Getting High in Thailand: A Visit to Doi Inthanon

Yesterday morning we set out for a leisurely Sunday drive. Our destination was Doi Inthanon National Park, which boasts the highest mountain in all of Thailand. We packed the dogs in the back of the truck, and took off.

On the way there we passed a hillside that was covered with huge sculptures. We decided to take a detour and check it out. We turned off the highway, and climbed a windy road through a residential area towards the top of the hill.

At the top we found The Garden. I have seen some pretty amazing sculptures in Thailand, at Wats, around town, in parks. But this place was incredible. It was a “garden of sculptures”, everywhere your eyes fell you were looking at a sculpture. And not your usual type sculptures, either.

From the road below, what had caught our attention however, was the massive sculptures on the hillside.

We climbed back in the truck and continued our journey. Next we stopped at Ob Luang National Park. There was a bit of confusion at this park, as I thought it was our final destination. We had checked at the ranger station whether we could take the dogs on the trail with us, and they said yes, as long as we controlled them.

We got the dogs out and started towards the trail. Half way there Sean and Pink decided not to bring the dogs, because there was a bridge to cross ahead, and they didn’t think the dogs would be able to walk it. They decided to take the dogs for a walk in the other direction, and then put them back in the truck, and meet up with me.

So I wandered on by myself, which was fine with me.

The main attraction at Ob Luang National Park is a deep and very narrow gorge through which rushes the river Mae Chaem.

At the most narrow point a bridge spans the gorge, and on the other side the trail continues up the hillside. This was the bridge that they had second thoughts about trying to cross with the dogs, and they had made a good decision. There was a sign before crossing the bridge that said “5 People Only”. Well, that doesn’t really give enough information, really. Should have the weight limit of the bridge. Thai people tend to be smaller, and weigh less. I could just see 5 huge Americans trying to cross the bridge and crack! the boards give way. It was actually a little scary crossing the bridge.

The area was very beautiful, and worthy of a few snapshots.

I hiked up the hill and came to a spot that had three arrows pointing off in different directions, except two of them had lines through the arrows, indicating not to follow that path. The third arrow indicated the center path, which climbed the hill further.

After hiking upwards for about 20 minutes, I found a nice shady spot to sit and wait for the kids to catch up with me. I waited, and waited, and waited. Finally I decided to back down, which I really wasn’t looking forward to, always so much easier to go up the rocky slope than down, but I was getting worried, thought maybe something had happened to them.

Shortly before getting to the car I ran into them on the path. “What happened?” I asked.

They had taken the dogs for a walk, and had taken longer than they thought they would, and figured I would be back any second. AHA! This is where the confusion came into play. I had thought we were at the main park, and that the trail I was on would take us all afternoon through the park. Turns out is was a side stop, not much else to see than what I had seen, and they were ready to continue on to Doi Inthanon, our destination.

We stopped and had lunch right outside of Ob Luang Park.

We drove for another hour, and arrived at the Royal Project Station. The wind was blowing, and for once I was actually cold!

The gardens were beautiful, as was the spire atop the hill.

We were now in the Doi Inthanon National Park, and the peak was just a couple of miles further up the road. We drove to the very top, and got out and explored. The day was a bit hazy, we had passed several small brush fires along the way, but the view was still impressive.

We walked through a forest area

                                                 which ended at a sign:

The view from that point overlooked the valley below. I can now say that I have been to the highest point in Thailand!

Our timing had been just right (even considering the delay of my waiting for the kids to show up!) We hit some beautiful sunset views on our way back down the mountain.

The drive up was pretty, but from what I hear from Sean and Pink is it was not as beautiful as during the rainy season. We didn’t stop for the waterfalls on this trip. We will come back again, after the rainy season, and catch all the waterfalls, and the lush green hills and valleys.