Happy New Year

Well, I didn't get any time off for Christmas, but for New Year's we got a 4 day weekend. Trevor and I decided (after much waffling) to go to Um Phang, the site of Tee Lor Su, Thailand's most beautiful waterfall. It was quite a trip and full of ups and downs...
The trip began with a bus ride to Nakhon Sawan which was supposed to be immediately followed by a bus ride to Mae sot. Unfortunately, New Year's weekend is a huge travel time for Thais and every bus was full. Eventually we got on a bus to Tak (on the way and close enough to get another bus the next day) with standing room only. After about 4 hours of standing on a bus at night, we arrived in Tak, spent the night, and made our way to Mae Sot the next day.
That's where the fun really started. From Mae Sot to Umphang is a 4 hour ride by Song Tiew (a pick up truck converted to take passengers... the conversion consists mostly of adding a roof and two benches on either side of the bed). But, these were also full, so for the first 45 minutes we stood on the back hanging on to the roof. After that, Trevor asked if we could climb on top. That was much nicer, and, surprisingly enough, probably safer.
So, for four hours on winding mountain roads with no inlets or outlets, we rode on (not in) a song tiew. Finally, we arrived in Um Phang the city, not the park. We were dropped at a resort that arranged expensive trekking packages. We weren't up for a 5,000 baht package that would have a guide following us the whole way through, but we negotiated a 3,000 baht package that just got us to the waterfall via raft and back via truck.
The raft ride was amazing, much of it was walled on either side by beautiful cliffs and overhands dripping with water to create a very impressive effect. By that afternoon we were at the main campsite just a half hour hike from Ti Lor Su. We set up our tent, and hiked, and enjoyed a few hours swimming and basking in the sun while climbing from pool to pool of a very beautiful waterfall.
This is a very popular tourist destination for Thais so it was incredibly packed. Every one of the many pools had Thais swimming and having a good time. Trevor and I were virtually the only farangs living in the shanty town that had built itself up at the main campsite (i saw about 4 others in the throng).
I hurt my thumb while swimming, which was unfortunate. It actually approximated a type of Chinese torture that involves shoving bamboo shoots under a man's fingernails. It was dirt, though, and only my thumb, but it hurt immensely. That, combined with the freezing cold mountain night that we were totally unprepared for led to a miserable sleepless night.
That morning our ride never showed up. We arranged to ride back with another group from the same company amidst a good deal of confusion. They kept trying to figure out who our guide was, who had abandoned us and who should be in trouble... but we didn't have one, we had only arranged for a ride which never came. But, they let us in the truck nonetheless.
About halfway back we stopped at a fruit orchard where they told us we wouldn't make it in time to get back to mae sot if we stayed with them, so we had to climb onto a pick up truck full of rubber. This was terrifying, as I laid down on a pile of rubber with absolutely nothing holding me in and very little to hold on to on the windy roads.
But, another couple had done the same thing and they had room in their very nice SUV to give us a ride all the way from Um Phang to Mae Sot (circumventing the terrible 4 hour song tiew ride that I was too sick, tired, and injured to be very happy about). The ride was lovely, very VIP for two unkempt farang's who had been traveling by bus and songtiew for months now...
We spent New Year's eve in Mae Sot. I spent most of it in the hotel room, although Trevor dragged me out around 10:30 to go out and ring in the New Year... We never found the big parties or packed bars we expected to, but we ended up at a nice little restaurant and wiled away most of the time, ending up outside for the fireworks a few minutes before new years.
The ride back from Mae Sot to Tak to Nakhon Sawan was just as it was coming up, standing and long, but we made it. I got up early this morning and left for Nong Chang so I could be at work mostly on time (I am supposed to be there at 8 but don't start teaching until 11). When I walked up to the house I realized that I had left my key with the bag that stayed behind while Trevor slept in.
I eventually got into the house, after having my fellow farang and thai teachers scour the school for an extra key (the sister of my land lady works at the same school, and she eventually rescued me). In the end, I was only 2 hours late for school and still a full hour before my first class, so it worked out just fine.
All in all, the trip was stressful, but I got to see many beautiful things and experience the mountain towns of Thailand I may not have made time for otherwise, so it was certainly worth it.
I hope everyone else had a wonderful New Year and a Merry Christmas!

Michael