Pu Chi Fa

5:30 am

It was dark, and a cool mountain breeze was blowing lightly across the quiet, sleeping village. Pinky and I stood in front of the guesthouse waiting. Yesterday afternoon, we had arranged with the owners to drive us to the peak of Pu Chi Fah, a steep 5km ride to the Forest Park, to watch the sunrise over the famous sea of fog. But last night the owners of the little family-run guesthouse had a family party. They were kind of noisy, and I'm sure that they were drinking, and this morning, it seemed as if they had forgotten us.

I was mad. We had worked so hard to get here, and it had taken a lot of time, money, and effort to make our way up to this village, and the only reason we had even come here was to see the peak. We wandered through the empty village, but there was nobody about. Finally, we decided to do what everyone had told us was impossible: we were going to climb Pu Chi Fah in the dark. We began to walk. We had come this far, and I refused to give up, even if we were going to have to do the trek on foot.

our goal: Pu Chi Fah

 5:45

We began to climb. At first, it wasn't so bad, but the road grew steeper and steeper, and after only five minutes, we were both out of breath and struggling. This was a lot harder than I had expected! The road was really steep! In the dark, it was a little scary when the occasional car would pass us on the narrow winding road, heading up to the peak.

6:25

It was getting light when we finally reached the entrance to the Pu Chi Fah Forest Park. I had long ago taken off my jacket and tied it around my waist. The air was cool, but I was sweating like crazy! I hasn't expected to have to exercise like this today, and I was only wearing my sandals!

The park officer stopped on his motorbike and asked if we were exercising. No, we told him, our hotel forgot about us. He laughed and tried to encourage us, telling us that we only had another kilometer to go.

6:45

We finally arrived at the parking lot. Exhausted, though it was still early in the morning, I downed a bottle of water and bought a small cup of hot coffee at the little market.

This was it! Our long journey was over! Or so we thought...

It turned out that there was yet another kilometer to climb from the parking lot, this time up a slippery and even steeper muddy path on the edge of the mountain. It was kind of  scary! The mud was slick and it felt like I was going to slip and fall down the mountain to the valley far below!

But finally, there it was: Pu Chi Fah, "The Mountain that Points to the Sky", up ahead in front of us! We had done it!

7:00

The views from the parking lot to  the peak were incredible! Stretching out before us were the most wild mountainous regions of the region. Pu Chi Fah is right on the Thailand-Laos border, and we were looking out over the rugged Lao countryside.

And there was the famous Sea of Fog! Even though we may have missed the actual sunrise, the early dawn glow and the Sea of Fog made our trek worth it. 

It was even more special for having walked the whole way; it felt like we really earned our view.

As we reached the peak, the fog rolled in, thicker than before, covering the mountain and wrapping all around us.

 

Pu Chi Fah is sort of a hidden gem in northern Thailand. It's kind of hard to get to, and while it's popular with Thai tourists, not a lot of foreigners make their way to this very remote corner of the country.

T he last bit of the climb was by far the most difficult.As we climbed, local Hmong hill tribe children sang traditional songs for the hikers, hoping to get a tip.

It felt like an amazing accomplishment to reach the top! We had done it all on our own, no thanks to the hotel owners! I was going to ask for a discount, as the only reason we chose that particular guesthouse was because they told  us they would take us to the peak, but the owners never showed their face before we were picked up by our driver to go back down the mountain. I'm sure they realized that they had disappointed us. Who needs them, though!? We did it on our own!

While we did get a ride down back to the village on one of the local public trucks that began running  once the sun was up, it still felt like a great workout, and my legs were burning for the rest of the day!

In the early afternoon, we were heading back to Thoeng to board another bus to  return to Chiang Rai. We still had a few days left in the north, but it was almost time to begin making our way home from our vacation.

Ban Rom Fa Thai

Early one October morning, we found ourselves standing in the muddy lot that passed for Chiang Rai's temporary Bus Terminal 1, feeling confused and a little lost. A minibus would be departing for Thoeng at sometime, a worker told us, but when it would arrive or where it would be parked, nobody knew. We sat down and waited for about an hour. I'll admit, I was getting annoyed with the uncertainty, and I was about ready to give up and just stay in Chiang Rai city, when we were suddenly ushered onto a small white minibus. Before I even knew what was going on, we had paid our 40 baht each, and were on the way out of the city, through the countryside, to a small rural region of the province called Thoeng District. We were on our way to Pu Chi Fah!

Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 (temporary)

For being so small, the bus station was surprisingly nice compared to the temporary field in Chiang Rai, but it was also almost deserted. We were standing almost alone in a quiet terminal, and were finally able to find a songtaew driver to take us up the mountain, Pu Chi Fah, a special place that we really wanted to see!

heading up the mountain

A few years ago, some of my American coworkers took a trip to the Pu Chi Fah Mountain, and after seeing their pictures, I knew I had to go someday too, and see the famous Sea of Fog over the valley. The mountain is famous in Thailand, but not so popular or well-known with foreigner. It's not so easy to get to, however, and after over an hour of zipping up the mountain along winding, nausea-inducing roads, I was so happy to arrive at the little village of Ban Rom Fa Thai, way up in the sky.

the valley

It was quiet. I mean, really quiet. The "village" was just a road of a few restaurant/guesthouses. No real hotels, no minimart (not even a ubiquitous Family Mart or 7-11), no coffee shops. It was peaceful and quiet, and we checked into a little hostel/guesthouse with two rooms, two platforms for tents, and an incredible view overlooking a valley. After asking the songtaew driver to pick us up the following day, we sat looking out over the mountains with a cup of hot tea. This place felt so unlike Bangkok, and really, so unlike anywhere else in Thailand, that it was almost difficult to believe I was still in the same country.

view from the guesthouse

The guesthouse had a little restaurant, a single table on a platform overlooking the steep valley, waited on by the owner's kids and served with food cooked just out back by the mom. The food was good, but the five-star view was what made this tiny little restaurant so special.

little restaurant

Up high in the mountain, the air was a little cooler, and infinitely fresher. There was no pollution whatsoever. The guesthouse seemed to be powered by small solar panels, and although there was wifi, we felt like we really were far away from all civilization. It was incredibly peaceful!

lunchtime!

What we really wanted to do was to go to the Pu Chi Fah Forest Park, operated by the National Park Service, where the famous peak of the "Mountain that Points to the Sky" looks out over the Sea of Fog. The owners of the guesthouse promised to take us up to the park (5km up a steep road) at 5:00 am the next morning to see the sunrise.

the guesthouse

There was nothing to do in the village except relax with a cup of tea and a book looking out over the valley, and it was great!

the view

It was dark by 7:00, and we turned in early, ready for our morning adventure the next day. Before bed, though, I got the chance to see something incredible. Up high in the mountain, once it was dark, it was DARK. There were no lights at all, except for the light of the stars and moon. The view of the stars was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, and I could even see the bright band of the Milky Way cutting across the deep black of the night sky.

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving 2017

 

Wednesday Evening

On Wednesday evening, the night before Thanksgiving, our Baylor "family" invited a group of friends to their home for a traditional Thanksgiving feast for expat friends living in Bangkok!

 

Even Geoffrey, our resident Brit showed up! I like to tease him about how Thanksgiving is a day when we remember some people decided that they would rather starve in the wilderness than live in England.

It's so nice to have a family Thanksgiving feast! It makes it feel like we are not so far from home during the holiday season.

 

Thursday Morning

On Thursday I had my annual M4 class Thanksgiving party!

This year, students brought pizza, chicken, Krispy Kreme donuts, french fries, sugar cookies, apple pie, Russian chocolate, and lots of chips and other snacks! We showed the 2013 Macy's parade, and Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving on the projector while we had our feast.

This year the class is during first and second period, so it was a sort of Thanksgiving brunch.

One student brought lukchup, a Thai dessert that I really like because it looks so nice! These were decorated to look like cherries!

The class Thanksgiving has become a real part of my Thanksgiving tradition. I've done it every year with my M4 (10th grade) students since I moved to Thailand, and it just wouldn't feel like Turkey Day without our very non-traditional class feast.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Chiang Saen Historical Park and Chiang Rai Night Bazaar

As it began getting dark, the long day that had begun early that morning at the White Temple was nearing its end. Our last stop before the long drive through the countryside back to Chiang Rai was the Chiang Saen Historical Park.

The historical park is part of an ancient city that time has forgotten. There's really just a crumbling old wall now, and the main stone chedi.

I admit that by this point, I was feeling exhausted, so I didn't learn so much about this site. We only stopped for pictures for about thirty minutes or so. Our guide was a great photographer, and he helped us to have a really awesome time!

Everyone was quiet and sleepy on the way back to town. When we arrived in Chiang Rai, it was already dark. We were feeling exhausted, but also hungry, so before turning in for the night at the hostel, we walked to the famous Chiang Rai Night Bazaar, the big market in town, for some fresh, delicious northern food.

There were a lot of options! Everything from grilled fish to northern sausage, and even vendors selling plates of fried bugs (a northern specialty)!

 We did not opt for bugs, but instead bought barbecue pork and sticky rice. After spending a brief time exploring the market, it was back to the hostel. Tomorrow would be another early morning, and we still didn't know exactly what we would be doing!

This trip was an experiment for us! Normally we plan far in advance, but schedule changes and visa issues forced us to stay in Thailand instead of following our first plan and going to Vietnam, so once we got to the north, we just took things one day at a time, deciding each night where to go the next day.

We wanted to do something really unique and special though, so the next morning we were up early, heading once again to Chiang Rai Bus Terminal for a ticket out of town...

The Golden Triangle

We stood on a lookout point looking down at the slow-moving Mekhong River as it joined with the Ruok. A cool breeze blew into our faces, despite the hot sun overhead. We were at the Golden Triangle, the legendary point where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet as the Mekhong turns south, eventually to flow through Cambodia and Vietnam all the way to the sea.

Golden Traingle

From where I was standing (Thailand, of course), I could see Myanmar (the triangle-shaped peninsula in the river) and Laos (the far shore on the right-hand side). Hours of driving had brought us here, way up in remote Chiang Rai Province, far from the city.

map of the region

The Golden Triangle was once infamous as Southeast Asia's poppy-growing region, but thanks to royal projects orchestrated by the late king of Thailand, over time the government has been able to encourage local people to grow crops like pineapples and strawberries instead. Fruit agriculture has become more profitable (and better for the society) than opium production.

 

We climbed a steep set of wooden stairs above the Golden Triangle to a small, crumbling, stone temple. It looked really old. Up here on the hill, we were away from the vendors and giftshops at the viewpoint, and it was quiet and peaceful.

 

 
We couldn't stay too long though; our long day of sightseeing which had begun so long ago at the White Temple, was getting into the late afternoon, and there was still more to see.

Our tour took us next to the very odd House of Opium Museum. It was... kind of weird!

It was obviously anti-opium, but the displays all showed exhibits about the history of opium in the region, and included all sorts of rare opium paraphernalia...

... like these 19th-century opium pipes...

... and these creepy baby-shaped porcelain opium pillows.

Just outside, a massive elephant statue invited visitors to climb to the top for a photo. A smaller sign in Thai explained how you could run between the elephant's legs for luck. We did, and as the sun began to sink lower in the sky, got back on our tour van to head towards our final stop for the day.