So, yes, we hired a little motorbike and went for a five-day spin around the highlands of Thailand. Caves, village life, waterfalls, monsoon rains, roadworks, roadside bbq's - lots of fun and it felt like an adventure. We stayed in one little guest house that served only food grown on the property (that's where Em learned to plant rice), and in another which was an initiative in support of 'unfortunate children', who by their giggling, singing and other shrill antics clearly felt themselves anything but unlucky!
We boated through an incredible cave, rode up into the border hills to visit a tribal village and then to Thailand's highest point, Doi Inthanon, which at more than 2565m is well higher than Aust's highest. No snow, but chilly and very thick fog, and in a national park that boasts wild elephants and big cats, but no tigers since a few decades ago.
We boated through an incredible cave, rode up into the border hills to visit a tribal village and then to Thailand's highest point, Doi Inthanon, which at more than 2565m is well higher than Aust's highest. No snow, but chilly and very thick fog, and in a national park that boasts wild elephants and big cats, but no tigers since a few decades ago.
Having our own transport for those few days meant we could get well out of the tourist trail (although the monsoon season is just starting so numbers are down anyway), and that allowed us close contact with rural people quite unused to foreigners. We'd probably call them peasant farmers, and maybe consider them to be living in poverty, but, like the 'unfortunate children', the overwhelming impression they gave was one of contentment.
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