Well, thankfully, Ben came back up from his trekking in Chiang Mai on Friday. We took a walk to the yellow tables, had a nice normal sized meal, and then headed back to the hotel in hopes of getting a good nights rest and an early start the next morning.
On Saturday, we rented a scooter and headed up north for a quick day trip. We planned to go to Mae Chan Winery and Mae Salong. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to those places. When I asked Ben if he knew how to get there and he answered in the affirmative, he really meant to say he just saw the signs to go to those places the last time he traveled up that highway. Basically, he had no idea and being of the gender who hates to ask for directions, we got lost and switched to plan B, which was to head toward Doi Tung.
Doi Tung is where the Princess Mother built her Royal Villa and the Mae Fah Luang Gardens. Located high in the mountains,about 1800 meters from the Myanmar border, the roads there are winding and steep. At one point, the little scooter we were on could not get us up the hill so I had to jump off and walk, which was fine since the scenery was breathtaking and my butt was hurting from sitting on the bike too long anyway.
Eventually, we did make it to our plan B destination. We had a quick bite to eat, took a leisurely stroll around the gradens and took lots of pictures. We then went to the villa, which was located across the street. There we we were given prison issue jean pants (because our shorts did not quite fall below our knees), which had to be worn over our the shorts we were wearing. Needless to say, they were incredibly hot (not in the good looking sense) and they made me look fat. Ok, make that fatter... I guess I shouldn't complain. They made everyone do it. Even this poor old lady in a wheelchair!
Anyhow, we took a quick tour of the villa and then left. If you are wondering why I have no pictures of the villa, its because I was carrying my camera in my short pocket and once I realized that I had forgotten to take it out before I donned the ugly pants, it was too late and I couldn't be bothered to take them down to get pics of the villa. So, if you want to know what it looked like, just imagine a large Swiss chalet. Apparently, the Royal family spent a great deal of time in Switzerland. I believe the current King, as well as his borther and sister, were educated there. Also, in terms of furnishings, it was surprisingly simple. Not what you would expect in the home of royalty.
We then moved on to the Hall of Inspiration, which is a monument to the lives and social work of the Royal family. Visitors walk through rooms filled with photos and videos of the Royal family, past and present. Though the family tree only seems to go back two generations, the current King, his brother, and their parents. The last few rooms are mainly focused on current issues in Thailand, such as the drug trade and environmental devastation, and what the Royal family is doing to address those issues.
After that, we tried to find our way over to the coffee plantation. But someone (not me) failed to either listen to all of the directions or maybe some of it got lost in translation, but either way, we couldn't find it. After driving for a long time and someone (not me) not wanting to stop and ask for directions, we ended up turning around and heading home. Unfortunately, about this time it started raining, which was not good, given the steepness of the roads. At one really hairy point, someone (not me) decided he was going to "Fred Flinstone" it down the hill, meaning he was going to use his feet to brake instead of the hand brake. Not sure why. He mumbled something about the breaks locking up and my weight causing something or other to happen. Well, you can imaging what happened next...unlike the cartoon, we didn't come to a screeching halt with flames around his feet, we actually fell and skidded down a short way. Luckily, I only had a few scrapes and injured one of my finger...and thankfully, it wasn't the one I use often.
Long story short...got a ride down the hill from a local who knows how to use his hand brake, then at the bottom of the hill got back on the bike with Ben, then we headed back to the hotel.
