Chiang Mai - Doi Inthanon

Doi Inthanon is the tallest peak in Thailand, and it takes about two hours to get there from Chiang Mai.  We left Elena and Young at home again, and set off relatively early Monday morning.  I had been hoping that Chiang Mai would be colder than Bangkok, because it's farther north, but so far it had only been cool in the mornings.  I was hoping we would be up high enough on Doi Inthanon to get some actual cool, crisp weather.  I was not disappointed.

First we had to get into the national park though.  I got in line to buy tickets and showed my Thai ID for resident price which was 30 baht.  Unfortunately, tourist price was 300 baht, and we had more tourists than residents, so that got a bit expensive.  As we got higher up the mountain though, the driver rolled down the windows, the cool air came into the van, and it was all worth it.  There are two temples on the peak, and we could see them from the car.

There wasn't any parking in that part of the park though.  Instead, our driver kept going a little ways to the van parking area and pointed out the free songthaews (covered pick up trucks) that would take us back to the temples.  We like songthaews if it's not too far to go, and it let us enjoy the fresh air, so we were happy.

The weather at the top of Thai mountains seems to be perfect for gardens, and Doi Inthanon has a beautiful one.

The views were great too.

Vivian decided that the gardens were Wonderland and she was Alice.  She wandered around completely happy in her own little world while the rest of us took pictures and enjoyed the view.  We stayed up there for quite a while just taking it all in and taking fun photographs.

Finally, we decided we should go and got in line for the songthaew back to the parking.  We got on one that wasn't full, but my sister and cousin really wanted to ride standing up in the back, so they hopped on there.  I took a picture in case it was the last time I saw them, but they were fine.

The park also has lots of waterfalls, some more accessible than others.  On the way back down, we stopped at one that had parking nearby, so it wasn't much of a walk.  It was beautiful.

It was warmer at the bottom of the mountain, as you can see.  No sweatshirt needed.  

There was an open air restaurant there, nothing as nice as the one we'd stop at on the way down from Doi Suthep, but a step up from the plastic tables on the side of the road.  They had pad sew gai, that wasn't fantastic, but it filled us up.  The real treat was a woman selling Chiang Mai strawberries which are small and sweet.  Vivian wiped out a container in minutes, and I got a couple more to take back to the house.

When we got home, Elena was pretty grouchy about being constantly left behind, and she hadn't napped.  Jeff and I decided that Young needed a night off, so we stayed home with the girls and sent her out to dinner and shopping at the night bazaar with my family.  They made another attempt at Huen Phen.  There was still a long wait, but this time they chose to wait and see what all the fuss was about.  They hung out for an hour until a table was ready.  When I asked Young if the food was worth all the fuss, she made a face.  I guess not.  She and my mom left the rest of them at the restaurant and went shopping together, and it sounds like she enjoyed that part.  We definitely enjoyed Chiang Mai, but after four days, we were all ready to go home.