Chiang Mai, Thailand: Today is another tour, this time to Doi Inthanon National Park. This park contains the highest point in Thailand at 2,565 m. The park was about a two hour drive from Chiang Mai, again in a large van with a group of nine of us.
Our first stop for the day was at Wachirathan Falls.
The falls are easily reached by a short path from the parking lot. There is also a path that leads farther up the hillside with the falls or further downstream to some lower falls.
In total, across the series of falls, the river drops about 80 m in elevation.
After a short drive we stopped at another water fall – Sirithan Waterfall.
On the way back up from this waterfall, I stopped to notice the size of the leaves all over the forest floor and on the path.
From the falls we went to a small village. There they ground freshly roasted coffee beans that were grown locally and brewed coffee for us.
I also noticed that the roofs of some of the covered areas were made from the same type of leaves that I had seen earlier in the forest.
After leaving the village, we drove up to the summit of Doi Inthanon itself. Again, it was a short walk from the parking lot up to the peak of the mountain.
It was surprisingly cool up here compared to back in Chiang Mai – about 70 F compared to 98 F. Oddly, after passing the sign above noting the highest point in Thailand, we continued a bit farther up hill to a small shrine.
Back behind the shrine was a survey marker denoting the real highest point in Thailand
The rainforest was quite dense up here.
Nearby, there was a short nature trail on an elevated boardwalk that wound through the forest.
Many of the trees were covered in sphagnum moss. Although dry and brown now, when exposed to water it easily revives and becomes green again.
The last part of our visit to the park was to the pair of pagodas built to honor King Rama IX and Queen Sirikit. King Rama IX was the longest reigning monarch in Thai history and is clearly held in quite high regard by many of the Thai people. His actual name was Bhumibol Adulyadej, while his full title was Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poraminthra Maha Bhumibol Adulyadej Mahitalathibet Ramathibodi Chakkrinaruebodin Sayamminthrathirat Borommanatbophit. Our guide had a short song she used to remember / say his full title.
I headed up first to the King’s pagoda which afforded a nice view of the surrounding hills.
From here one can see the Queen’s pagoda, which was getting cleaned while we visited.
Within the King’s pagoda were several panels displaying key moments from the life of Buddha.
The last panel shows the infant Buddha walking as lotus flowers spring up beneath his feet as explained in the panel below:
While reading this I was wondering whether it would be more shocking as a woman to become pregnant while still a virgin, or to give birth and have your child walk out proclaiming himself the greatest person in the world. Either one – a pretty noteworthy event.
Walking down from the King’s pagoda, I then went up the steps to the Queen’s pagoda. While the gardens around the King’s pagoda had been cleared and were undergoing renovation, those near the Queen’s were in full bloom.
The garden area provided a nice view of both pagodas, the hillsides, and all of the flowers within the garden.
Similar to the King’s pagoda, there were tile panels on the Queen’s pagoda as well.
I wandered around the Queen’s pagoda a bit longer taking in the view.
Eventually, it was time to leave and I headed back down to the parking lot. The gardens were still pretty impressive down there.
As we were getting back into the van, several of us stopped to look at a large, black butterfly unlike ones I am used to seeing.
Leaving the park, we then drove the two hours back to Chiang Mai. After going back to the hotel, I headed out to look for something to eat. There was a large area of street vendors on the road near the moat surrounding the old city.
There was quite a variety of freshly cooked food to choose from.
Ultimately, I ended up going to a nearby restaurant and having salted, grilled whole fish.
After dinner, I walked back to the hotel and went to bed early because of my 6:00 AM flight to Hong Kong tomorrow morning.