Doi Inthanon

Today we went to Doi Inthanon which is the highest point in Thailand. Moo’s husband Adrian joined us for the day. On the drive up the mountain, he talked a lot about the adventures that he has had in the parks, past hikes, and plants he has seen. We were surprised by the crowds of people at the park. Many families escaped the city for the long weekend and were prepared to tour the park, camp, and have a nice lunch. After sitting in a traffic jam near the top of the mountain, we were able to pass through and drive to the summit where we met our guide. We decided to take the Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail, a 5k trail (2735) that ventures through mossy forest, waterfalls (2677), streams, and meadow. At points we were staring at large Rhododendron (2727) as the clouds came by our heads - high point 2,200 meters (2722). It was interesting to see plants that could have been (or could be cousins to) Liriope, Parthenocissus, Hypericum, Polygonum, Tradescantia, Hypericum, and Vaccinium. Our guide was a local, he is 18 and in school. He as well as the other guides have taken seminars put on by the forestry service. If they have free time on the weekends they can just show up in the morning to lead tours of the forest. A guide is mandatory to tour this trail (2710). He didn’t speak any English but we were able to ask our questions through Arika.

2735

2677

2727

2722

2710

After our hike we jumped back into the van for the drive down the mountain. We were invited to dinner at Moo and Adrien’s house. Their cook prepared a northern Thai feast for us which we enjoyed while talking about all the types of tropical fruit you could enjoy seasonally while living in Thailand. KD