DOI PHA HOM POK, CHIANG MAI 2006 Part 6

This story continues from Part 5 - The index of this series is here

**DOWNWARD THE SLOPE**

'Well, we'd better climb down.' our guide said, 'Other groups have gone, don't you hungry? If not... I am.' he smiled.

'Sounds like a good idea.' I answered, 'Do we have to go back to the same way we climbed?'

'There are two ways' he answered 'Another one is on the opposite side, leading to that sakura field' he then pointed one beautiful pale pink hill in the mist.' my eyes gleamed with the light of adventure. My stamina recovered, partially.

'Well, is it difficult? Is it far? And how can we return to our camp?' Far shot questions one after another in her fashion.

'Around 4 kilometres. Not far, but the way is steep,' he answered, 'a little bit more sheer than what we've climbed. That hill is 7km far from our camp and the path is not so rough. We can go back that way, it's like a circle.'

'Can we go there?' I asked Mr. guide and turning to my friends as well.

'Choice is yours. But if you ask me, I won't recommend you to go further because you don't bring any provision with you, am I right? Climb down to your tent and have some food then let me know if you want to go there.'

'What do you all think?' I questioned my friends, 'Thinking about the distant, if we go back to the camp first, the distant will increase from 11km to more than 17. Personally, I want to go there from here but I don't know how to deal with our provision.'

'I think I can go' Ple was the first to answer, she was the leader of the company when we climbed up, saying that she climbed up half-asleep, 'But how about the rest? How about Kiead?'

Kiead looked troubled, at last she spoke, 'I may try, if everyone agreed to go further.'

'Think about food first' Far said, 'We are starving and we've nothing to eat but Kiead's snacks which we ate them all by now. Can we drive our legs until the late afternoon without eating anything? Well, I don't think it's a good idea to go forward. Let's go back.'

'But I don't think we can make more 14km to that hill and return ere nightfall.' I opposed.

'Then be it!' Far answered sharply 'I know it's a good idea to go there from here but we've to determine our strength too.'

With that, I admitted and Lo! I must regret if I didn't climb down where we climbed up since the forest was very old, green, and beautiful in the misty sunlight. The plain near the was filled with high and thick shrubs and herbs. Some flowers were blooming against the cold weather.

Where the plain ended, we entered the thick green forest. Amazingly, the air was fresh enough to freshen our limbs and needs. Mist was still lightly cover the forest. This is when we saw why this mountain was called 'Doi Pha Hom Pok' or Mountain of blanket covered; all the forest are humid enough for moss and fern to grow in trunks and branches of trees, made them looks like they're cold and those moss and fern help them warm. It was a marvelous sceneries.

The forest ended again when we reahed the summit of "Mon Wat Jai" (the Hill for "testing of willingness" - from part 4), the sheerest slope. I looked down and wondered how I climbed up when I had someone to pull. "Sometimes, the dark helps" I thought. I and the rest of the company grew weary again and the mist was still thick down here, against the sunlight. We rested for a short while along the way down. When we reached the foot of "Mon Wat Jai", we, then, took photos with the signpost. The camp was very near.

Note from Blogmaster: this post will be the last post from me when I am in Thailand. I'll travel to the UK today. See you again soon!!

THIS STORY CONTINUES IN THE NEXT PART

DOI PHA HOM POK, CHIANG MAI 2006 Part 5

As promised, I've filled this series with a lot of pictures.

This story continues from Part 4 - The index of this series is here

**AT THE TOP OF DOI PHA HOM POK**

'Pant... pant... Ah... here we come!!' I spoke to the rest of the company when I and Kiead reached the mountain top. All of them were sitting next to each other, panting, drinking some water. It was already half past six and the Sun was about to raise. It was very cold up there, and windy. Heavy Mist was blew from one side of the mountain to the other side. The top of Doi Pha Hom Pok is in straight-line shape. The problem was we started to get hungry and we didn't bring any food with us, but water bottles.

'Everyone, let's share this' surprisingly, Kiead unpack her bag and brought out many snacks.

'Wow, Kiead. That's surprise! I thought we had to climb down staving.' said, Ple.

'So, that's worth more than I expected, huh?' I said, laughing while adding, 'You've your part to do. My labour of pulling you up is settled now.'

The company shared the food. It's not enough to satisfy the hunger of those who climbed more than 3 hours but enough to line our stomachs.

When the sharing of the food ended, I felt better and relaxed. At that time, I started to feel the cold. The temperature was lower than 5 degree celcius at the top of the mountain, not to mention the heavy wind and mist blow which make things worse. Far asked for her several cloths that she furled round me when we were climbing back, to wrap herself. Ten minutes of waiting could be more than an hour.

'It's almost 7, Mr. Guide. Will the Sun rise in this misty air?' I questioned our guide who stood nearby. Looks like he wasn't troubled from the cold weather.

'Well, probably not.' he answered 'But she hasn't climb up the eastern mountain yet, I can see from the light here and there. The sky will go red before she came. It's very near now as you can see things better for the time being. The weather is not clear today so, for the sake of luck we will see her rise. I'll advise you to took some pictures and the time will flew... Look at the north, it's Myanmar's mountains'

Then, the company started taking pictures now and there. Until the sky was red...

**MINUTE OF SUN RISE**

The misty wind still blew but the day was growing. Pale red light shone through heavy mist, enlighten things hidden by the dark. The company was aware of the sunrise by the telling of the guide. All looked eastward, holding digital cameras tightly and lo... she came, piercing her red light through the thick mist. The company yelled and many pictures were taken. At the moment her light shone on my eyes, it seemed like all tireness and cold was lifted away for a little while. It's the light of the live-giving of our Earth, which was giving me the light of joy.

After the moment with the Sun, the company looked happier and started to talk with each other more freely. The tireness of labouring the mountain slopes was gone. The air was a little warmer, al least in our perception. The mountain now was showing its leaves and flowers of many kind which were beyound our recognition. I's also in the mood of sightseeing and photo-taking. We re-take our pictures again since the first series are shot in lesser light. Some other groups are gone, climbing down. But we're still there, last to the top, last to the camp.

THIS STORY CONTINUES IN THE NEXT PART