Chaiyaphum

Our First Lesson in Thai Roadtripping

The invitation to participate in a Thai roadtrip can take many forms. As all communication in Thailand is indirect, it rarely takes the form of a direct invite. The most common method is to discuss a very cool thing (in this case the Siam Tulip) until the desired invitee shows interest and then to inform your future guest that you will be going to see said cool thing. In this way your guest is included and presumed to be attending, without being given a chance to politely decline. This was how the Chaiyaphum adventure came about.

The Siam Tulips are a very special kind of tulip with no actual resemblance to a normal tulip. These gorgeous flowers really look more like lotus blossoms, which seems about right considering the location. They bloom on one side of this grassy mountain/cliff for only two months out of the year. And the entire mountain has been converted into an Asian tourist’s paradise (read: no walking, excessive amounts of drink stands, and endless photo opportunities).

This particular adventure began at 2 am. Since the flowers bloom somewhere on the edge of Isaan near Central Thailand, and these special flowers are best photographed before 7 am, we left at 2am. Palmy, her oldest son, and her husband (affectionately known as “Honey” I don’t actually know his real name) completely outfitted their pick up truck into a deluxe roadtripping vehicle. Reu and I slept in the covered bed of the truck on 2 layers of floor mats and pillows. They also brought along a huge bag of snacky foods, and a cooler with several beers… did I mention it’s legal to drive with open containers of alcohol in the car… amazing Thailand!

We awoke to the cawing of roosters (serious they’re everywhere in this country, you cannot escape it) as we pulled into a roadside restaurant for breakfast. In Thailand, you don’t ease into the day with a nice simple meal. Instead you jump straight in with all the foods you eat at any other meal: Fried chicken, fried vegetables, fried eggs, soup, and mountains of rice. You get used to it, which is easy because it’s all DELICIOUS! There is something oddly satisfying about eating chicken after being woken up by one.

When we finally arrived at the sight of the Siam Tulips we received a special gift from Palmy, some very special hats, Reuven looked especially cute:

From there we were ushered into a songtaw that drove us up the mountain so there was no walking involved in the “hike” portion of the day. Which was good since the views from the top of this cliff were so breathtaking we would have been in big trouble.

From the edge of the cliff, which by the way, is known as the Ball Shrinking Cliff… te he he, anyways you walk through this beautiful forest. We experienced fog and cool breezes for the first time in Thailand. It was really wonderful. After this the path opens up on the grassy hillside that is home to the Siam Tulips… I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves (actually they're taking forever to load, so just 1 for now...)

After hiking down the mountain we headed to our first Silk shop where we purchased an obscene amount of goodies. I walked away with some special thai silk flowers as gifts for our teachers, an elephant throw, a thai silk seat cushion, and a brightly colored blanket. Charlotte left with the other half of the store, the girl can shop! For lunch we stopped at another side of the road place and enjoyed some Central Thai food specialties. Or rather Palmy and her family enjoyed the hot and spicy liver, while I enjoyed the rice and soup (some things are just better left to Anthony Bourdain… Mom, you’ll soon see what I mean).

After lunch we headed over to some special waterfalls. Charlotte experimented with her fancy, new camera while Reuven and I frolicked in the murky waters, reminiscent of the chocolate river in Willy Wonka, with all the other children with our clothes on as Palmy and her family looked on laughing. When swimming in Thailand, modesty and riap roy (proper manners) require that you keep all your clothes on, which can lead to some pretty funny pictures…

By the end of the day we were totally exhausted but so grateful to Palmy and her family for bringing us on this adventure. They are such endlessly generous people and I am so happy to be a part of their family.