Exploring Paradise: Huai Kaeo Waterfall

I kept hearing about a waterfall just above the zoo that the kids would like, but each time I planned a trip, something came up or we decided to do something else. Once we finally got there, though, we liked it so much we were back just one week later. :-)

It really is easy to get to (relatively, since with traffic the last time took almost an hour since it's on the other side of town)--there is a pretty big sign and it's just the first left turn after the Chiang Mai Zoo. There is parking, lots of little food stalls, and a path (no fee!) to the river and waterfall. After just a short walk, you get to the creek.

There are lots of shallow pools perfect for wading, dam building, and bug hunting. On our second trip out, the kids played here for hours, making friends with two cute little Thai kids.  There are little fish that nibble your toes, freshwater crabs hiding among the rocks, and a plethora of gorgeous giant butterflies and speedy iridescent dragonflies (including neon green and pink!). 

There are flowers, laughing children, picnickers, and rocks to climb. It's hard to believe it's only about 2 minutes outside the city!

Our first trip out, we hiked right up to the waterfall (probably about 100 m to the base).  The trail to the top of the waterfall is easy to miss and some people were trying to climb up the slippery, treacherous route right next to the falls (I won't name any names, but My Man and Young Man almost gave me a heart attack!  See My Man in the picture above?  That is not the correct trail!).  Luckily, our guys made it to the top alive.

There is a pretty easy trail off the right down below that Funny Guy, Darling Daughter and I opted for instead.

At the top of the falls there is a pool of cold water deep enough to swim and other pools further up the stream to explore.

On our second trip, Young Man discovered a trail up to the top of the bluff with an incredible view of Chiang Mai.

As we were swimming at the top of the waterfall on our first trip, the clouds darkened and within minutes the rain was pouring down. Darling Daughter had been avoiding the water, but that plan didn't last. ;-)  Luckily I had brought a mini drybag so our phones were safe.  My Man's travel guitar fared less well . . . though it seems to have dried out ok now.

The amazing thing about rain in Thailand is that it's just another fun adventure. It's not cold, so as long as electronics are protected, it kind of just adds to the fun (and chases the heat away for a few minutes at least).  We swam, splashed, and laughed through the entire storm, watched the clouds rage away and the sun come back out, then scrambled (carefully) back down the now-slippery trail to head back home.

Friday Fun Finale!

Today our kids are wearing black. They are mourning the passing of a wonderful summer full of adventures. Tomorrow is the first day of school.

But to soften the blow, Friday we went on our last Summer Friday Fun Day. Young Man was in charge of planning the outing, so not surprisingly, we ended up at the Siam Insect Zoo in Mae Rim and the even larger insect zoo, Mae Sa national forest and waterfall.

Before we headed out, though, we spent the morning swimming at our pool. There was a lot of splashing, laughing, and even some lap swimming, before we decided to call it a morning and head to Mae Rim. The trip to the insect zoo took almost 45 minutes, but the time flew because we are reading the next Harry Potter book: The Halfblood Prince. Funny Guy and Darling Daughter took turns reading, trying to outdo each other on voices and elocution. Highly amusing.

At the insect zoo, I was able to blunder my way through enough Thai to get the resident price. I even let myself get talked into a membership (which turned out to be the best priced option). The cashier was so impressed with my initial request for Thai pricing, explaining that we live and work in Chiang Mai, that she conveniently overlooked the fact that almost the rest of the conversation was over my head. Now that I am studying Russian instead of Thai, these little victories make me happy.

The zoo tour begins with a fairly nice bug and butterfly museum, and amazingly, the descriptions are in both Thai and English! The real fun starts at the next section, though, where staff are waiting to help the kids hold several different kinds of caterpillars. I was surprised to find out that the coolest looking caterpillars turned into rather drab-looking moths. There were some pretty huge ones!

After that, there was a tarantula exhibit (not hands-on thank goodness!). Next was one of my favorite parts of the place: the butterfly garden. The enclosed garden was beautifully landscaped with beautiful brightly colored flowers and tons of butterflies. There were also two chrysalis cages where we got to watch a few butterflies right after they emerged, wet crinkly wings and all.

Next were the stick bugs, several different varieties, all of which we got to hold. Their camouflage is really quite awesome.

Then there were the beetles and larva (including this fun poster citing reasons Thais give for eating bugs and packaged bugs for sale).

We reminisced about Darling Daughter's incredible giant water beetle triumph (even the staff were impressed) and then moved on to scorpions.

Young Man and Funny Guy were excited to hold them. I was happy just to photo them. Darling Daughter was more interested in the resident cat that conveniently walked by just then.

In addition to bugs and scorpions, the zoo boasts several reptiles. I was delighted to see green iguanas and bearded dragons, two of my favorite animals, and we all enjoyed holding both.

Darling Daughter probably could have stayed the rest of the day, playing with the unusually patient cat, but the boys were anxious to head out to a nearby waterfall.

The national park was absolutely beautiful. We didn't realize it but the trail goes along the river for quite awhile, with viewpoints at most of 10 waterfalls along the way. You can park in the lower lot or drive further up toward the main falls. We opted for the first parking lot so we could get right out and start hiking.

The trail was beautiful, winding through jungle along a tumbling creek. We saw lots of the bugs that we'd seen at the zoo and joked that now we were in the real insect zoo!  It was muggy but only about 90 degrees and shady, so the hike was fun.

When we got to waterfall 5, however, the kids were fading. We decided to wade in to cool off a bit and wished we'd brought swim suits.

The water was muddy from the recent rain, but we were so hot it didn't matter. Soon Young Man and Funny Guy were swimming and splashing and enjoying the water.

Darling Daughter was not excited about the idea of driving home in wet clothes, so she waded and explored the shore.

Young Man and Funny Guy swam up to the waterfall and even went through it to the little cave behind. It was great and we all agreed we needed to come back for another full day trip soon. Funny Guy donned war paint and stalked around trying to scare his sister into the water. It didn't work.

The boys probably could have stayed all day, but I had a date with My Man later and we had a long walk back to the car, so eventually we left.

The walk back was just as beautiful as the walk in (maybe more so since it was mostly down hill and a bit shadier by then!) and we noticed lots of new bug specimens.

The vines and bamboo were wonderful. It still amazes me that our hikes now are literally through jungle!

We headed back (stopping at the middle parking lot for popsicles) and got home just in time to meet My Man getting home from work. It was a fantastic day and I can't wait to head back up to Mae Rim soon.

Buathong Waterfalls

Two days after My Man got hit by a truck (resulting in a sprained knee, broken foot, and lots of gross road rash, but thankfully nothing more), we were scheduled to check out Buathong Waterfalls with a few other consulate families. The kids were super excited and My Man gallantly encouraged us to go without him while he had a boring day stuck in bed, with no one around to help him out. We felt bad leaving, but were excited to check out this place we'd heard so much about.

The falls don't look like much from the top, in fact you can't really see them at all, but there is a trail to take you down to the bottom so you can climb up.

The falls are a unique formation. The hardness of the water has caused layers of calcium deposits to build up on the rocks so that they aren't very slippery and you can actually climb right up the waterfall!  It's hard to believe until you experience it yourself, but it is super fun. I didn't get many good pictures because the lighting was weird and I didn't keep my phone with me very much (too wet!).

The kids absolutely loved it. Young Man headed up the group of older kids and after climbing up the falls a few times, they decided to follow the creek downstream as far as they could to see if there were more falls down below (there are several tiers). Darling Daughter and Funny Guy, of course, were not to be left behind, so we sludged through calf-deep mud through dense overgrowth (all I could think of were all the many kinds of venomous snakes native to Thailand, until I started wondering if there are leaches here?). But the kids loved it. Young Man even got a big bamboo stick and was using it like a machete to cut down vines. Really, we were only about 50 yards downstream from the main area, but it felt like an adventure. Finally, the way got a bit too tricky and, hiding a sigh of relief, they decided to turn around and head back to the falls.

It was a tricky balance between letting the kids go and making sure they were safe. One wrong step could send you bouncing 50 or more feet back down the waterfall. In fact, one little boy in the group tripped early on and got a little banged up (luckily not serious) and a friend had warned me that she had seen a little girl slip near the top and fall all the way down. So I knew it was kind of dangerous--on the other hand, I think experiences like this are a great way to make fun memories. I compromised by making the kids promise to not get carried away and step carefully and then followed Funny Guy everywhere, just in case. It was a great workout! There are also a few ropes for the more slippery sections near the top of each section, which is very nice.

Finally after a few trips up the waterfall, we stopped for a picnic at the top, which was a great chance to get to know some of the other consulate families a little better. One of the great things about this place was that there was a great picnic area at the top near the parking so we didn't have to lug our stuff too far. There was also a tiny little convenience store and café. The kids all joked that the place even had a free "Dr. Fish spa" because when they sat in the little pool, hundreds of little fish came over and started nibbling their toes.

After lunch, the kids each got a popsicle for 10 baht (about 30 cents) and then played in the creek or played soccer.

I thought it was hilarious watching all the older kids running around playing soccer while eating their popsicles (I ran over to get a picture, but by then they had finished their popsicles). After lunch, most of the other families were done and headed home, but our kids begged for more time. So we stayed, climbing the waterfall another dozen times or so. Best waterpark I've ever been to. :-)  I can't wait to go back after the smoky season is over.

Mork Fa Waterfall

One of our first adventures out of Chiang Mai was an excursion to Mork Fa waterfall, about an hour’s drive away in the Doi Suthep National Forest.  Young Man had a scout campout up there (he went up on Friday right after school) and My Man wanted to join them for the day Saturday, so the rest of us decided to head up to enjoy the day up there as well. The trip up was beautiful and at the turnoff to the waterfall, there was a cute little café where we stopped for an early lunch. We ate outside overlooking a little farm and beautiful gardens. The food was great and the smoothies were even better!

After dropping My Man off with the scouts, Darling Daughter, Funny Guy, and I headed up to the waterfall. There are two ways to get there: the nature trail (which winds up through the mountain and is a bit longer) and the waterfall path. We opted to make it a loop, so we took the nature trail to the waterfall and the other trail on the way back. It was a great way to do it.

The nature trail wound through groves of bamboo and other trees and went past a little cave (known around here as the bat cave, though we didn’t see any bats).

 We explored the cave for awhile (it doesn't go too far back), then headed down to the waterfall.

First, we enjoyed a nice view of the waterfall from above. Then we followed the trail down to the creek and back up to the waterfall so we could actually get in and swim.

There were also a few bridges we had to go across that Funny Guy eyed very suspiciously. I had to go ahead to prove they were safe, and even then he clung to the railing the whole way!

Mork Fa waterfall is pretty, falling into a nice pool where you can swim (which Funny Guy did). It was pretty cold water though, and most of us didn't have a change of clothes, so we just waded in. 

While we were there, the scouts hiked up, so it was fun to see them. Some of the scouts braved the water for a real swim.

Others (I won’t point fingers here, but let me just say that Young Man  is definitely more worried about water temps than I was at his age!) were content to wade in and explore the rocks. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon picnicking and playing in the creek (Darling Daughter and Funny Guy worked hard on a dam and were very disappointed when we had to leave before it was completed!).

The park closed at 5pm though, so we hiked back to the car and headed out to check out the Buddhist temple we had seen on the way in.

It was one of my favorites (I think I say that every time!). The meditation rooms had beautiful paintings and statues. 

Funny Guy and Darling Daughter surprised me by wanting to stay for almost half an hour in one, sitting quietly, thinking and considering the art.

We were the only ones there (though we did see one monk as we were leaving) and it was undeniably peaceful.

In the middle was a huge staircase lined with three-headed dragons.

The view from the top was fantastic and we drank in the gorgeous sunset before heading back to the camp to pick up My Man and Young Man to head home.

Meanwhile, My Man and Young Man were having a great time at the campout and weren't ready to leave when we got there. I'm so excited that there is a great Boy Scouting program here. I read with the younger kids until the older boys were finished playing ultimate Frisbee and at last we headed home. Even though we had all done different things, it was a great day for us all.