CHIANG MAI Day 22
WEDNESDAY 24th an early breakfast before setting out on another day’s adventure with ‘Sergeant Kai’ which will not be as energetic as the previous one as I have now got Keith’s blooming cold!
When Kai arrived just after 9am he suggested we pay a visit to the hot springs as it may help our colds. Sounds good but well forego a swim in the mineral baths. Before leaving the city Kai stopped to purchase a hand of small bananas that we would eat wrapped in a cheese slice which meant a stop at the ‘7-11’ supermarket to buy a packet of processed cheese slices – not one of our favourite foods but we have been told it is wonderful.
Out of the city we toured down lots of winding narrow roads coming to a Temple with a very ornate gateway in gold and yellow that had been decorated with paper umbrellas as part of the Lantern Festival Celebrations. A quick visit inside we met a monk who was originally from Kate Wat. The Temple was over 100 years old and he had been there with 6 other monks and 8 novices for 6 years now. At the back of the Temple where 3 dogs were kept in a large cage close to what appeared to be a bird less aviary we saw many items such as wooden elephants, small Buddha statues, vases, etc. arranged on a concrete shelf around a large bunyan tree, the lower branches of the tree being supported by thick props covered in gold and silver leaf. Each prop had names and dates written on being a record of all the donors of these items. The thing about the items was most were damaged but the owners had not wanted to throw them away so had given them to the Temple. We were also stood in an area where the ashes of the deceased had been scattered.
Back on the road we travelled through the lowland area of rice fields where we saw a mini combine harvester at work alongside a man using a small scythe in the next section of the field. Across the road a man was using a strimmer whilst again other workers were using scythes. The landscape was lovely with the yellow fields of ripe rice and then the hills and mountains behind and in this area the roadside was lined with flowering trees full of huge yellow flowers in the shape of a pagoda that looked magnificent against the blue sky.
We arrived at ‘Sankampaeng Hot Springs’ a little dismayed to see so many tour buses in the car park especially as Kai already knows we don’t like the tourist must do bits. We needn’t have worried as they were all local school children out for the day so once in the park it was a mass of purple, the colour of their school uniform. Most of them seemed to be 7 years old and talking to them our questions had to be in an order otherwise the answer to “How are you?” was “I am 7 years old”. Despite the numbers they were so well behaved and quiet and some of them enjoyed being in the photo that Kai took of Keith and I dangling our feet in the stream. We had sat down on a wooden plank secured to the side of the constructed stream and had been told this was a fairly warm part compared to the section further along where in the distance we could see a couple of geysers rising up into the air with steam below. Now I like a hot bath but the heat came as a bit of a shock although it didn’t seem to bother the children. After the photo shoot we splashed about eating our small banana in a now very soft slice of cheese. Kai was right - it was, or rather they were, delicious. Pity we cannot get these bananas in the UK. There were several stalls selling small baskets of hen or quail eggs and as we went to take a closer look at the geysers spotted a large notice board with cooking times for these eggs. By a large trough where the temperature was around 105 degrees people were waiting for their eggs to boil. What a great picnic. As we made our way back to the car we passed the children all lining up to collect a sheet of paper to work on a project to do with their visit. It was at this point I realised all the girls had page boy hairstyles – another of Thailand’s school rules for the younger children. We paid a stop at the few tourist stalls and showing an interest in oils and soaps began a conversation with an Indian or Bangladeshi lady who swears by the soaps. I particularly wanted the cleansing stone for my feet and heeded her warning about not using it too much on the rest of the body. As the items were 3 for 100 baht we bought the two varieties of soap and the stone. The stone is wonderful and not as rough as the pumice we have in the UK.
We had stopped to buy BBQ chicken wings from a street stall, Kai once again having fun with the local people. Normally one asks how much is one piece but today he asked “How many pieces for 1 baht?” causing the lady to walk over to the vehicle and ask him to repeat the question. We drove away with 3 lovely smelling ones neatly arranged in a cellophane bag and tied before being put into a small plastic carrier bag.
Again we returned to narrow roads Kia occasionally getting lost and apologising for having to turn around. We climbed up and up the narrow winding road even though he had been told it went nowhere. We went through a few of the 30 villages in the region as we climbed on top of the world following a small stream that turned into small waterfalls in places. We stopped at one old couple’s house where Kai had hoped to show us how they make the chewing tea. As I had sampled some of this on our last outing I was relieved to find the round concrete vats contained nothing more than plastic bags and other household items. Further up the road we went to watch a young man, his wife and a few other men construct a road down to the stream. A man from Bangkok was having a house built, the frame of which hung to the side of the hill but also required a long winding drive to reach the entrance. We were offered a 900 square metres piece of land with a house built on it for 15000 American dollars.
We came to another village and as we passed through saw a couple of small hand printed signs in English saying ‘Welcome to Shop’. Now who on earth is going to pass through here that understands written English, or spoken. Kai decided to stop and we headed down to the shop. I was lagging taking photos of the colourful plants, especially the orange trumpet tree when I heard a voice say “What the devil are you doing here!” Surely we couldn’t meet someone we knew up here. We didn’t know him he was just glad to meet another Englishman. An American on a motorbike had just left but we hadn’t seen him and we were informed that having lived up here for 5 months we were the second people he could speak to today. We learnt his name was Mike McCue and he hailed from Carlisle. I told him about the man from Carlisle who owns the ‘Guitarman’ bar in Chiang Mai so next time he visits he’ll look him up. Their hospitality was great as his girlfriend Lai, who had just broken her arm, prepared bowls of spicy noodles for us and made us a coffee to have with our chicken and sticky rice. The coffee wasn’t so great as it was a 3 in 1 mixture. We talked about all sorts of things, including ghosts as Mike explained that a lot of the land would have been used to bury family and locals had seen ghosts especially when a piece of land was fenced off. Kai told us of his experiences at having a spirit visit him regularly. He is unable to move and it feels like a heavy object is laid on top of him but when he begins a Buddhist chant the spirit leaves him and he can move freely again. The amazing thing is he knows when it is going to happen and he warns his wife. Mike showed us his wooden table and chair creations he had made to fill in the time whilst Lai’s father stood watching everything without saying a word but giving us a toothless grin. Mike also painted pictures of the local birds and told us about the eagles that are in the area. Kai told him about the tree behind their building that had numerous strands of green berries hanging down from the upper part of the trunk and that these berries were poisonous. After a photo shoot before we left we had another lesson on the fruit that had fallen onto the road from a tree in the garden opposite. This was not edible but if placed in water would begin to froth and is used when washing clothes hence the name ‘detergent plant’. About the size of the small plum we brought one back for young Ethan to experiment with.
We continued up the road stopping to take a walk in search of another waterfall but this walk took us through a research centre and the ground was very wet. When we came to an information board with admission charges written on it we turned around and returned to the car. I had no idea of the time but it must have been well into the afternoon and so we began our descent back down the mountain as the locals were right – the road went no-where but given time it will.
We stopped to have a look in the street market where again a few school children came up to say hello. Stalls selling meat had several large blue bottles on pieces of nice looking beef and pork despite the man sitting there waving a plastic bag on a stick over it. We looked at bags of fried food at a stall selling square pieces of ‘plastic’ coloured black and cream on one side and cream on the other. When these are placed in the ashes from the fire and covered they swell up to be quite thick and crispy. We also looked at the contents of the river contained in a banana leaf – big black beetles, the last stage of a dragonfly before it gets it’s wings and a woodlice type creature. These would be fried and eaten – but not by us! I bought a bag of 3 apples whilst Keith bought a few sticks of a root that was allegedly good for his sore throat. Kai bought a bottle of liquid Viagra, or so he says, and must take 2 tablespoons twice a day. He was keen to try it and we had a lot of laughter going home about this Viagra and in the end I bet he wouldn’t be able to get the top off!
Although we had been up the mountain, at one time travelling on a road between two higher mountains, we were only 90 minutes away from Chiang Mai using the main highway. We returned to Baan Orapin passing lots of handicraft factories. Earlier in the day Kai had asked if we had been to the woodcarvers and said we would go later. But these factories are geared up for the tourist trade so by the time we reached the area they were all closed.
With very little exercise today we walked over to the Night Bazaar to have our evening meal and people watch at the same time. It was lovely except for the song taos and tuk tuks that were taking a short cut through a not so populated part of the market.
When Kai arrived just after 9am he suggested we pay a visit to the hot springs as it may help our colds. Sounds good but well forego a swim in the mineral baths. Before leaving the city Kai stopped to purchase a hand of small bananas that we would eat wrapped in a cheese slice which meant a stop at the ‘7-11’ supermarket to buy a packet of processed cheese slices – not one of our favourite foods but we have been told it is wonderful.
Out of the city we toured down lots of winding narrow roads coming to a Temple with a very ornate gateway in gold and yellow that had been decorated with paper umbrellas as part of the Lantern Festival Celebrations. A quick visit inside we met a monk who was originally from Kate Wat. The Temple was over 100 years old and he had been there with 6 other monks and 8 novices for 6 years now. At the back of the Temple where 3 dogs were kept in a large cage close to what appeared to be a bird less aviary we saw many items such as wooden elephants, small Buddha statues, vases, etc. arranged on a concrete shelf around a large bunyan tree, the lower branches of the tree being supported by thick props covered in gold and silver leaf. Each prop had names and dates written on being a record of all the donors of these items. The thing about the items was most were damaged but the owners had not wanted to throw them away so had given them to the Temple. We were also stood in an area where the ashes of the deceased had been scattered.
Back on the road we travelled through the lowland area of rice fields where we saw a mini combine harvester at work alongside a man using a small scythe in the next section of the field. Across the road a man was using a strimmer whilst again other workers were using scythes. The landscape was lovely with the yellow fields of ripe rice and then the hills and mountains behind and in this area the roadside was lined with flowering trees full of huge yellow flowers in the shape of a pagoda that looked magnificent against the blue sky.
We arrived at ‘Sankampaeng Hot Springs’ a little dismayed to see so many tour buses in the car park especially as Kai already knows we don’t like the tourist must do bits. We needn’t have worried as they were all local school children out for the day so once in the park it was a mass of purple, the colour of their school uniform. Most of them seemed to be 7 years old and talking to them our questions had to be in an order otherwise the answer to “How are you?” was “I am 7 years old”. Despite the numbers they were so well behaved and quiet and some of them enjoyed being in the photo that Kai took of Keith and I dangling our feet in the stream. We had sat down on a wooden plank secured to the side of the constructed stream and had been told this was a fairly warm part compared to the section further along where in the distance we could see a couple of geysers rising up into the air with steam below. Now I like a hot bath but the heat came as a bit of a shock although it didn’t seem to bother the children. After the photo shoot we splashed about eating our small banana in a now very soft slice of cheese. Kai was right - it was, or rather they were, delicious. Pity we cannot get these bananas in the UK. There were several stalls selling small baskets of hen or quail eggs and as we went to take a closer look at the geysers spotted a large notice board with cooking times for these eggs. By a large trough where the temperature was around 105 degrees people were waiting for their eggs to boil. What a great picnic. As we made our way back to the car we passed the children all lining up to collect a sheet of paper to work on a project to do with their visit. It was at this point I realised all the girls had page boy hairstyles – another of Thailand’s school rules for the younger children. We paid a stop at the few tourist stalls and showing an interest in oils and soaps began a conversation with an Indian or Bangladeshi lady who swears by the soaps. I particularly wanted the cleansing stone for my feet and heeded her warning about not using it too much on the rest of the body. As the items were 3 for 100 baht we bought the two varieties of soap and the stone. The stone is wonderful and not as rough as the pumice we have in the UK.
We had stopped to buy BBQ chicken wings from a street stall, Kai once again having fun with the local people. Normally one asks how much is one piece but today he asked “How many pieces for 1 baht?” causing the lady to walk over to the vehicle and ask him to repeat the question. We drove away with 3 lovely smelling ones neatly arranged in a cellophane bag and tied before being put into a small plastic carrier bag.
Again we returned to narrow roads Kia occasionally getting lost and apologising for having to turn around. We climbed up and up the narrow winding road even though he had been told it went nowhere. We went through a few of the 30 villages in the region as we climbed on top of the world following a small stream that turned into small waterfalls in places. We stopped at one old couple’s house where Kai had hoped to show us how they make the chewing tea. As I had sampled some of this on our last outing I was relieved to find the round concrete vats contained nothing more than plastic bags and other household items. Further up the road we went to watch a young man, his wife and a few other men construct a road down to the stream. A man from Bangkok was having a house built, the frame of which hung to the side of the hill but also required a long winding drive to reach the entrance. We were offered a 900 square metres piece of land with a house built on it for 15000 American dollars.
We came to another village and as we passed through saw a couple of small hand printed signs in English saying ‘Welcome to Shop’. Now who on earth is going to pass through here that understands written English, or spoken. Kai decided to stop and we headed down to the shop. I was lagging taking photos of the colourful plants, especially the orange trumpet tree when I heard a voice say “What the devil are you doing here!” Surely we couldn’t meet someone we knew up here. We didn’t know him he was just glad to meet another Englishman. An American on a motorbike had just left but we hadn’t seen him and we were informed that having lived up here for 5 months we were the second people he could speak to today. We learnt his name was Mike McCue and he hailed from Carlisle. I told him about the man from Carlisle who owns the ‘Guitarman’ bar in Chiang Mai so next time he visits he’ll look him up. Their hospitality was great as his girlfriend Lai, who had just broken her arm, prepared bowls of spicy noodles for us and made us a coffee to have with our chicken and sticky rice. The coffee wasn’t so great as it was a 3 in 1 mixture. We talked about all sorts of things, including ghosts as Mike explained that a lot of the land would have been used to bury family and locals had seen ghosts especially when a piece of land was fenced off. Kai told us of his experiences at having a spirit visit him regularly. He is unable to move and it feels like a heavy object is laid on top of him but when he begins a Buddhist chant the spirit leaves him and he can move freely again. The amazing thing is he knows when it is going to happen and he warns his wife. Mike showed us his wooden table and chair creations he had made to fill in the time whilst Lai’s father stood watching everything without saying a word but giving us a toothless grin. Mike also painted pictures of the local birds and told us about the eagles that are in the area. Kai told him about the tree behind their building that had numerous strands of green berries hanging down from the upper part of the trunk and that these berries were poisonous. After a photo shoot before we left we had another lesson on the fruit that had fallen onto the road from a tree in the garden opposite. This was not edible but if placed in water would begin to froth and is used when washing clothes hence the name ‘detergent plant’. About the size of the small plum we brought one back for young Ethan to experiment with.
We continued up the road stopping to take a walk in search of another waterfall but this walk took us through a research centre and the ground was very wet. When we came to an information board with admission charges written on it we turned around and returned to the car. I had no idea of the time but it must have been well into the afternoon and so we began our descent back down the mountain as the locals were right – the road went no-where but given time it will.
We stopped to have a look in the street market where again a few school children came up to say hello. Stalls selling meat had several large blue bottles on pieces of nice looking beef and pork despite the man sitting there waving a plastic bag on a stick over it. We looked at bags of fried food at a stall selling square pieces of ‘plastic’ coloured black and cream on one side and cream on the other. When these are placed in the ashes from the fire and covered they swell up to be quite thick and crispy. We also looked at the contents of the river contained in a banana leaf – big black beetles, the last stage of a dragonfly before it gets it’s wings and a woodlice type creature. These would be fried and eaten – but not by us! I bought a bag of 3 apples whilst Keith bought a few sticks of a root that was allegedly good for his sore throat. Kai bought a bottle of liquid Viagra, or so he says, and must take 2 tablespoons twice a day. He was keen to try it and we had a lot of laughter going home about this Viagra and in the end I bet he wouldn’t be able to get the top off!
Although we had been up the mountain, at one time travelling on a road between two higher mountains, we were only 90 minutes away from Chiang Mai using the main highway. We returned to Baan Orapin passing lots of handicraft factories. Earlier in the day Kai had asked if we had been to the woodcarvers and said we would go later. But these factories are geared up for the tourist trade so by the time we reached the area they were all closed.
With very little exercise today we walked over to the Night Bazaar to have our evening meal and people watch at the same time. It was lovely except for the song taos and tuk tuks that were taking a short cut through a not so populated part of the market.
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