For today’s adventure we are venturing out south of the city to Doi Inthanon National Park. Doi Inthanon is Thailand’s highest peak at about 2500 meters above sea level, and we have been out to the summit before but this time we are going to skip the summit, and go to some of the waterfalls that are inside the park area. Not only are the falls themselves quite scenic, but they usually have some trails around that we can hike up to do some exploring or take in a viewpoint.

Riam picks us up at 9am and it is off to the mountains and about an hour later we have left the city behind, and are basically in the jungle.  Our first stop is at the Siriphum Waterfall, known for it’s ‘twin’ falls.  When we arrive at the base of the falls there is a small village here and sort of a park-like setup.  A small entrance fee of 20 Baht per person is required in addition to the fee we have already paid to enter the national park.  Most people come out to Doi Inthanon as part of a larger tour and the tour groups are mostly focused on the summit and maybe one of the other falls, so when we arrive we are the only people here. It is nice to not have to share the place with a lot of other people and because we are not on a group tour we can take our time to explore around a bit. The Siriphum falls are ok, but we have seen more impressive waterfalls in SE Asia so after a bit of hiking around it is time to move onto the next stop.

The next falls are the Wachirathan Waterfall and this is the one that most of the day tours will stop at.  There is a road that goes right to the base of the falls and the large parking lot here is an indicator of how popular this stop is.  Luckily for us we are traveling ‘out of sync’ with the large bus tours and when we arrive there are only a couple of other cars in the parking lot.  A very short walk up a grassy hill takes you right to the base of the falls and the scene is quite impressive – I can see why this site gets much more activity than the Siriphum falls at our first stop.  There is a trail that goes down alongside the river and we wander down that way for a few photos and some other nice views of the falls and the riverbed going through the jungle – I think all the time about how to describe what we see in places like this, but the words and pictures are never enough to capture the experience.

Back up at the base of the falls we see a trail that goes up towards the top of the falls – we have done a few of these hikes before and are often rewarded with an amazing view from the top. The trail is in really good shape compared to some of the hikes we have done, and aside from being uphill and a lot of stairs it is actually more of a nice walk than a hike. Sadly, after getting to the the top of the trail, the only reward is short access back to the road that we came in on – any view of the waterfall is obscured by a lot of thick jungle. 🙁 We are starting to see more people here now as the group tours are starting to arrive, so we head back down the trail to the base of the falls where we get a cold drink and load up for the next stop.

Our final stop of the day is at the Mae Ya Waterfall. These falls are also inside the Doi Inthanon National Park, but we have to leave the main entrance and go across a valley to re-enter the park from a different entrance. When we arrive at the falls  we see quite a large parking area, but it is completely empty – not a single car, minivan, or motorbike to be seen aside from us!  There are some park buildings here but they too are empty and I am starting to think that maybe these falls are going to be a dud.

Luckily there is a phone booth here (who even has phone booths anymore) in case you had to call someone – oh wait, on closer examination Mrs. Columbus discovers that the phone like the parking lot is completely dead. Maybe this is where old phone booths come to die….?!

The trail here is one of the best we have been on, and for about 80% of the journey it is basically a road.  If not for a gate at the entrance (by the phone booth) you could easily ride a motorbike or drive a small car up most of the way. A few hundred meters up the trail we reach the top, and the reward is much better than we anticipated. I would say that the scenery and quality of the falls here are much better than either of the others we visited earlier in the day. It is a little puzzling to me way this spot gets so little traffic compared to the others, but I guess their loss is my gain as we truly have the entire place to ourselves and we can take some photos, explore the area, and just relax and take in the serenity.

Before we know it the day has come and gone, and it is time for us to make our way back to Chiang Mai.  We have had a great day out in the park, and aside from the one waterfall on the main road we have been to places that most tourists don’t go to so we feel like we are seeing a bit more of ‘local’ Thailand – one of the advantages of being a repeat visitor I guess 🙂

Looks like today and yesterday are all about taking it easy.  We had a fairly busy few days at the start as we wanted to get a lot done in the few days that Thomas was exploring with us, so we think we have earned ourselves a break 🙂

Yesterday we walked through a bit of the old city and down to the Warorot Market alongside the Ping River.   We have been to this market a few times (I have blogged about it previously here) but it is always worth a wander through.  It does qualify as shopping so I am not at all drawn in by the row after row of Buddha candles and waving cat figurines, but there there is a lot of things at the market that are interesting just to look at.

This is a market where the locals shop, so in addition to clothes and household goods like pots and pans, one can find raw meat, salted fish, and of course the oh-so-important occasional bucket of frogs or turtles.

The thing that really stands out is some of the street food we have had here.  Over the years we have had ice-cream sandwiches, coconut pancakes, mango and sticky rice, a variety of fruits and countless other tasty items.  Today it is the mango and sticky rice, and the pancakes that we opt for – a nice mid afternoon snack!

Mrs. Columbus is getting quite good at cooking Thai food back home, so now when we visit markets like this she is always on the lookout for ingredients that are hard for us to find.  Our friend Ian had picked us up a few packets of curry the other day at the Rimping Market (like a Fred Meyer back home, but with a lot of imported foods as well for the expats) that were all vacuum packed, and today we were able to find the base for Khao Soi as well as dried mung beans which are used for a garnish on mango and sticky rice.  We should almost be able to open a street cart back home now if we could just find a scooter with a grill attached to the side….

Back to see Tee and Ian for dinner at Ginny Cafe where Tee continues to spoil us with good food and treats!  The other day we asked her in passing about a fruit called Noi Na (Thai Custard Apple – they looks sort of like green hand-grenades) that was mentioned to us by Frank and Oy (our Thai teacher back home), and today when we show up she has a few of them that she picked up at the market for us to try 🙂  I keep warning Tee that if she keeps spoiling us this way that I may just move in permanently!

In the interest of being able to provide feedback on the full extent of their menu I have decided to try the cheeseburger for dinner tonight.  Lots of people come by here for their burgers and they are well reviewed so I think it is only right that I form my own opinion. Mrs. Columbus feels like this is a violation of her rule of only having Thai food in Thailand, but I counter that it is being made from scratch by Thai people, so it qualifies as Thai in my book.  Her rules do seem to have some sort of flexibility as I see that she is not all that quick to turn down the chance for a banana split for dessert – her rationale being that the bananas are from Thailand…..

Today we are spending some time getting our plans sorted out for the last part of our vacation.  Over the last few days we have been all over the map trying to decide what to do.  We have talked about a few days in Malaysia, going back to Laos, going up to Pai in Thailand, and almost an endless list of other possible destinations.

After mulling it over for a while we finally pulled the trigger on our original plan to go to Malaysia.  The actual agenda itself is still a bit up in the air as is our normal M.O. but we have booked the plane tickets from here to Penang, and the return from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok so at least we have a framework and will fill in the blanks as we go.

For the rest of the day I see some pool time in my future, and quite likely a massage, and then probably someone will have to twist my arm to go down and visit Ian for a Beer Lao and some dinner 🙂

Today is Thomas’ last day in Chiang Mai.  He has booked a late afternoon flight back to Bangkok to begin his trip back to Ireland and the working world 🙁

Fortunately, his flight out leaves late enough in the afternoon that we are able to squeeze in one more day trip and will then drop him off at the airport on our return to the city.  We have talked about seeing the elephants, and it turns out that Riam says she can get us up to Mae Tang and back in time for his flight. We have been to Mae Tang Elephant Park a couple of times and we quite enjoy the area, and the elephants in the jungle (vs a small space on the beach or a road in Bangkok), so the scenery combined with the company are the makings of a good day.

Thomas signs up for the full package, but we have done this all before so Mrs. Columbus and I opt for just the bamboo raft bit at the end. After Thomas finishes his ox cart and elephant ride we meet back up for the elephant show and lunch.  The place is very busy, much more than we have seen in previous years, and they have trained 2 more elephants to paint so now Suda has some competition!

After the show and lunch it is time for the bamboo raft trip down the river.  I really like the rafting because it is so peaceful and relaxing.  The drivers steer the raft and the current carries you along while you take in the scenery with only the jungle all around.  I wish I could float the raft all the way back to Chiang Mai, but sadly that is not possible due to rapids in a number of places between here and the city 🙁

Before long it is all over and Riam reminds us that we need to make our way back to the city in time for Thomas’ flight.  It is not far, but apparently the Prince of Thailand is in Chiang Mai today for a graduation ceremony at the university, and the traffic is expected to be quite bad as many of the main routes will be closed as he passes through.

We get to the airport in good time and have a few moments to say goodbye to our new friend.  It has been very enjoyable for us to travel together and we have learned a lot from him about Ireland and his travels, hobbies, etc. It has been one of the highlights of our trip so far to meet up with a fellow traveler that has so many common interests.  We have exchanged open invitations to visit each other in the future, so we look forward to perhaps one day being able to show him around Washington, or maybe discovering Ireland with the help of a local.

As is becoming habit, a late dinner with Tee and Ian finishes out the day, and we sit for a while after dinner visiting. The next thing we know it too late to get a massage, but it is just as well and an early night seems like a proper end to the day.

Thomas has booked himself into another day of mountain biking, so Mrs. Columbus and I are going to spend the day getting some other things taken care of.  We desperately need a massage 🙂 and we are also going to meet our friend Riam this morning to plan a few things for this week.

Thomas will be leaving Chiang Mai tomorrow but we are able to fit in a trip to the elephant park before he leaves.  Riam is going to pick us all up early and we will head off to Mae Tang for the morning. After our visit with Riam we stop for lunch (yes, at the usual spot) and then some pool time at the hotel before going out for a late afternoon massage.  Just after we sat down for our massage the skies opened up and the rain beat down, but it was quite peaceful to sit in our massage chairs and watch it come down.

The rain has stopped before the massage ends, and from there we walk over to Ginny Cafe to meet up with Tee, Ian and Thomas.  For Thomas’ last dinner in Chiang Mai we are all going out for Mu Kratha (Thai BBQ).  It is a fun experience to cook your own foods at the table over while socializing with your friends – sort of like we would do with fondue back home.

After a leisurely dinner, we decide that walk back will do us some good and we walk off alongside the moat that surrounds the old city.  As fate would have it our journey takes us past the Crazy German Bar that we were at a few nights ago, and we decide that Mrs. Columbus needs to meet the crazy german.   The intent is to just pop in for a quick beer and say hello, and that mostly goes according to plan, but at some point Kevin (the crazy german) pops out his supply of over-proof schnapps for everyone to have a shot.

Fortunately we only have the one shot (except for Thomas and I who somehow get tricked into finishing Mrs. Columbus’ for her), and Tee and Mrs. Columbus are there to keep things from going off the rails. We have a bit of a busy day tomorrow and we all decide that moving on and getting a good night’s sleep is the right thing to do.

It is Sunday here in Chiang Mai and that can mean only one thing – the Sunday night market.  Our plan for the day is mostly oriented around this, and we have nothing strenuous planned as one would not want to tire themselves out before a grand night of shopping!

Thomas is also a bit tired after his late night out, so it is another late start for everyone and some pool time in the morning while relaxing.

After lunch (or again late breakfast for some) we decide to hire one of the red songtheaws to take us up to Wat Pharthat Doi Suthep for the afternoon. It is the most famous temple in the Chiang Mai area with some great views of the area, so something we think Thomas should see, and of course an opportunity for us to get our yearly blessing from the monks there.  The temple is quite busy, more than we have seen in previous years here, and clearly tourism has picked up a bit – perhaps I need to stop telling people what a great place it is to visit!! 😉

At the end of the day it is back to the city and get ready for tonight’s main event – the Sunday night market. Mrs. Columbus looks forward to this every year and wandering through the blocks and blocks of vendors selling their mostly hand made crafts.  Just as traditional as our return to the market is my getting tired of it after about the first hour!

We have stopped for some street food, walked by a number of stalls, sat under a pagoda for a 15 minute rain storm, and I am about done for the night.  I like to see the market as it is quite a spectacle, and if I had things to buy I’m sure I could find them here, but the shopping is as we say a ‘pink job’ and I have had my fill for this trip.  Mrs. Columbus is happy to help Thomas navigate the chaos though to get the souvenirs that he needs so we part ways and I head towards home as they go deeper into the market.

Fortunately I have a backup plan, and as I walk back towards the hotel I coincidentally have to walk by Ginny Cafe and Ian is around so I pop in for a visit and a beer.  This is where Mrs. Columbus, several packages in tow, finds me a couple hours later still chatting away with Ian and Tee, so I guess the night has been a success for everyone 🙂