Doi Inthanon Tour

I woke up early to get breakfast and be picked up for my tour of Doi Inthanon. I was the only female in the group-there were two pairs of guy friends and a dad and son. Everyone kind of stuck to themselves for most of the tour so I didn't get to know anyone.

I hadn't planned on it, but I ended up falling asleep for most of the 1 1/2 hour ride. The first stop was a waterfall in the national park. It was pretty impressive. Next was another waterfall, equally beautiful and a lot less people. Then we stopped at a little village that made cloth and coffee. Next we went to a Hmong market-most of the things they were selling was dried fruit. We had some time to look around there and then went to lunch. After lunch we went on to the highest mountain in Thailand. It was actually a bit of a letdown. There was no view from this peak and I didn't realize we were there and had seen it. It was also quite cool up there, so I was glad I had decided to grab my hoodie at the last minute before I was picked up for the tour. I would have been freezing without it. We left the mountain and went down a little bit to see 2 big temples. These offered a much better view (though it was kind of misty and hazy) and some beautiful gardens. Then it was back to Chiang Mai. Again, I fell asleep on the ride. When I was dropped off I took a little bit of time to regroup before walking into town, which took me about 20-30 minutes.

First waterfall

In a village

Sign for the waterfall

Another waterfall

Goods for sale in the Hmong Market

National Park

Underwhelming-the tallest point in Thailand

The temple

 I found the Sunday Night Market and wandered the giant area closed off devoted to the market. I enjoyed eating 5 or 6 different foods from street stalls and taking in all the sights and sounds. I tried fried spring rolls, some sweet potato dough balls, mushroom wrapped bacon, egg tart, noodles, and roti. I ate my little heart out and everything was wonderful and cheap!

Some cool buildings on my walk

One of my favorites! Some kind of sweet potato fried dough

Bacon wrapped mushrooms

So many noodles!

I wandered around and then made my way back home. I chatted a little bit with my roommate, but unfortunately never caught her name. She is going to be teaching English in Thailand for a year; she is from South Africa.