains that rose from the sea, and check out some caves. It was a relaxing few days.
I broke off from my traveling companions to head to Krabi Town where I met my mom and Jack! It was truly a pleasure to have them come a visit me. We checked out the limestone cliffs of Railey and then headed to Ko Yao Noi to spend most of our time lazing on beaches, tooling around on motorbikes and gazing at Phang Nga bay from the decks of our bungalows.
Returning to Nakhon Phanom was bittersweet, it was fun to show my mom and Jack around but hard for vacation to end and return to school. After all the excitement of traveling Nakhon Phanom seemed slow, sleepy and hot! My director went out of his way to show my Mom and Jack some of the sights of our province. One day me, Mom, Jack, my director, his two daughters and two of my roommates Don and Yu piled into a van and went to see That Phanom, Renu Nahkon and the hill top temple I visited with my students. We then feasted on Tom Yum Kung (Spicy/sour shrimp soup) fried fish and curried prawns. Thai hopistality is truly unrivaled and I was glad my mom was able to experiance it and meet my Thai family.
School started Monday the 17th of May and I love how it felt like coming home to return to the classroom and be greeted by the smiles and shouts from my students. Life is truly good.
Awesome! :)
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