Tag Archives: mountain

Doi Mae Salong

Doi Mae Salong (Thai: ดอยแม่สลอง) is a place with a very interesting history. It is also one of my favourite places in Thailand. The official name of the village is Santikhiri (สันติคีรี), but it is located on a hill called Mae Salong (“doi” means mountain in Thai).

I mentioned the interesting history of the place. The early days of Doi Mae Salong go back to the time of opium trade in the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle was the name of the area where three countries border each other – Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos – and it was infamous for drugs trade. The following history was adopted from Mae Salong’s Wikitravel website (here).

In 1949, after the Nationalist Kuomintang government was formed, 93rd Division of the Chinese Nationalist Army refused to surrender to Chinese communists.

Unlike most of the unrelenting nationalists that fled to Taiwan in 1949, a force of 12,000 escaped from Yunnan to Burma and continued an insurgency against the Peoples’ Republic. They were at first supported by Taiwan and the USA, but diplomatic shifts later led to the partial disbanding of the nationalist forces in Burma. While thousands left for Thailand in 1961, many remained in Burma.

The soldiers that settled in Mae Salong kept it as a military base in preparation for an eventual counter-attack against communist China. They funded their arms purchases with opium production and rubbed shoulders with notorious Burmese warlord and drug baron Khun Sa, who lived a few kilometres away in Ban Hin Taek and who initially trained with the Kuomintang before founding his own army.

In the 1970s the Thai government struck a deal with the renegades: the battle-hardened soldiers would help them fight Thailand’s own communist insurgents in exchange for legitimacy and Thai citizenship. Part of their going straight involved the soldiers’ cessation of opium production in favour of the cultivation of mushrooms and above all oolong tea (a kind of between green and black tea, with the green being more dominant), which is now Mae Salong’s main product. The tea plantations can be spotted at almost every hill and valley in the area.

The road to Mae Salong is very windy and sometimes steep, yet usually very well constructed, which makes it seem actually pretty easy. Bear in mind that it doesn’t mean it is completely safe at all, as we have witnessed ourselves – but more about that later.

Probably the most famous place in Doi Mae Salong is Phra Boromathat Chedi, stupa built in honour of the Princess Mother, Srinagarindra. Next to the chedi is the Princess Mother Hall, a modern, Thai-style pavilion looking similar to a temple on the outside. There are two ways leading to the stupa – one on your feet, through 719 steep stairs (on photos) and very steep and windy paved road coming from the other end of Mae Salong (you can see the steep end of this road on the photos as well).

Other places worth mentioning are Tomb of General Tuan, the founder of Mae Salong, and Chinese Martyrs’ Memorial Museum (ticket: 20 baht, about 0.5 euro, in 2013). Museum is rather modest and its purpose is to keep the memory of soldiers that died during the fights against communism.

What is most breathtaking, are the views. Beautiful panorama can be seen especially from Phra Boromathat Chedi – from there you can also see the overwhelming tea plantations. It is definitely worth staying here for one night. During my last visit, it was a time of Tea Festival, Sakura Blossom and Several Tribes culture (not perfect name in English, but hey – this is Thailand). There was a procession of hill tribe members (living in the proximity) dressed in traditional clothes that walked through the length of the village. There was also a big marketplace and a large stage, where one could admire the shows of local folklore.

Mae Salong was founded by Chinese people from Yunnan province and therefore is a perfect opportunity to try the Yunnanese cuisine. Personally I love Yunnanese beef curry served with mantou (Chinese steamed bun without filling). Salapao (Chinese steamed buns with fillings) are also well worth trying.

On the way back we witnessed a scene of an accident – the truck has stopped on the tree growing at a turn. It is not something you can see every day. So much about the road safety.

Before arriving in Chiang Rai town, we briefly stopped at Pong Nam Ron hot springs. At that time they were still under construction, the only ready things were places for dipping feet and  ponds for boiling eggs.

The photos come again from many trips to Doi Mae Salong so do not be deceived by my constantly changing look.

Doi Mae Salong (A – Doi Mae Salong, Santikhiri village, B – Pong Nam Ron hot springs)

Doi Phahompok National Park

I almost forgot to include a post about the remaining part of Doi Phahompok National Park. You can read the first part here.

The most popular part of Doi Phahompok National Park (Thai: อุทยานแห่งชาติดอยผ้าห่มปก) are Fang hot springs located nearby the town of the same name. The springs are very picturesque as they are located next to the mountains. On a large meadow there are randomly placed rocks of various sizes – all natural. The hot water comes to the surface and creates ponds of different shapes and sizes. The larger ones were adapted for egg boiling. We can buy a pack of eggs, submerge them in the hot water, wait for about 20 minutes and eggs are ready to eat. This way they will also contain minerals from hot springs and therefore they should be healthier.

There are few large pools with hot water available for visitors (the water is not too hot so that entire families can enjoy) as well as private hot spring cabins with round shaped stoned bathtubs. The private cabin costed 50 baht per person (about 1 euro) per hour for min. 2 people (a single person could use a private cabin by paying for 2 people).

The national park also contains some waterfalls. Unfortunately, most of them are localised in areas that are hard to reach (the roads are steep and unpaved). At the beginning I followed the way to one of the waterfalls recommended by a park ranger but eventually common sense took over and I turned back. I have only visited easily accessible Pong Nam Dam waterfall – maybe a small one, but not without its charm.

Doi Phahompok National Park (A – ticket booth, B – Kiew Lom camp ground, C – Fang hot springs)

Doi Phahompok – The mountain top

Doi Phahompok (Thai: อุทยานแห่งชาติดอยผ้าห่มปก) is the second highest mountain in Thailand (2,285 MSL) located in Chiang Mai province, not far from Fang city. It is not too popular among tourists – usually only locals go there. In order to reach the mountain top, it is necessary to use 4WD or a motorbike. The road is dirt and very challenging. One time I went up on my faithful 125 cc Honda Sonic (just take a look at photos, how dusty the road is!) and another time I went on the back of a local’s pick up truck. Outside of the season (the season goes from December until February) almost nobody comes here.

Before reaching the camp site, it is worth taking a small detour to the left, a little bit after the ticket booth (ticket for foreigners – 400 baht, about 9 euro, ticket for Thais  – 40 baht, about 1 euro) in order to see the Huai Bon cave. The cave entrance is rather small, but the cave goes on for 324 m and the corridor is anything between 2 and 25 m wide. Inside the cave, one can find many interesting rock formations, not to mention the abundance of stalactites and stalagmites. There are no lights whatsoever inside the cave so it is necessary to bring your own torch (flashlight). There are few other smaller caves in the area, but there are no signs pointing their exact location. Rarely people come to visit Huai Bon cave – I was the only visitor there. After seeing the cave, it is time to move on.

By going up, we reach a camp ground – the highest in Thailand (1,924 MSL). One can easily rent a tent. During the season, there is also a working restaurant here. There is a 3.5 km trail that allows us to reach the mountain top. The trail goes up almost all the time and can be challenging for some. The park rangers said that it takes about 2 hours to reach the summit. For me, as I am an experienced hiker, it took only one hour. First time I woke up at 4 am to reach the summit for the sunrise at 6 am, but instead I have reached the peak at 5 am and I waited over one hour for the sunrise (at that time I was also the only tourist – really the only one who was spending a night there). The second time I knew that it will take me only 1 hour to reach the summit so I started my hike later.

“Doi Phahompok” means “mountain with a flat top” and so it is – the top offers great views in all directions. The peak has 2,285 MSL, so in the morning we are above the clouds and the rising sun comes out of the sea of clouds. When we look to the west, we can see the border with Myanmar (Burma, and further into the country) and military outposts on the mountain tops. A little to the southwest one can see Doi Ang Khang (which I covered in the previous posts) if the weather is clear enough.

Doi Phahompok National Park offers other attractions nearby – famous hot springs and few waterfalls. I will cover these in the next post.

On the way I have made a stop at one temple, which houses the 300 year old wooden Buddha image – it is quite unique, and therefore, worth seeing.

Don’t forget to check out the second post about Doi Phahompok National Park by clicking here.

Doi Phahompok National Park (A – ticket booth, B – Kiew Lom camp ground, C – Fang hot springs)

Tha Khaek Loop, Laos – Day 3

Imagine a river disappearing inside a monolithic limestone mountain  and running 7 km through pitch-black, winding cave –  and you have a glimpse of what Kong Lo cave is (sometimes spelled as Kong Lor), truly one of the natural wonders of Laos. This cave-cum-tunnel is quite impressive – up to 100 m wide in some places and almost as high. Boat is naturally a mean of transportation for visiting the cave – a motorised canoe, to be exact. The canoe is operated by two guides (the entrance ticket was 20,000 kip, hiring a boat with guides 100,000 per boat for up to 4 people, so altogether I had to pay 120,000 kip – about 10 euros – as there was nobody around to share the boat with). To pass through the cave one have to spend almost an hour in the canoe (one-way).  I had to change the shoes for flip-flops, as it is not possible to make the journey without going in the water. In the main cavern there are some lights which enable us to get a better look for stalagmites and limestone formations. It pays to bring your own torch – I had my faithful head light with me. It is really a pity that the only light in the cave is only in the main cavern – if there were lights along the entire tunnel, it would definitely make it more attractive and the boat trip would be much more interesting. The visiting to the cave includes going all the way to the other side and a short walk to the local village – there we had a short break for a sip of water – and of course, going back. It all takes about 3 hours. The village itself looked just like any other village – the guide took me to his friend’s house, where they had a little chat about this and that – of course in local language – we had some boiled water and went back. On the photos you can see how locals live in the village.

On the way back to Tha Khaek I have made a stop at the sala viewpoint near Km 36. One should never miss that spot, as the scenery is indeed dramatic (the panoramic photo is just a fraction of how it really feels). I have arrived in Tha Khaek early evening, skipping some places that I was about to see the next day.

From Kong Lo cave (A) to Tha Khaek (B)