{"id":1162,"date":"2017-01-13T16:40:37","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T16:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oliverberry.com\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2017-12-05T16:51:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T16:51:05","slug":"thailand-northern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oliverberry.com\/writing\/thailand-northern\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Thailand"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have travelled to Thailand many times, and it’s somewhere I never get tired of exploring so this feature on exploring the country’s northern reaches was a particularly rewarding trip.<\/h3>\n

We began the adventure in Bangkok, and then headed north to delve into jungles, ancient temples, hill villages and rice paddies, travelling all the way north to the Myanmar border.<\/h3>\n

One of my highlights was meeting Uncle Puk, a septuagenarian guide and something of a local legend in Khao Yai National Park, and a man who makes you understand what real bushcraft is all about.<\/h3>\n
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Great Escape to Northern Thailand<\/h1>\n

Bangkok<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s infamous for its traffic jams, but there\u2019s another way to explore Bangkok \u2013 the web of man-made waterways, known as khlongs, which have been keeping the capital moving for the last two centuries<\/em><\/h3>\n

IT\u2019S THE MORNING RUSH HOUR in downtown Bangkok, and the city\u2019s streets are wall-to-wall traffic. Buses and mini-vans loaded with commuters are heading from the outer suburbs into the city centre. Tuk-tuk drivers tout for business and streams of scooters whine along the boulevards, the high keen of their two-stroke engines blending with the throaty grumble of truck exhausts and the incessant blare of car horns. It\u2019s gridlock, and no-one\u2019s going anywhere fast. But a few blocks away on the wide Chao Phraya River, the great brown waterway that flows through the heart of Bangkok, there\u2019s no sign of any traffic jams. Barges and passenger ferries are chugging along the river banks, packed with schoolkids and office workers, and fleets of long-tail boats skip and surf on the choppy swells, dropping off their fares at jetties before buzzing off downstream in search of new business.<\/p>\n

Since the capital\u2019s foundation in 1782, the river has been the artery that\u2019s kept Bangkok\u2019s circulation flowing. But, in fact, the Chao Phraya is just one of many waterways snaking their way through Bangkok. Hundreds of miles of canals, or khlongs as they\u2019re known locally, spiral through the little village neighbourhoods that radiate like a spider\u2019s web around the city centre. Though many have now been paved over or filled in to 1. Bangkok It\u2019s a city infamous for its traffic jams, but there\u2019s another way to explore \u2013 the web of khlongs, man-made waterways, that stretch out to the capital\u2019s furthest corners make roads, they remain a vital part of the city\u2019s infrastructure \u2013 as well as a glimpse of an older Bangkok, far removed from the modern-day, 21st-century city of skycrapers, shopping malls and office blocks.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bangkok is a city of islands,\u2019 explains boatman Pae Visut, as he steers his long-tail into the maze of canals in Thonburi, a residential neighbourhood west of the Chao Phraya. \u2018In the past, the khlongs were the only way to reach areas. They\u2019re still quicker than the roads.\u2019 He chuckles gruffly, resting the long-tail\u2019s rudder on his knee as he sparks up the cigarette dangling from his lips, and guides his boat though a lock-gate into Khlong Bangkok Yai, the Little Bangkok Canal. Lines of tin-roofed houses glide past, teetering on wooden stilts above the murky water. Golden-topped temples rise alongside the banks, framed by drooping willows and jacaranda trees. Tangles of electricity cables and telephone wires hang overhead, and local residents tend forests of potted plants festooning their waterfront verandas. Occasionally, a white egret swoops down to strut along the banks, dipping for fish in the shallows, or a monitor lizard hauls itself from the tea-brown water to bask in the sunshine.<\/p>\n

\u2018Many people in Bangkok have no idea these khlongs are even here,\u2019 Pae says, as he cuts the engine and moors up by a riverside temple, its finials flashing like beaten copper. \u2018But I\u2019ve been a boatman here for 35 years, so to me they\u2019re as familiar as the streets around my own house.\u2019 He beckons to a passing boat \u2013 a floating shop stocked with food, drinks, trinkets and temple offerings. He buys a garland of marigold and jasmine flowers, and adds it to several others draped over the long-tail\u2019s prow. \u2018Good karma,\u2019 he explains, rolling a fresh cigarette on his knee, and saluting another long-tail as it buzzes past.<\/p>\n

Some canals are as old as the city itself. When King Rama I moved his capital here from Ayutthaya in the late 18th century, he built his opulent Grand Palace on the island of Rattanakosin, and established the city\u2019s first canals to link it with the Chao Phraya River. Canals proliferated as the city grew, serving as moats, aqueducts, thoroughfares and flood barriers. Even today, the city\u2019s locks play a key role in managing water levels during the monsoon rains.<\/p>\n

Clattering back onto the Chao Phraya from Thonburi\u2019s backwater khlongs, Pae steers his boat towards the golden spires of Wat Pho, one of the city\u2019s oldest temples. It\u2019s now nearly midday, and fleets of boats are bobbing around the temple\u2019s jetty, depositing cargoes of monks and pilgrims carrying floral wreaths and bundles of incense to make their afternoon offering. Cascades of fallen petals float in the water, and the sound of rhythmic chanting rises above the buzz of boat engines. It\u2019s another sign that, for all its status as a restless modern metropolis, Bangkok is still a city that\u2019s deeply entangled with its past.<\/p>\n

Khao Yai National Park<\/h2>\n

Strap on your boots and hike the trails of this wild forest park \u2013 and with a bit of luck, you might spot gibbons, hornbills and maybe even a wild elephant<\/em><\/h3>\n

‘SHHHH,\u2019 WHISPERS PUK Manchaona, as he cocks an ear skyward and peers into the forest canopy. Milky sunlight is piercing the treetops, underscored by the gentle tinkle of a stream and the reedy trill of unseen birds. Then, further down the valley, a long, looping hoot rings out, rising like an ambulance siren before dying out in an eerie echo. Moments later, it\u2019s answered by a return call, then another, and another \u2013 and before long, the treetops are filled with whoops and wails, a jungle choir in full-throated voice. \u2018Gibbons,\u2019 Puk advises. \u2018Hard to see, very easy to hear.\u2019 He adjusts his pack and pads off silently down the trail, picking his way past knotted roots and giant ferns as he searches for more inhabitants.<\/p>\n

Puk \u2013 or Uncle Puk, as he\u2019s known \u2013 is a legend in Khao Yai National Park. He\u2019s been a ranger here for 53 years, the last survivor of the original cohort of rangers recruited when this vast stretch of rainforest became Thailand\u2019s first national park in 1962. Now in his mid-seventies, Puk has dedicated his life to exploring the jungles of Khao Yai, and knows the forest trails better than anyone. He is one of the park\u2019s senior guides, training other rangers in forest skills, from tracking wildlife to identifying jungle plants.<\/p>\n

\u2018You must use different eyes in the forest,\u2019 Uncle Puk explains, as he steps down a steep, muddy slope with the grace of a mountain goat. \u2018There are many secrets to see, but first you must learn how to look.\u2019 He pauses at the edge of the trail and points to a tree where several deep gouges have been scored into the trunk. To an untrained eye, they simply look like marks in the bark \u2013 but Uncle Puk knows exactly what\u2019s caused them. \u2018Black bear,\u2019 he says. \u2018Very good climbers.\u2019<\/p>\n

Covering 837 square miles in the western part of the Sankamphaeng Mountain Range, Khao Yai is Thailand\u2019s most popular national park. It\u2019s renowned for its diverse terrain and varied wildlife, with more than 3,000 plants, 320 birds and 66 mammals, including the Asian black bear, Indochinese tiger, pig-tailed macaque and several families of wild Asian elephants. Unsurprisingly, the park is a favourite holiday spot for Thais and foreigners alike, who spend their time hiking the trails, cycling the forest roads and taking night-time wildlife safaris. It\u2019s also spectacularly beautiful, and regularly features as a movie location \u2013 notably in Danny Boyle\u2019s 2000 adaptation of The Beach, when Leonardo DiCaprio took a death-defying plunge down the waterfall of Haew Suwat.<\/p>\n

As he picks his way through the forest, Uncle Puk demonstrates his intimate knowledge of the forest. He points out the giant webs of orb spiders strung between the trees, huge termite colonies as tall as a man, and the tracks of a wild gaur (a type of bison) imprinted into the muddy trail. Nearly every plant has a use, he explains: the leaves of one tree yield a natural antiseptic, while the bark of another exudes a toxin that local tribes once used to poison-tip their arrows. He ends his walk with a visit to a massive strangler fig, spiralling a hundred feet into the forest canopy, its great black roots creeping out like fingers across the jungle floor. There are many like this in Khao Yai, he says, leaning against its twisted trunk; this one is probably 200 years old, he thinks, but he knows others which could be twice its age.<\/p>\n

By the time Uncle Puk emerges from the trees and begins the trek for home, evening is falling over the forest. He\u2019s standing in grassland on the edge of the tree-line, not far from an observation hide. The sky is blazing orange and a line of karst peaks pierces the skyline, their spiky tops picked out by the sinking sun. As he treks down towards the hide, he points to a trail of flattened stalks trampled into the head-high grass.<\/p>\n

\u2018Chang,\u2019 he says, trumpeting softly as he mimes a pair of tusks with his hands. \u2018Elephant. Maybe we will see tonight,\u2019 he says, before adding, \u2018but maybe not. In the jungle, you never know.\u2019<\/p>\n

He grins and vanishes into the grass, as a fresh chorus of hoots, whoops, honks and screeches heralds the gathering dusk.<\/p>\n

Sukhothai<\/h2>\n

Hire a bike and tick off the statues and temples of this ancient sacred city, surrounded by tamarind groves and lily ponds<\/em><\/h3>\n

IN FRONT OF THE GREAT ruined temple of Wat Mahathat, a pilgrim kneels before a giant Buddha and prepares to make his evening offering. He lays a lotus flower before the seated form, then lights a candle and a bundle of incense before bowing his head in prayer. Above him, the Buddha is depicted in the attitude adopted by most of Sukhothai\u2019s statues: the \u2018subduing Mara\u2019 pose, symbolising safety from evil \u2013 one hand resting in his lap, the other pointed towards the ground, eyes half-closed, a beatific smile on his lips. Having completed his prayers, the man rises and unwraps a square of gold leaf, which he applies to the Buddha\u2019s right hand before bowing his head and shuffling off. As he walks away, thousands more golden squares glint in the breeze, a mosaic covering the Buddha like chainmail.<\/p>\n

The great complex of temples at Sukhothai is more than 800 years old. It\u2019s a cityscape of shrines, built by the kings of Siam between the 13th and the 15th centuries. Now a World Heritage site, in all there are more than 200 temples dotted over 27 square miles, making this Thailand\u2019s largest religious complex. The variety of temples is astonishing \u2013 the structures here are the crowning achievements of Thailand\u2019s religious architecture. They range in style and complexity, from humble stone shrines to great conical stupas topped by sculpted lotus buds, the symbol of enlightenment. Some shrines are guarded by bas-relief figures or sacred animals: magical dragons, warrior monkeys or guardian elephants. Often, the traces of ancient murals can be glimpsed in the stonework, once vivid with colour, now fading into invisibility. Between the temples, clipped lawns sprawl under palms and tamarind trees, and still pools filled with water-lilies reflect images of temples on every side.<\/p>\n

Given the site\u2019s size, the best way to get around is by bike, which allows access to the more remote temples outside the old ramparts \u2013 like the great Buddha of Wat Si Chum, which at three times the height of a double-decker bus is by some margin the largest statue in Sukhothai. Sadly, Sukhothai\u2019s golden age wasn\u2019t to last. By the early 1700s the complex had been all but abandoned, eclipsed by the rise of the rival city of Ayutthaya, and its monuments were left to crumble into ruins. When King Rama I established his new capital in Bangkok in 1782, many statues and artefacts were moved to furnish the king\u2019s newly built temples.<\/p>\n

But Sukhothai is far from a forgotten ruin these days. Around the old temples sprawls a busy, modern tourist town, where horse carts clip-clop along the streets, and fleets of tourists on push-bikes stop at stalls to browse for souvenirs or snack on portions of sticky coconut rice. Sukhothai\u2019s religious importance remains \u2013 especially for the communities of monks and nuns who still call it home.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sukhothai means the Dawn of Happiness,\u2019 explains Phra Athkarn Suradhej Kittiyano, who serves as the abbot of Wat Saiyath, one of the newest monasteries, re-established on the site of an abandoned temple just 12 years ago. \u2018It is special because it marks the start of our spiritual awakening,\u2019 he continues, proudly showing off the interior of his temple, decorated with stories from the Buddha\u2019s life. \u2018One could say it is here in Sukhothai that the story of Buddhism in Thailand began.\u2019<\/p>\n

He walks outside and closes the temple doors. Outside, his fellow monks are preparing for evening alms. They set off down the road in single file, heading for a line of temples on the horizon that glow like embers in the evening haze.<\/p>\n

Chiang Mai<\/h2>\n

Join the dinner queues for some of Thailand\u2019s finest street food, then polish up your knife skills with a cooking class<\/h3>\n

JUST OUTSIDE THE southern gate of the old city walls, Chiang Mai\u2019s street vendors are getting ready for the dinner rush. Charcoal barbecues are sizzling and steel vats are bubbling, sending clouds of smoke and steam into the hot evening air. At one stall, a woman is chargrilling huge pink prawns over a wood fire. At another, a vendor is barbecuing strings of sausages, his face blushed from the heat of the flames. There are stalls selling green papaya salad and plates of pad Thai, and others dishing out bowls of rice noodles and pork dumplings, doused in meaty broth and laced with piles of bird\u2019s eye chillies. Greengrocers are yelling for trade, surrounded by pyramids of colourful fruit \u2013 crimson rambutan, creamy durian, purple mangosteen, pink dragon fruit. It\u2019s chaotic, smoky and deafeningly loud, but for the city\u2019s residents, this is the best place in town for a post-work snack \u2013 and judging by the queues already forming, it\u2019s set to be another busy night.<\/p>\n

Food is a crucial part of everyday life in Thailand. The majority of families still sit down together for a meal at least once a day, and the phrase \u2018Gin khao reu yang?\u2019 (Have you eaten rice yet?) remains a common greeting. With its emphasis on fresh ingredients and fiery, tangy tastes, Thai food has become one of the country\u2019s most popular exports, but strictly speaking, Thailand actually has many cuisines.<\/p>\n

\u2018Every region in Thailand has its own style of cooking,\u2019 explains chef Krit Apithumachot, as he strolls around the kitchen garden of his cooking school, 15 minutes outside Chiang Mai\u2019s centre. \u2018In the south, dishes tend to be spicier and use lots of different flavours, while here in the north, the cooking tends to be simpler and uses mainly homegrown ingredients. Even today, most families still harvest herbs and vegetables from their own gardens.\u2019 He picks a big bunch of Thai basil and adds it to his basket of ingredients, all picked this morning \u2013 red chillis, green chives, curly kale and a couple of coconuts \u2013 then heads inside to start preparations for lunch.<\/p>\n

For the things he can\u2019t grow himself, Krit, like most Thais, goes to the market every day. He greets most of the stallholders by name \u2013 from the farmer who supplies his chickens to the butcher who makes his sausages. Wooden stalls are arranged in haphazard rows, laden with produce from local farms: sacks of jasmine rice, freshly cut bamboo shoots, stalks of lemongrass and wild galangal, piles of cabbages, oyster mushrooms and pak choi. Shoppers ride their scooters straight down the market\u2019s lanes, stuffing ingredients into plastic bags dangling from their handlebars, before stopping for a strong black coffee to fuel the journey home. It\u2019s like a village hall, community hub and moped convention, all rolled into one.<\/p>\n

Back at the cooking school, Krit is preparing a classic northern dish \u2013 nam tok moo, a spicy salad of herbs, shallots, roasted rice and barbecued pork. He works fast, shredding the meat, toasting the rice and chopping the herbs, before preparing a zingy vinaigrette of lime, chilli, palm sugar and fish sauce. With a flash of flame and a toss of the wok, the dish comes together and is plated up, ready to eat. It\u2019s the classic Thai combination: sweet, spicy, salty and sour, with just the right blend of chewiness and crunchiness from the garden-fresh ingredients.<\/p>\n

\u2018Aroy mak,\u2019 Krit says, tucking into the salad with relish. \u2018Just like grandma would have made it.’<\/p>\n

Mae Hong Son<\/h2>\n

Trek between the rice terraces and stilt houses of Thailand\u2019s far north, where local hill tribes still cling on to an age-old way of life<\/em><\/h3>\n

The working day has an early start in the rice terraces around Mae Hong Son. Dressed in the traditional outfits of the Lisu tribe \u2013 baggy culottes, a purple velvet jacket and an embroidered tunic, rounded off by a pair of sturdy gumboots – Ha Mee and her two aunties started just after dawn, trekking up the hillside from their village to get started before 7.30am. Before work, they usually sit down for breakfast by the roadside, snacking on rice crackers and sipping green tea from a Thermos flask as they divvy up the day\u2019s tasks. It\u2019s a cool, damp morning, and wisps of grey cloud are rolling along the acid-green terraces. A few families have already started work, and before too long, Ha Mee and her aunties are ready to join them, wading down into the paddies and sheltering themselves from the morning drizzle beneath a pink-and-white umbrella.<\/p>\n

Like most of the Lisu people who live around Mae Hong Son, Ha Mee\u2019s family are farmers, growing rice, corn and other crops to sell at roadside markets. \u2018The rice is not ready to harvest yet,\u2019 she says, stooping down to pluck weeds from between the shoots. \u2018But we need to weed the paddies so that the rice can grow strong.\u2019 She takes a breather and wipes her brow, looking out along the terraces, where more villagers are arriving to start their own day\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

The Lisu are one of the six main indigenous tribes scattered across the steep, densely wooded hills of northern Thailand. Like all the nation\u2019s hill tribes, the Lisu\u2019s origins long predate national boundaries. Historically they are a travelling people, ranging across the mountains to avoid conflict or seek out new lands to farm. These days, the Lisu are scattered far and wide, all the way from the mountains of Burma and Thailand to southwest China and the Indian province of Arunachal Pradesh. Though officially recognised as Thai citizens, they remain fiercely protective of their customs: they still speak their own language, build their own houses from teak and bamboo, and hand-stitch their ceremonial costumes, although these days people are also happy to make concessions to the modern world \u2013 everyone gets around by scooter and nearly every house has a rusty satellite dish outside.<\/p>\n

Across the spine of green hills from Ha Mee\u2019s rice paddies lies the little village of Ja Bo, which belongs to one of Thailand\u2019s other main hill tribes, the Lahu. Where the Lisu are proud of their agricultural know-how, the Lahu are famed for their hunting prowess. Men still wear long machetes at their belt, and hunt using traditional bamboo bows, wearing necklaces made of porcupine quills or wild boar tusks as souvenirs. They live close to the land, relying on land\u2019s natural fertility and plentiful rains to grow their crops. Most Lahu also still practise a form of animist religion, overseen by the village shaman, who dispenses traditional medicines and conducts religious ceremonies.<\/p>\n

Jaa Kyew was born in Ja Bo, and recently returned to his home village to work as a farmer having completed his studies in the nearby town of Pai. He now supplements his income by guiding trekkers in the hills around Ja Bo and organising homestays with local families.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m very proud of my culture,\u2019 he says, as he leads the way along Ja Bo\u2019s dusty main street, where roosters and ducklings scratch around in the dry earth, and dogs yawn lazily along the roadside. \u2018It is important to welcome people here so that we can show them how the Lahu live. That way they will understand our culture better, and help us protect it.\u2019<\/p>\n

He waves to a woman walking home from one of the village plantations, a basket of fresh-picked tea leaves strapped to her back, a baby slung in a papoose around her neck. She\u2019s wearing the traditional jacket worn by all Lahu woman, made from handwoven black cotton trimmed by five coloured bands. The colours all have a meaning, Jaa Kyew explains: black for ancestors, red for bloodline, white for spiritual purity, blue for prosperity and yellow for tea, the Lahu\u2019s staple crop.<\/p>\n

She chats for a while to Jaa Kyew, then smiles coyly and continues down the hill for home. In the valley below the village, people are still at work in the fields, but soon they\u2019re running for cover as a sudden rainstorm bursts above the hills, turning the village street into a fast-running river. No-one seems to mind much, and anyway it doesn\u2019t last long. Rain is a fact of life in the hills; it\u2019s what keeps the fields green and the crops healthy, and enables the Lahu and Thailand\u2019s other hill tribes to continue a way of life that\u2019s endured here as long as anyone cares to remember.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have travelled to Thailand many times, and it’s somewhere I never get tired of exploring so this feature on exploring the country’s northern reaches was a particularly rewarding trip. 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