Day 5: Thursday 18th May 2006

We're on the train on the way back to Bangkok and then up to Muak Lek, Saraburi, where Mission College is at right now. The day was pretty long and we had quite an adventure today.

The day started with us having breakfast at Paddy Field hotel, Arak Road, Old City of Chiang Mai. We'd decided that since we forgot to go visit the hill-tribe village, we'd go up Doi Suthep again, past the Wat, past the King's Winter Palace and to where the villages were.

Doca taking a big bite out of her food!


We went up Doi Suthep, with Vivian at the back of Espy's bike with Sendy and Doca and I on the other bike. We stopped at a waterfall on the way up and had some pictures taken :)




The ride up the mountain was pretty normal and nothing that was out of the ordinary but it was getting colder, more wet and slippery. The wide two way road became a narrow lane that did not have a kerb, plain tarmac that slithered through the dense forest. Visibility wasn't that great with clouds obscuring our vision.

About 4km after the King's Winter Palace, on that little winding road, there was a fork - one led down (steep) and one went up (steep too!). We decided to take the road that went up to a Hmong Village that was supposed to be some 7km from where we were at. About 1.5km in, Doca and I heard someone scream and Doca looked behind and saw that Espy's bike had spilled! I quickly turned the bike around and went down to them, checking to see if anyone was seriously hurt. We've all gotta thank God that no one was seriously injured, just minor cuts and abrasions from the fall. The bike survived pretty well, getting away with only a broken right mirror (which was replaced when we went down). Espy and I carried the bike back up and set it right - and Vivian got onto my bike for the rest of the journey up.

Espy and I getting the bike back up. Sendy's picked herself up and moving over to Espy to see his wounds. Doca's moving to look for some stuff to clean the wounds.


The ride up was slow and with much caution cos the roads were uber slippery! We finally reached what seemed to the the top and had to get off and walk the rest of the way because the tarmac became mud...


We walked for quite a ways, probably 2km in the dense forest trail... fog, cold and a slight drizzle and reached a camp site... it wasn't a village... it was a camp site. There, we found a sign that said that the Hmong Village was another 3km into the forest on a really bad muddy road. We weren't prepared to walk the whole way and we turned back. It started to rain pretty bad up there on the mountain and we took refuge in a little hut for the Park Ranger. We waited for about 10-15mins and then decided that we had to get down. The time was already around 3pm and we were all starved, not having eaten since breakfast!

The buffet house was the place we dined at again and well... Doca, Vivian and I had an experience driving in a big carpark and then at a multi-story motorcycle carpark! It was SO fun! Don't have pictures of the place but man, it was a real interesting experience!

======================================

That's the end of our Chiang Mai trip :) Hope you guys enjoyed reading all this... I really did enjoy the holiday! Naka's and Nako!!! Take care :D