On the school's holiday Myself and my friend Joanna went up to Um Phang - A beautiful town up in the mountains with the famous Theelorsu waterfall. We went on a tour with a Thai Travel group and got to go rafting and camp overnight near the falls. The water level is low this time of year, which means that the falls (to the local eye) are not as stunning. To me they were breath-taking and because the water is lower everyone can swim - good deal I think. The tour was all well and good but my favorite part was 5 hour tsung tow (a pick up truck with bench seats in the back and a roof over the back) there and back.... let me explain.
1. When we first got on there was only 4 people in the back and we were laughing at how much room there was...stupid foreigners...
2. We drive away only to stop around the corner at a Honda dealership and a brand new motor bike is tied standing up between the seats...getting a little cramped.
3. We stop as we are leaving the town and pick up another 4 people...then another 5...then another 4.
4. The truck is so full that the driver says that some people will have to sit on the roof.
5. Are you kidding me? Yeah we did.
6. 5 hours holding onto a bar with one hand (for my life) and taking photos with the other. The drive there is called "death road", one of the reasons being that it is a rollercoaster ride through the mountains: 1219 curves, mountains, jungle, rice paddies. Thailand. The crazy thing was there was 5 of us on the roof along with everyone's bags.
More and more I'm realizing that I don't like the tourist experiences you read about in magazines and see on tv - the tours, hotels, the manicured scenery and experiences that really have nothing to do with the culture. I love the people, the relationships and living like the locals live. My Thai is basically nonexistent but a bunch of us were laughing and enjoying life on the roof of a truck. I loved it. As other trucks and cars passed we were getting looks and honks that said, "What the heck are those white kids doing on the roof?".
Here's a few pics from the trip
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