Japanese Encounter

Not having found a trek to join I moved on thinking I'd try my luck in another place.  But before doing another trek I stopped in a small town called Khun Yuam.  The reason I stopped here is because of a small museum which documents the Japanese occupation of the area during WWII.


When I arrived in the down I disappointed to learn that the museum was closed because of refurbishments.  Downcast I walked to a temple that was used as a hospital by the Japanese.  When I arrived at the temple I was surprised to find a ceremony taking place.  A friendly Thai gentleman came over and explained to me it is the opening ceremony of the not yet open museum.  They were also unveiling a memorial monument for the soldiers that died here.


It was good to meet a few of the Japanese people involved in the ceremony.  I spent a few minutes chatting to Ito sensei (in English).  He is a visiting professor at Chiang Mai University.  Originally he is from Mie University in Japan in the Faculty of Engineering.  We spoke a little about life in Thailand and about the work he is doing in Thailand.


From the temple the procession relocated to the museum (still under construction) where we watched a short movie on the Japanese involvement in Thailand.  Because I was in my standard travelers uniform - shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops - I didn't feel very welcome among the suites, so I moved on and had a tasty lunch down the road.


I was told about a romantic story that unfolded after WWII.  One of the soldiers fell in love with a Thai lady when the Japanese were aided by the people of Khun Yuam.  When the Japanese surrendered and were retreating he decided to stay in Khun Yuam and married the Thai lady.  He lived there until his death in 2001.

No Tours Going

As much as I wanted to go on a hike in the area I wasn't prepared to pay the price they were asking.  Again I was done in by being a solo traveler (the same situation as in Chiang Rai).  There were no other travelers, in a group or not, wanting to do any treks.  I was a bit disappointed but resigned to the facts.  I spent the day wondering the smallest provincial capital I'd ever been to.  It takes a little less than an hour to walk from one end of the city (town?) to the other.

I spent the afternoon chatting with the other guests at the hostel I was in.  I decided to join an elderly gent from Bangkok for the evening.  He had heard about a festival in a village close to the city which he wanted to check out.  So we jumped on his scooter and very wobbly made our way to the village.

There wasn't to much special about the festival.  But it is amazing how a toothless drunk can raise ones spirits.  This intoxicated guy spotted me from across the crowed, marched over to me and instantly bought me a beer.  We spent a few minutes chatting and then he buggered off again.  Mysteriously whenever I wanted to buy a snack or drink he was there to pay for it.

Time to move on

Having explored the surrounding area, left alone by Peter and then completely deserted by Mr Ping, the illusive Butler, I decided to move on to the city of Mae Hong Son.  This is the furthest I'd be from Bangkok within Thailand and only 20 days left on my visa.


Before heading out of the Wilderness I took a few pics of the former lodge.  It's a nice place I could definitely come back to.


In Mae Hong Son I hope to go on another trek into the jungle.

Coffin Cave

Setting my sights a little closer to home I headed up the hill behind the Wilderness to some hidden coffin caves.  The map said it would only take 45 minutes to climb the sleep slope.  But the added annotation said 'no path'.  There was no path! 


It took me two hours of solid uphill bundu-bashing to get to the cave.  I was also lucky I chose the correct ridge to follow.  It brought me right to the base of the cliff where the cave is.  If I'd started on the wrong ridge I'd be a few kilometers off.  Phew.

Amazing Cave

Heading south I had more success than the day before.  Peter was very enthusiastic when he told me about Tham Nam Lang, a huge cave a few hours walk from the Wilderness.  It was tough hiking but well worth the effort.


Just below the mouth of the cave is a huge boulder field.  It was a lot of fun scaling over those rocks.  My rules for 'bouldering' are simple:

1. No hands unless absolutely necessary.
2. No putting feet on solid ground eg sand
3. Go as fast as possible
4. If you slip and hurt yourself no crying

The cave itself is spectacular.  The entrance chamber is enormous.  According to the information I had at hand the cave goes 9km deep.  I didn't find out.

Checking the sights - fail

Done with the moonshining I had a look at the hand drawn map Peter had left me.  It showed a lot of the sights to be seen in the area, north and south.  For today I wanted to head north and find a coffin cave beyond a nearby village.


I didn't find the cave but it was good hiking.  I found some magical spots with great views.

My Guide On How To Moonshine

Peter had to leave for a few days.  Before he left he asked me to finish the batch of fruit in a bowl ready to be processed.  I make terrible liquor.  More practice required.


I'd been introduced to Mr Ping, the illusive Butler, the day before.  His wife came around midday and cooked me a scrumptious lunch and dinner.  They are both originally from Burma so the cuisine she cooks is from there, locally know as Thai Yai.

To the Wilderness

I'd found Peter on Couchsurfing and decided to give him a visit.  It wasn't difficult finding Peter's place but I was lucky a guy leaving was waiting at the turn-off for his bus.  We chatted briefly before his bus came and I made the 30 minute walk along a dirt road to The Wilderness.


The Wilderness is what once was a lodge literally stuck in the wilderness.  It's pretty remote a very rustic.  Peter is on a mission to become self sufficient and live completely off the land with no having to shop for supplies or other amenities.  


I met Peter in the kitchen.  He was making pancakes.  Yummy.


That evening was my education on moonshining.

Cooking My Eggs - Onsen Thai Style!

The hostel I stayed in is really cool and laid back.  There was a drunk South Korean dude, Sun, in my dorm the night before.  He is from Gwangju, not a very touristed city in Korea.  I'd spent a few nights there on my South Korean foray.  So we hit it off well.  He was interested in South Africa, particularly why a white person can call themselves South African.  Thank Buddha for the internet.


I rented a bicycle from the hostel and did an 18km circuit to the south of the city.  My first stop was a natural hot spring.  On inquiry I found out it is possible to soak in the hot spring.  Onsen here I come.


There are a few differences to the Thai hot springs compared to the Japanese onsen.  First, it's mixed bathing.  Consequently, second, everyone is wearing a swimming costume... glad I brought mine.  Third, we'll come to that.


Then there are also the similarities: for instance, talking for an hour to a local in broken English and badly broken Thai.  This conversation covers the usual where are you from?, what job to you do?, are you married?, how long have you been here? etc.  Enough to cover an hours worth.


After soaking it with Lom I met a French girl and an Argentinian girl.  Should have gotten a picture of them, damn.  Around lunch time we got peckish and wondered to the Park kiosk.  There we found out you can buy raw eggs and boiul them in the hot spring water.  20 minutes for a soft boiled egg.  Difference no. 3:  they boil eggs in the onsen.


After eating my scrumptious eggs and cup noodles (made from boiuling spring water) I continued my cycle tour of Pai's surrounds.  I found a bridge that replaced a bridge the Japanese built during WWII.  Pai's version of a canyon - someone didn't look up the definition of canyon when they labeled this one, but it was cool place anyway.  And a big waterfall.


In the evening I hit it up with the funky crowed from my dorm, the hot spring girls and a few South Africans I'd met earlier in the day.

5 Star Hitchhiking

My time in Chiang Mai was done and I hit the road early thinking it would be a long road to Pai (and that's Pai with a B.  Phonetically the town is called Bai.  Nobody knows where 'Pai' is!).  It was a long walk out of Chiang Mai and it took a long time before I got a ride to Mae Malai.


I'd been to Mae Malai a few days earlier coming from Tha Thon.  It's a nice country town with one of the best day markets I've eaten at.  After a brief stop I was on my way again.  Soon an eccentric young guy picked me up.  Through some charades, grunts and 'get in the bloody back will you' gestures I was on my way to Pai.  In my contemplation of how the hell I got in this guys pick-up/bakkie I came to the conclusion what he was trying to tell me is he is going towards Pai but not all the way.  No problemo.


So, about 60km from Pai (he didn't take me to far, just to the point of no return) he drops me at a mountain side kiosk with a few soi (street) dogs ambling about.  I hear him cry "Chokdee to youuu" as he drives away in the direction of Pai.


It didn't take long, maybe 20 seconds, before the Merc came around the corner.  Normally I wouldn't even bother trying to hitch from a Mercedes-Benz.  But he stopped.  A lovely elderly Thai couple in Chiang Mai for a conference took the weekend off to enjoy the mountains.  They work in radio.

When I climbed into the back I could see on their faces they weren't sure why they stopped.  I wasn't sure either but we all had a lovely chat on the way to Pai. 

Trek Day 3 - Easy does it

As our group was only four people including the guide we were able to move a lot faster.  This gave us the luxury of getting up really late, enjoying a leisurely breakfast and ambling to our pick-up point.


We had a tasty lunch of Thai sticky rice and meat before going bamboo rafting.  For the rafting I had no idea what to expect.  I couldn't imagine what the rafts looked like or how they were constructed.  They are a lot more simple than I thought.


The rafting was a befitting end to our trek.  An easy going drift down stream with a moderately strong current.  An occasional rock would cause a ripple in the water that represented a rapid - definitely not the Zambezi River.  We did have to port once though.


All in all the trip was really good.  It was a bit tamer than I would have preferred and we didn't follow the trip outline exactly.  But what can you do... this is Thailand.  Our guide more than made up for any shortcomings with his personality and knowledge.