The two countries of Thailand are North and South. Part 3.
Part 3. In which we first get cold, then we get exhausted from the heat, and in the evening we look for, but do not find, flashlights.
November 21, Wednesday. Doi Inthanon - Chiang Mai.
Plans for the day:
- Mae Wang National Park. Pha Chor Tourist Point (rocks)
Royal Park Rajapruek
- Wiang Kum Kam
- Temple Wat Chedi Liam (included in the Wiang Kum Kam complex)
Unscheduled:
- Pha Lat Temple
Total mileage 147 km
The night passed in agony. It was cold and very, very hard) Late in the evening, I discovered that instead of sheets on mattresses, there were just mattress covers. True, we must give them their due - they are completely clean. The same was true with blankets. There were no duvet covers or sheets. But the blankets are absolutely clean. I have a nose for such things) It's strange, why wash a mattress pad and a blanket after each person, if you can buy bed linen.
I don't know if I slept, but if I did, I woke up every twenty minutes. I went out to smoke, feed the mosquitoes, stare into the darkness.
About mosquitoes should be said separately.
In the house we turned on an electric fumigator, I always carry it with me and records for it. But this time I couldn't buy the records at home, and I couldn't buy them in Thailand either. It's good that the fumigator is designed for both records and liquid. The liquid was bought at 7/11. If not for this fumigator, mosquitoes would have eaten us alive. I have never seen coils burned in hotels.
In this hotel, among the rice fields, the mosquitoes were especially biting. But even though the whole house consisted entirely of cracks, mosquitoes did not bite inside.
But the body spray, also bought in Thailand, did not help us. It burned the skin, but mosquitoes bit through this fiery layer. As soon as I went out onto the terrace, thousands, no, hundreds of thousands, of mosquitoes attacked me.
But, as soon as it dawned, we admired the sun flooding the rice field and the trembling light fog that wrapped each plant in crystal dust, forgave this place for everything, photographed the magical landscape goodbye, and moved on. By the way, it was very cold in the morning.
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They drank coffee right in a local cafe, where they could not explain that we needed sugar. There was no internet, and my International Sign Language didn't help. Moreover, in Thailand in any eatery there is sugar on the tables, along with spices. But it was not here) But the coffee was excellent. After a sleepless night, I was so cheered up that I rode until midnight as if nothing had happened)
We are in a hurry to catch Mae Wang National Park before the heat. We are interested in Pha Chor rocks. The rock park is located near Doi Inthanon Park. If we had enough strength, then we could have been here since the evening, but we could not ride to Chiang Mai, and then back. I knew it would be very difficult for my husband. It was the first time he went with me on such a "racing" trip, and a spinal injury does not allow him to sit for a long time. That is why we stayed overnight in the park. Well, of course, I also wanted to see the rice fields at dawn)
Entrance 100 baht. For a car 30 baht. I really don't understand why you have to pay for a car. We walked there.
In preparation, I marked the route on the map, but the driver went his own way and drove to the rocks from Pong Cho Lake.
I don’t know if the road is better there, or maybe he just didn’t know another, but our driver did not take into account one circumstance - there is a lower parking lot, from which you can go along a flat path, and not up the stairs, which is especially important on the way back.
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We did not know this either and stomped down the long stairs down into the gorge, which led us to the coveted rocks.
By the way, in front of the rocks there is a rather high rise, then steep steps down. Very hot even in the early morning.
The road from the rocks to the exit is very narrow and very beautiful, although then everything goes out into the same gorge along which we came.
After standing and thinking carefully near the stairs, we went to the lower parking lot. Then they tried to go up the highway, but soon I was blown away and sat down in the shade to wait while my husband darted behind the car like a boar.
I can’t say that these rocks made an indelible impression on me, there are very few of them and they are not rocks at all) But they certainly deserve a visit.
In total, we were in the park for 40 minutes, no more. Considering that I slow down and go up the stairs even more slowly, I can put half an hour on it, or even less.
Further, without incident, we go to the park Royal Park Rajapruek.
The time is 10:40, the sun has already cleared up in earnest, and the park is completely open, with almost no shade. Entrance 100 baht.
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Inside, we quickly look for an electric machine and go to the first pavilion - the orchid pavilion. Then I found out that you can walk to the orchid pavilion in two minutes from the main entrance) But we drove much longer)
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In my opinion, this pavilion is the most beautiful, and together with the neighboring flower pavilion and a small open area, they create the most beautiful area of the park.
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Nearby there is a building, some kind of space something) We did not go there)
Having worked up, we are again waiting for the electric machine and going to the butterfly pavilion. Here we are all alone. Lots of bugs and some butterflies. It could have been skipped.
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Again we sit, waiting for the machine. We wait so long that we are afraid to get off at the next stop. We leave only near the temple. It's incredibly beautiful here. Probably, nevertheless, it is here that the most beautiful zone) Or that one? ) I don't know)
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The temple itself is solemn and empty) And cool.
There are no people on the central alley. No one in their right mind would go there under the scorching sun.
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I want to walk and don't want to wait for the car. But, having assessed the weather conditions and our strength, we again go to a stop. Several Chinese bands are waiting with us. Hopes to squeeze in at this stop are melting before our eyes. But a miracle happened) We went around the car from the rear and found a couple of empty seats.
The car did not stop even once, although we passed pleasant zones. I would love to wander among the big white rabbits or in the zone of different countries (I still did not understand where it is). But the stop was already at the main entrance. No one bothered us to drive another round. Or a few) But I really wanted to cool off. We bought smoothies, lay down on the podiums with pillows, turned on the fan (I always have it with me). If it weren’t for the smells of the sewer, periodically brought by a light breeze, we would have been lying there for a long time.
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And so, I was more attracted to the alley with a fine spray of water. Wet smoke was blowing in my face and it was so cool! I cooled there for a long time, and then went closer to the central alley.
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It was then that I saw that the orchid pavilion is here, from the very edge)
Of course, the heat is a terrible minus of this place. I had an umbrella, a fan, it was November outside, and in general I am a heat-loving person, and then, my internal organs melted and smoke came out of my ears. How can you be there in the summer?
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But I'll tell you - the park is very impressive! He is incredibly handsome and very well groomed.
We were there for 2 and a half hours. In principle, for 1-1.5 hours you can have time to admire the whole park.
One o'clock in the afternoon, the sun is at its zenith, it's time to go look at the excavations Wiang Kum Kam. Entry 150 baht.
Well, I wanted to dig. I love ancient stones and thickets. And I love digging.
But it didn't work here)
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The territory is vast, you can’t get around on foot, and only large groups carry electric cars. For loners like us, there are horses and carts. I would even say that it is a pony. Little horses. The husband saw them and balked.
- Look at me and look at the horse!
And further in the same spirit - they say, it will be difficult for the horse to carry us, and it does not smell very good, and the cart is too narrow for two. My husband very rarely resists, but if he resists... It cost me the effort so that we, after all, went. In general, he did not like it in the end)
I forgot that there are bicycles there! ) They didn't offer us, but if they did, the show would be great. Yes, children and dogs would run after us! )) And only dogs.
There is no fee for the horse, tips are welcome.
The excavations themselves do not particularly impress even me. Well, bricks and bricks. I read, of course, the history of these places, but I probably expected more. Some roots, thickets, jungle, shootout chase)
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But there are not only bricks. Sometimes there are interesting finds along the route.
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There is a white little temple.
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It has an unusual architecture. Does anyone know what style this is? Never seen these before.
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There is a very interesting painting inside.
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Around the sculpture of ancient deities.
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But, nevertheless, the most beautiful and most mystical building here is Chedi Liam.
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She is tall and does not want to fit into the lens.
Figures in the "windows" of the chedi, so... romantic). These are Buddha figurines, but I imagine a story about an inconsolable widower who builds a huge chedi on the grave of his beloved, and decorates it with numerous windows, each of which contains a bright image of the deceased. Maybe you've heard it before, or maybe you've made it up. I can)
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After the Chedi, it would be completely pointless to look at the bricks, the organizers of the wild fun with rides in the heat know about this. The tour ended, the horse and I mutually breathed a sigh of relief.
It's half past three, it's still early to go home.
I wanted to go to the Cake Shop at the Dhara Dhevi Hotel. But I was not sure that we would be able to get into the hotel itself, which interested me more from an architectural point of view than from a culinary one.
That's what I wanted to see, but the Internet said that only guests can see all this for $ 377, at least.
photo from internet
In addition, the hotel is located in a completely different direction than the Pha Lat temple. And I really need it too! This temple is located so far from the city and so inconvenient for transport that I did not have another chance to visit it.
Therefore, the choice was made in favor of the temple.
Pha Lat Temple. The entrance is free.
I imagined it as old, deserted, atmospheric…
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In principle, everything was true, except for the desert. There are many people. Restoration work is underway. This makes it difficult to enjoy the past. And yet, the temple is very atmospheric!
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In ancient places, especially in temples, there is a certain aura of goodness. And I always feel it, even if the marafet is already pointed)
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And if everything is overgrown with moss, then I'm just thrilled)
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The heat has already subsided, despite the fatigue, I want to walk there and walk. Or sit)
And we would have sat there, next to the monks, on the river, but we already really wanted to go home. I needed to rest, take a shower and go turn on the flashlights.
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Looking ahead, there were no flashlights that day. It was possible not to rush.
The hotel we checked into this time, Manee House, was also lovely - cheap and not too shabby. It had a pool and even a window in the bathroom. And the washing was especially beautiful) This is important to me. 40 baht per 1 kg, do not iron, but wash well.
It was not very convenient to go to smoke in the smoking area from the third floor, but that was the only inconvenience.
I don’t know how people manage to book accommodation for 300 baht and with good conditions, I still have to study and study. This $19/night hotel was about the cheapest accommodation on the entire trip and made me very happy. I swam in the pool every day and with pleasure)
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That evening, we finally found the macaroni we needed with tasty and not spicy soups.
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They even found pancakes on top, but they weren't the same again)
We also had our first foot massage. Good massage. 200 baht for 1 hour, what more could you want for a hot winter holiday evening? ) Lacked only flashlights.
Despite the fact that no lanterns were lit that day, there was a festive atmosphere near the western gate of Tha Phae Gate.
The day was a success)
