Tales From the "Land of Smiles"

By Mervyn Lamacraft - December 2005

Guy, our newsletter editor, was desperate for copy so when he heard that Margaret and I had just returned from Thailand he saw an opportunity to fill some of the void by getting us to write a short article about the trip. "But Guy, apart from a couple of mildly adventurous episodes our trip, though very enjoyable to us, was too touristy to be of interest to an IMC audience used to a diet of wild places and death defying acts of derring-do". "Oh don't worry about that, just tell us the exciting bits" came the reply. So here goes.

The idea to visit Thailand came from a pub chat with Nick Willis, who has travelled widely in SE Asia, at the Wye valley meet in July. Nick (and his wife New) followed this up with many interesting suggestions of things to see and do in Thailand. So our outline plan was to spend a few days in each of Bangkok and the northern city of Chiang Mai, and then to hire a car and spend 12 days wandering around Northern Thailand as the fancy took us.

I'll skip the Bangkok bit for now (but see later for some pics) and go straight to Chiang Mai, a moated and walled city dating back to the 13^th century, popular for its architecture (some 120 Wats (Buddhist temples) and as a centre for adventure activities (trekking, rafting, caving etc). But the biggest visitor attraction is the enormous market known as the Night Bazaar and in the centre of this is, somewhat incongruously, Southeast Asia's largest outdoor climbing wall (15m high, 16m wide) built to international climbing standards and with an overhanging section that would severely test IMC's finest. Having no kit and no (climbing) partner a wall session didn't seem a good idea but the office managing the wall was advertising day trips to a local crag called the Crazy Horse buttress which included transport, kit hire, and a Thai meal on the way back, all for the bargain price of 1500 Baht (about £23)... now that was a good idea! A day's pass was quickly negotiated with Margaret and all was set for the following day.

The Crazy Horse buttress is an impressive limestone crag about 30 km north of Chiang Mai. It has about 90 routes, spread over 13 areas, with an average grade of 6b+ and average height 70 feet. Check it out for yourself at http://www.thecrag.com

The Crazy Horse buttress - see why?

Our party, consisting of 4 clients and 2 guides from Peak-Rock, was a bit of a mixed bunch. The clients were Claude (a French alpine ski/climbing instructor), Martin (an English fireman), Brian (an Irish 'traveller'), and me. Claude and Martin were in Chiang Mai on a Thai massage course and had been out with Peak-Rock before so were able to start climbing right away. I had to demonstrate that I knew how to top out and lower off before I was allowed to lead. After these formalities I teamed up with Brian (who hadn't climbed outside before) but before I started climbing there was something I just had to know....what about the snakes?? According to Lonely Planet there are 6 species of poisonous snake in Thailand, and I didn't like the thought of shoving my hand in a crack and disturbing a cobra! "Don't worry, we hardly ever see snakes here" said Nye our guide. "... but in the wet season we do a 3 day climbing trip to a crag where we climb from a raft in the river, and there it is quite common to see boas on the ledges and it is a matter of routine to tap the rock before placing your hand in large holes. But the worse thing is the monkeys who hurl sticks and stones down on the climbers". I bet they don't tell their clients that before taking the money ... but I was reasonably reassured about our present location so I set about leading some pleasant 5a/b routes, such as this one ...

"a nice 5b warm up"

Claude was a very strong climber, as his day job would suggest, so there were plenty of opportunities to follow (or at least try to) more challenging 6a/b/c stuff like this one...

Claude leading a 6b into the cave at the Crazy Horse

The weather was hot, the rock impeccable, and the routes of a uniformly high quality with much less polish than I was expecting. And, to cap an excellent day, we were treated to a meal at a roadside restaurant on the way back to Chiang Mai.

After hiring a car we left Chiang Mai and headed northwest into the rugged hill country of Mae Hong Son province (75% mountain and forest) making for Cave Lodge, a 'must do' recommendation from Nick & New. A quick shower stop ...

Cooling down under the Mokfa waterfall

... and then a relentless low gear slog up the narrow and twisting road to Pai and beyond. As we approach the turn off to Cave Lodge there is clear evidence of serious recent flooding (land slides, bridges swept away, riverbeds strewn with trees).

When we reached Cave Lodge our first impression can be best summed up as "hmm...it's certainly different". The lodge is owned by John, a larger-than-life aussie, who spent his early years in that part of Thailand exploring its many cave systems and researching the culture of the many hill tribes living there. He designed and built the lodge himself in the style and materials used in hill tribe villages. The lodge consists of a central 'community' hall on 3 levels with open frontage overlooking the Nam Lang river, and surrounded by small bungalows for guests, all set on a pleasant wooded slope.

The Lodge is an excellent base for all manner of adventure activities, two of which appealed to us (well, the second one only to me):

trek through the forest to a Karen hill tribe village, hitch a lift on an elephant to the river, and then return to the lodge on a bamboo raft

a 'full on' caving day visiting 3 caves in the area

John provided his 'Girl Friday' Put as our guide for the trek. Put turned out to know everyone in, and everything about, the area. We started by visiting a Shan hut where the extended family were sitting around what appeared to be a gigantic wasps nest. The nest had been steamed and the larvae were being removed to sell as a sought after local delicacy...and quite tasty too. After a few hours of easy paced walking through the forest we came to the Karen hill tribe village where time really has stood still.

Karen hill tribe village

The village was incredibly quiet as most people were out harvesting rice, or so we assumed. We stopped to admire some textiles made in the village that were lying unattended on a wooden platform and within minutes women were coming from all directions carrying bundles of stuff they had made...crikey, what have we started now. So a few quick purchases and then a hasty retreat to find an elephant. Now, getting on and off an elephant is a bit tricky, requiring a few exposed and unprotected 4a moves. Once on board however the ride, though slow and bumpy, is immensely secure as the elephant is amazingly sure footed over all manner of terrain. After about an hours travelling we're somewhat glad to reach the raft on the Nam Lang river. Bamboo rafts are rudimentary in the extreme, consisting of a platform of bamboo poles lashed together, a handrail sticking up in the middle to hold on to, and two poles used for steering. The Nam Lang can hardly be classed as 'white water' in the section we were on, but it certainly has its quick bits so correct positioning and frantic punting at the right time by the raft-men ensured a pleasant journey of about 40 minutes back to Cave Lodge. The raft-men then had to haul the raft all the way back to the starting point against the current. A tough job for tough guys!

Karen hill tribe village

"....get a move on"

As it was approaching dusk we were just in time to see one of the most spectacular sights in the area. Cave Lodge is near to Tham Lot, one of the longest known caves in mainland Southeast Asia, which has a stream running through it. Where the stream exits the cave literally thousands of swifts can be seen entering the cave at dusk to roost, and hordes of bats can be seen going the other way to feed. Not surprisingly the cave floor near the exit was ankle deep in guano. Put had a torch so while there we decided to enter the cave and have a look at some of the side chambers that can be reached by ladders and are sheltered from the drop zone. Our exploration was curtailed however when this chap appeared in front of us ...

Snake in Tham Lot