Good morning!!
Unfortunate news that I may regret....or not!!
I waited a day and a bit in Umphang, (a town that you
can walk through in 20 minutes) bored out of my mind
for some other travelers to come so that we could go
on a group on the trek but no one came. I approached
the owner and mentioned that I didn't want to wait any
longer. He offered, slightly begrudingly, to have me
go alone but I didn't want to be alone in a jungle
with three strange men from a safety perspective so I
got a refund.
A positive note: I discovered that the falls are
actually only 30KM from Umphang and are completely
assessible by car/public pick up truck but not until
after the rainy season which means Nov 1st, I doubt
I'll go back but who knows!!
I left with two Americans who'd just come back from a
trip and had a rental car. We zoomed through the
hilltop highway at speeds that were slightly beyond
what most people would call "safe" but it meant that
the four hour bus journey was cut almost in half!!
They dropped me off at Tak to catch a bus to Lampang.
Humourously, from this bus station, you can go to
"Lampang" which is actually spelt Lamphaeng (the "ph"
in Thai is pronounced like a p) or you can go to
"Lampan", spelt Lampang. I got on a bus going to the
wrong place. I actually even thought so when we left
the bus station and didn't head directly to Hwy 1 but
I didn't see how I could have mispronouced such a
simple city or that the bus driver could be wrong, so
I sat and read/rested.
Upon arrival in the wrong city, everyone was very
helpful getting me into town and trying to locate the
"Riverside Guesthouse" which no one knew. Oddly, on
my map, there was a river and everything was a bit
off, but not completely. A tuk-tuk driver drove me
around for almost an hour, chatting with people and
trying to figure out where I wanted to go. It wasn't
until I gave someone the number of the guest house
that we realized I was in the wrong city!!
I got on a bus and headed to Lampang which is where I
am now. Lampang is 90KM south of Chiang Mai and
because of the typhoon and the breaking of the dam,
has been flooded for almost a week. The hotel room
where I am staying was almost completely underwater
and you can see the mud marks most clearly in the
shower, it's almost to my mouth. It must have been
quite incredible. (Brings to mind New Orleans after
Katrina).
Today I've visited the elephant conservation center
and a temple. I may try to squeeze in a thai massage
as well. The center was filled with cute elephants,
let's just say that I took an entire roll of film!! I
fed them sugarcare which was a cool sensation and just
relaxed for a bit.
Not sure what I'll be up to in Chiang Mai but I'll
keep you posted!! Take care everyone and thanks for
writing to those who have - it's nice to log on and
have messages from home!!
Sarah
__________________________________________________________
Find your next car at http://autos.yahoo.ca
