January 29-31st
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| Cave entrance |
Chiang Dao, north of Chiang Mai by 100 or so km, is known for a large limestone cave and the second highest peak in Thailand...with a 17km hike to the top (we were not getting our hopes up for this... assuming it did not exist). The cave had a temple built into the entrance, with A row of Buddha statues adorning one wall, and many smaller Buddhas placed throughout the first chamber. A local woman with a pressurized gas lantern gave us a tour, pointing out the local names for some of the formations and lead us through the other three non light chambers. The next day we set out to climb the peak, again with low expectations of finding the trail. The road through the Park was lush and beautiful, but steep and hard for the scooter with two riders. We were pleasantly surprised to find the trail where the guest house owner had told us it would be, and even more pleasantly surprised to meet a few people on the way who confirmed that we would in fact make it all the way to the top of the peak. Chirping birds abounded amongst the bamboo and banana palms, the limestone peaks looming almost vertical above our heads, 17km later we reached the summit with little in the way of a commanding view, due to smog from China and slash and burn agriculture....truth be told we came for the hike not the view, and happy to have finally found a long hike, we didn't mind the smog.
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| Doi Luang summit |
