As part of the kid’s 3 weeks off for Christmas/New Year break, we planned a 4-day trip North to the “Switzerland of Thailand,” Khao Kho. With all the travel this year, some of us were a bit leery of another long drive, but it turned out to be several fabulous days in cool weather and amazing views. We’d do it again!
Day 1
We left about 9am to avoid the rush of human mass exiting Bangkok later in the day. About 2 hours North, we came across lots and lots of sunflower fields. They were really beautiful!
It must be sugar cane harvesting season, as there were literally 100s of these huge trucks carrying the crops to a processing plant. Made for some interesting driving…
We decided to stop at the historical ruins at Si Thep. It was really hot, but the ruins were pretty cool and a nice break from the drive. We were the only falangs in the place (like all of our trip), so we were a photo op for most Thais…:
About 2 more hours of driving and we arrived in the beautiful hills of Khao Kho. The weather was cooler (75) and the views really beautiful. Best of all, the air was (mostly) clean. We drove with our windows down, something you really just can’t ever do in Thailand because of the car exhaust and pollution and heat. You forget how glorious it is to smell fresh air…We stopped at a few stalls on our way up the STEEP roads and took a few fun photos, grabbed some yummy food, and stretched our legs:
After a few wrong turns, we finally found our house for the night (only stayed one night at this one as it’s all they had and this is high season for tourism…we spent the next 2 nights just down the dirt road a ways). It was located on one of the higher peaks and a short walk from an amazing view. Note: beds in Thai hotels are akin to sleeping on a table. They are really hard…so bring extra cushioning if you need it.
As the sun set, the temperature dropped a fair amount (HALLELUJAH) and we found a delightful restaurant with good food and great view that we ate at several times the rest of the trip. You’ll notice some tents in the photos below. A lot of folks rent the tents here. It’s not camping like Americans do camping, but a near sister sport…
Great first day!
Day 2
The next morning we awoke and were all pretty cold. It was probably 60-65, which feels like -15 if you’ve been living in 95 degrees for years. We loved it! We hiked to the viewpoint to see the morning mist (a big deal here) and then packed up our stuff for our exciting day.
Our first stop was to pick strawberries – something that all Thai tourists do here. The kids were beyond excited. It was like Easter morning. We were impressed with the strawberry patch and blown away by the sweet flavor (best strawberries we’ve ever had) and the price ($20 for about 1 kg). It was worth every penny!
Next stop was at a beautiful, all-white wat (Jedi Phra Borom That Pisek). It was very interesting to see the Thais giving money to all the Buddah statues inside and praying with lit candles (first time we’d seen this).
Next stop was up a VERY, VERY steep road (my van could barely make it in 1st gear) to an armory museum from a battle in the early 80s. The kids loved all the guns, tanks, helicopters, and swings and we LOVED the view and cool breeze.
The last part of our day was going to another National Park for a picnic and mountain biking. I was disappointed that they wouldn’t take my Thai driver’s license to give us the local rate (we pay local income tax…). Other National Parks have allowed that…so we paid the “foreigner” rate, which is literally 10x the local rate. Ouch. Oh well, we had an AWESOME time riding our bikes through the grasslands (felt like Africa) and seeing the views. The kids all told us this was their favorite part of the vacation. My youngest son sat on a small seat on the back of my OLD Thai bike and we made it work. He loved it and I got a good workout. We were sure our bikes would fall apart while going down the dirt hills…fun!
On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a waterfall and hiked it. Lots of bamboo here!
On the ride back, all the kids were konked. I think we wore them out!
That evening, we returned to our great restaurant and they sold us a floating lantern for our daughter’s birthday. That was really cool, though it almost didn’t take off and once it did, almost got caught in a super dry tree. I was worried we were going to burn down the National Park, but the Thais didn’t seem to mind at all. :-)
GREAT DAY!
Day 3
The next morning was also quite cool and we had a quick breakfast of eggs and “sausage.” We got in the car and made the 40 minute drive to a must-see wat, Wat Phra Maha That Pha Sorn Kaew. The setting for this wat is absolutely beautiful: snuggled up a “mountain” range on the top of a hill. The view is spectacular and the skies very blue. Between the 5 enormous Buddahs to the unique architecture and porcelain plates/jeweled exterior, it was my favorite wat in Thailand. This is a must see while here!
There was a lot of traffic going up the 1 lane road (both directions!), so we enjoyed the cool breeze and Mom reading a book to us to pass the time. We didn’t mind the wait, it was beautiful.
Next stop was at BlueSky, an English hotel nestled behind several hills about 20 minutes away. We had a wonderful lunch and desserts for our daughter’s birthday, and then went on an hour hike up into the hills/jungle. We all really enjoyed this, besides our oldest getting stung by a hornet.
We drove back to the hotel and had a simple sandwich dinner (we’ve learned to pack a cooler of food while traveling in Thailand as the options aren’t always clean or something the kids will enjoy). We threw the football in the nearby field, did a short walk, and wrapped up the night with me telling the kids a hobbit story while we drank hot chocolate in the cool breeze. GREAT DAY!
Day 4
We woke up to a REALLY windy morning and the temperature was only 17 Celsius (62 F)! Loved it. We packed up our stuff and left the hotel around 9am for our long drive back to Bangkok. Candace read more of the book (Wonder) for a bunch of the ride (which we all love) and we listened to a talk and some nice music. It was a pretty uneventful ride home and we were all happy when we got back to Nichada and our (soft) beds. Great vacation and highly recommend it to anyone visiting Thailand.
Wish we could have joined you.
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