03/08/08
I spent the day before I left Chiang Mai with a very special woman. She has a good heart and it was a privilege for me to have met her. Her Thai nick name is Pony, (pronounced Poo – nee). She owns a bar that myself and Aaron frequented and then subsequently after Aaron went to Taiwan I frequented on my own. The bar is just off the night market and is contained within in a group of other bars.
At times Pony can look very serious but she is always quick with a laugh. Pretty much like me I suppose. We have had many conversations where I am looking puzzled and she is laughing. It is always the same, she is giggling and I am trying to explain that I don’t understand what she is talking about. This just seemed to make her laugh louder and harder. We had a running joke together. Whenever I was sitting at the bar I was always approached by children selling flowers or people begging. They would hand a flower to me and say, ‘Ten baht’. Whenever Pony put more peanuts in the dish or changed the CD when I asked her to she, would reply, ‘Ten baht’, and break into peals of laughter.
One night when everyone else was gone we continued talking as she closed the bar. We had been talking about Chiang Mai and the many temples there. I offered to buy Pony a drink but she declined. She said she is a good Buddhist and doesn’t drink alcohol. When I mentioned that I would like to see Doi Inthanon she offered to take me there for the day.
Doi Inthanon National Park boasts Thailand’s highest peak. It is about 60 Km outside of Chiang Mai and another 25 Km up. There are many waterfalls and an abundance of wildlife including monkeys, birds and it is also one of the last habitats of the Asiatic black bear. About 4 km from the top of the mountain is Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon, a chedi built by the Royal Thai Air Force to commemorate the king’s 60th birthday in 1989. There is one Chedi for the king and one for the queen.
Pony arranged a driver for us. His name is Nong and his sister is at present working in a Thai restaurant in Ballybofey. Small world. We set off at nine a.m. and left the city of Chiang Mai behind us for the day. When we got there and started to ascend the mountain I could appreciate why Pony said her car wouldn’t cope with the drive. It was a very steep climb, more so than Doi Suthep. When we got to the Chedi I knelt beside Pony as she prayed before the statue of Buddha. I looked around the ceiling where paintings depicted the life of Buddha. Thankfully the air was cool and moist. I was unable to see down the mountain because we had ascended above a thick layer of mist and all that was visible was a carpet of forest over the adjacent mountains. Nong stayed in the car and left Pony and I to walk around together taking in the sites.
After seeing the Chedi we ascended to the very highest peak in Thailand, as you can see from the photo I made sure to get a picture to prove I was there. Some Japanese tourist was good enough to take the photo for me. After this we paused for a coffee and sat in silence while drinking. I always find it refreshing to meet people who can sit in silence and not feel the need to talk when it isn’t really necessary.
Nong then brought us to a market which was mainly selling fresh fruit and vegetables, (not really my scene folks) but I did pick up a cool ashtray which has a skeleton figurine lying in the base of the ashtray. Very symbolic of the nicotine habit I thought. Of course, being Thai, Pony and Nong made sure to buy some fresh vegetables while there. On this note, being around Thais has made me aware of how fat and unhealthy I really am. I find it next to impossible to guess the age of any Thai person; they all look so healthy and young. I am sure this is from their diet of fruit, vegetables and grasshoppers. After the market we stopped off for something to eat at a restaurant on the side of the mountain. The restaurant is beside a large acreage of flower beds that supply the Chiang Mai market. Nong said that they used to grow opium here until the authorities cracked down on it. Of course being on the side of Thailand’s largest mountain it was unlikely that I would get a batter burger and chips. I ordered noodle soup and hoped for the best. Let’s just say that I made an attempt but didn’t even get half way through it.
Next stop was one of the main waterfalls on the mountain. Think Powerscourt but much more exotic. Pony and I held hands as we walked by the cascading water and held on to each other at the slippery parts of the path even though it wasn’t really necessary. I wanted to record a brief movie of the waterfall so I turned on the video facility on my camera and handed it to Pony to record me standing in front of the waterfall. Of course I don’t know the Thai for, ‘Please Pony can you record a short movie of me standing in front of Nam Tok Wachiratan Waterfall’? So when I handed the camera to Pony she assumed she was taking a photo of me. More peals of laughter when she realised what had happened. If anyone is interested I have a short movie of me standing in front of the waterfall but it plays on its side rather than straight up.
There were other waterfalls to see and Nong was willing to take me to them. In fact Nong was very obliging and offered to take me to numerous places that day. Places that were many miles away from where we were. I said that one waterfall was enough thanks and that maybe I would like to see some elephants. No problem for Nong, it was about 30 km from where we were but he was happy to oblige. Taking a short cut I got to see lots of paddy fields at the foot of Doi Inthanon and many small farms dotted about the place. It reminded me of films such as ‘Apocalypse Now’ and all those other Vietnam movies. Unfortunately the road Nong was hoping to take had been closed. This meant back tracking and then adding a further 20 km to our journey. Nong was happy to oblige but I said that maybe I had enough for one day as I was tired and I was also aware of the fact that Pony had to work that night.
I was dozing off in the car as we drove back to Chiang Mai. Silence reigned, broken only by the occasional snippets of conversation between my two Thai friends. Nong left us back to the place he picked us up and then Pony dropped me back to the hotel I was staying in. I insisted that Pony let me buy her dinner in the hotel. She went home and changed and I made an effort also by showering, shaving and putting on fresh clothes. What a man, eh?
We had dinner and as I am writing this it has occurred to me that that day has been the only day so far in Thailand that I have not drank any alcohol. I had a juicy big steak and Pony had some vegetarian stuff. After dinner the idea was that Pony would go to work and I would accompany her by sitting on the customer side of the bar. It didn’t work out that way. At the time Chiang Mia was undergoing one of its rainy season deluges and so we repaired to my room and I snoozed on my bed as Pony was held in a trance watching some Thai soap opera on the television. When it comes to really bad ham acting soap operas Thailand is up there with the best of them.
Pony never got to work that night. I had already booked my flight to Koh Samui for the following morning so we spent our time together late into the night talking and stuff. It’s a pity that I didn’t get to know Pony earlier in my time spent in Chiang Mai. As I said she is a very special woman and I will always remember the time I spent with her in Thailand.
At times Pony can look very serious but she is always quick with a laugh. Pretty much like me I suppose. We have had many conversations where I am looking puzzled and she is laughing. It is always the same, she is giggling and I am trying to explain that I don’t understand what she is talking about. This just seemed to make her laugh louder and harder. We had a running joke together. Whenever I was sitting at the bar I was always approached by children selling flowers or people begging. They would hand a flower to me and say, ‘Ten baht’. Whenever Pony put more peanuts in the dish or changed the CD when I asked her to she, would reply, ‘Ten baht’, and break into peals of laughter.
One night when everyone else was gone we continued talking as she closed the bar. We had been talking about Chiang Mai and the many temples there. I offered to buy Pony a drink but she declined. She said she is a good Buddhist and doesn’t drink alcohol. When I mentioned that I would like to see Doi Inthanon she offered to take me there for the day.
Doi Inthanon National Park boasts Thailand’s highest peak. It is about 60 Km outside of Chiang Mai and another 25 Km up. There are many waterfalls and an abundance of wildlife including monkeys, birds and it is also one of the last habitats of the Asiatic black bear. About 4 km from the top of the mountain is Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon, a chedi built by the Royal Thai Air Force to commemorate the king’s 60th birthday in 1989. There is one Chedi for the king and one for the queen.
Pony arranged a driver for us. His name is Nong and his sister is at present working in a Thai restaurant in Ballybofey. Small world. We set off at nine a.m. and left the city of Chiang Mai behind us for the day. When we got there and started to ascend the mountain I could appreciate why Pony said her car wouldn’t cope with the drive. It was a very steep climb, more so than Doi Suthep. When we got to the Chedi I knelt beside Pony as she prayed before the statue of Buddha. I looked around the ceiling where paintings depicted the life of Buddha. Thankfully the air was cool and moist. I was unable to see down the mountain because we had ascended above a thick layer of mist and all that was visible was a carpet of forest over the adjacent mountains. Nong stayed in the car and left Pony and I to walk around together taking in the sites.
After seeing the Chedi we ascended to the very highest peak in Thailand, as you can see from the photo I made sure to get a picture to prove I was there. Some Japanese tourist was good enough to take the photo for me. After this we paused for a coffee and sat in silence while drinking. I always find it refreshing to meet people who can sit in silence and not feel the need to talk when it isn’t really necessary.
Nong then brought us to a market which was mainly selling fresh fruit and vegetables, (not really my scene folks) but I did pick up a cool ashtray which has a skeleton figurine lying in the base of the ashtray. Very symbolic of the nicotine habit I thought. Of course, being Thai, Pony and Nong made sure to buy some fresh vegetables while there. On this note, being around Thais has made me aware of how fat and unhealthy I really am. I find it next to impossible to guess the age of any Thai person; they all look so healthy and young. I am sure this is from their diet of fruit, vegetables and grasshoppers. After the market we stopped off for something to eat at a restaurant on the side of the mountain. The restaurant is beside a large acreage of flower beds that supply the Chiang Mai market. Nong said that they used to grow opium here until the authorities cracked down on it. Of course being on the side of Thailand’s largest mountain it was unlikely that I would get a batter burger and chips. I ordered noodle soup and hoped for the best. Let’s just say that I made an attempt but didn’t even get half way through it.
Next stop was one of the main waterfalls on the mountain. Think Powerscourt but much more exotic. Pony and I held hands as we walked by the cascading water and held on to each other at the slippery parts of the path even though it wasn’t really necessary. I wanted to record a brief movie of the waterfall so I turned on the video facility on my camera and handed it to Pony to record me standing in front of the waterfall. Of course I don’t know the Thai for, ‘Please Pony can you record a short movie of me standing in front of Nam Tok Wachiratan Waterfall’? So when I handed the camera to Pony she assumed she was taking a photo of me. More peals of laughter when she realised what had happened. If anyone is interested I have a short movie of me standing in front of the waterfall but it plays on its side rather than straight up.
There were other waterfalls to see and Nong was willing to take me to them. In fact Nong was very obliging and offered to take me to numerous places that day. Places that were many miles away from where we were. I said that one waterfall was enough thanks and that maybe I would like to see some elephants. No problem for Nong, it was about 30 km from where we were but he was happy to oblige. Taking a short cut I got to see lots of paddy fields at the foot of Doi Inthanon and many small farms dotted about the place. It reminded me of films such as ‘Apocalypse Now’ and all those other Vietnam movies. Unfortunately the road Nong was hoping to take had been closed. This meant back tracking and then adding a further 20 km to our journey. Nong was happy to oblige but I said that maybe I had enough for one day as I was tired and I was also aware of the fact that Pony had to work that night.
I was dozing off in the car as we drove back to Chiang Mai. Silence reigned, broken only by the occasional snippets of conversation between my two Thai friends. Nong left us back to the place he picked us up and then Pony dropped me back to the hotel I was staying in. I insisted that Pony let me buy her dinner in the hotel. She went home and changed and I made an effort also by showering, shaving and putting on fresh clothes. What a man, eh?
We had dinner and as I am writing this it has occurred to me that that day has been the only day so far in Thailand that I have not drank any alcohol. I had a juicy big steak and Pony had some vegetarian stuff. After dinner the idea was that Pony would go to work and I would accompany her by sitting on the customer side of the bar. It didn’t work out that way. At the time Chiang Mia was undergoing one of its rainy season deluges and so we repaired to my room and I snoozed on my bed as Pony was held in a trance watching some Thai soap opera on the television. When it comes to really bad ham acting soap operas Thailand is up there with the best of them.
Pony never got to work that night. I had already booked my flight to Koh Samui for the following morning so we spent our time together late into the night talking and stuff. It’s a pity that I didn’t get to know Pony earlier in my time spent in Chiang Mai. As I said she is a very special woman and I will always remember the time I spent with her in Thailand.
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