My So Called Life: Day 3 - 4

Day 3 – Pai to Mae Hong Son: 110km

Our scenic Stop 1

- Me and my shorts against the chilling cold wind-

*Aside, speaking about shorts! We did not go to ant Wat (Temple) during the trip cos I was wearing shorts or skirts almost every day and wz says Budda will think I wanna seduce him with my legs lo. *diaoz loh!

Tham Lod Cave

We went for a guided tour into the pitch dark caves for 1,100 Baht. The cave is about 20m in width, 50m in height and 200m in length. It was here we coined the term for ourselves - ASK aka Ah-Sia-Kia (very rich people). *=)

“Inside can be found a stream running through with it interiors decked with beautiful stalactites and side (ie. Tham Tukkata, Tham Phi Man). The most famous of which is the Tham Phi Man which is as huge as a hall and in which a prehistoric wood coffin was found.”

To me, it was a speculator experience cos I’ve never seen with my own eyes this part of nature before. It’s like watching something from national geographic come to live. =) The cave is very dark & cold, and the walk was tiring and enriching at the same time. We saw a snake in the cave too! =)

-Us in the pitch dark cave-

- on the raft-

-My postcard shot-

-A photo with our guide-

We had our lunch at the eatery near the cave for only 295 Baht. And there was a limping dog roaming around our table. I was freaking out even though the ‘triangle’ was in place. I was staring at the limping dog to ensure it doesn’t come near me and I felt an immerse sense of pity for the little creature. I cried within 10s. It was an emotional moment but my dear friends made it seem like some variety show ‘十秒钟掉泪’ contest. (-.-).

Our scenic Stop 2

-Sipping hot coffee and spilling it… *clumsy gwen in action*-

wz stopped the car by the road side to take this lalang girl shot for me… wee kwok at the back seat opened a pack of chips and ‘watched the crazy girl in play’

-The LaLang girl-

Tham Pla Fish Cave

The fishes here are well-fed with hard boil eggs and vegetables.

It’s here I got the biggest blue black on this trip. *erps! Clumsy gwen* Later on, zhi helped to rub the clogged blood away! =) Thanks #1! =)

Mae Hong Son Night Market

We had round table dinner at one of the local eatery for about 670 Baht. I think it was here wee kwok started his ‘watermelon shake’ craz! *haha!

The night market with the longest line of food stalls. And dozens of stray dogs weaving through the traffic and following anyone with food in hand.

I was attracted to this little boi playing with his wooden sword on the road. He is simply adorable! Look at the innocence on his face!

Golden Pai Resort

The guys decided to go for a swim at 9pm at 10 degrees Celsius and asked us to take pictures for them… *haha! Wee Kwok went into the water for less than 5s before he jumped out of the pool and refuse to pose for a picture near the pool thereafter. *haha! Zhi tried to keep himself warm with a few laps thg… *haha! =)

-Us discussing our itinerary for the next day-

Day 4 – Mae Hong Son to Chom Thong to Mae Chaem to Chom Thong

(203km +++)

In my opinion, this is the most interesting and eventful day on the trip. In every aspect. =)

Our scenic Stop 1

Only wz came with me to take pictures of the Scenic Mountain and valley while others rest in the car. =)

Khun Yuam Museum

Entrance fee of just 50 Baht per pax and we watched a video and took a quick tour in the museum.

-in the screening room-

Sunflower Field

It was a mountainous drive uphill to the Sunflower field I was so looking forward to the speculator view of fields covered with yellow flowers! Unfortunately they bloom from Nov to mid Dec and hence we only got to see very few sun flowers at the end of our uphill drive. According to wz, they are the ‘late bloomers’. =)

Still thanks all for making my wish come true. =)

-us with the car-

-gwen on the car-
-Us with sunflower-

Aside, that’s my footprint! =)

-the scenic sky-

Hot Coffee Guesthouse

It was a pleasant surprise that we got to this sweet coffeeplace opened by a fine Eurasian lady in 2007 to house and create jobs for orphan. The service was very sincere. The food was delicious and of reasonable servings and priced at only 290 Baht. They even drove out to buy ice for Wee Kwok’s Ice coffee!

‘It’s not just the coffee that is hot.’

Peishan and I were reading the guestbook and many of the sweet entries make me wanna stay in this Guesthouse for a day or two if I ever do come back again. =)

It was here I moved closer to the dogs.

Peak of Doi Inthanom

We reached the highest point of Thailand, 2,656m above sea level after a long long drive uphill. We were literally standing above the clouds. Our packs of potato chips in the car even burst open due to the pressure difference!

-Standing above clouds-

-The best comfort of sipping hot espresso when its chilling cold-

Mae Ya Falls

We walked through the forest to reach the mouth of the highest waterfall in Chiangmai. It cascades down a cliff of more than 100 meters high. Every step you take you’ll hear a louder gashing of water from great height, that’s caused the adrenaline to raise.

The scenery at the end of the walk was rewarding. =)

More importantly, it wasn’t a tourist collection centre so it was FOC too! =) But Wei Guo suffered minor injury as he slipped and fell in the swamps. *ke lian!

-at the end of our forest trail-

-wz bringing some fresh water for us to drink-

-Taking the forest trail back to our car-

Weizhi’s Initial D Drive

It was 6pm and getting dark and we were at Mae Chaem looking for our accommodation for the night. We drove 2-3 times along the center town area but were still unable to locate the ‘Touch Star Resort’. So we decided to try the police station. To our surprising horror, the accommodation is not in Mae Chaem but was in another town some 60km away. My immediate response was to look for an alternative accommodation nearby cos its getting dark and driving in the unfamiliar curvy terrain is VERY dangerous.

Yet again, without further ado, wz took the wheel and checked that no one is dying for dinner~ So, we hit the curvey roads and he began his ‘one hour Initial D drive’.

He drove in PITCH DARKNESS in the curvey twist and turns for more than an hour! And he is going at at least 100km/h. I was freaking out at the front passenger seat but I din dare to make a sound. It might distract him. I told myself that if we survive this alive… I wanna be friends for a lifetime with these guys.

And so we did, we reached the resort at 7.15pm. =)

The Ride of My Life
After we reached the hotel…

Ping: 我刚才很怕。
wz: 我知道。

Thereafter, we realize that the people sitting at the back seats were dozing off while we were worried sick as we navigated through the rough terrain. That has gotta be the most memorable experience for wz on the trip I’m sure. =)

This is even more exciting than all the roller coaster rides I’ve taken. On a roller coaster, you know that there were ten thousand people who went on the ride before you and the machine is tested and proven to be safe. Whereas for this, we were entrusting our lives to a dear friend. And I sure had the ride of my life.

Chom Thong Night eataries

We had dinner at the open air road side eateries where we spent very little for so much food! =)

Finally, we headed back to the resort to rest and plan for the next day. It’s a 3 room Single house with 2 toilets and a common living room. Very convenient but only one pillow! Haha! And wz refuse to let me have his extra pillow! *bleh!!

Since its x’mas eve, we played fireworks at our doorstep and I gave them their x’mas pressie too! *haha!

Their x’mas hat~ so they say, it’s more like MY x’mas pressie for making fun of them than their x’mas pressie… *opps!

They look hilarious don’t they? *wahaha!

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Day 5, 25 Dec 08 - Chom Thong to Chiangmai to Bangkok (95km)

-Here’s our pretty Single House-

Elephant Camp

We drove pass the elephant camp on Day 1 but was unable to visit cos it closes at 2.30pm. So, we went back again on the last day of our trip. =) There, we paid 4200 Baht to watched the elephant performance and took the 1 hour elephant ride.

Half the time Peishan and I were too concern that we were too heavy for the elephant to take. *haha! Our 30 years old elephant kept taking breaks to eat, shit and rest during the stroll…

*erps! It was in essence a bumpy and bulky experience.

-Us waiting for the elephant performance-