First stop is Pai Canyon. More steps up, up,up. …. My first sweat of the day getting up to the canyon. Absolutely spectacular. No one besides me walked across a narrow strip. Joe said to me be careful, no one can help you.

Next stop, WW2 memorial bridge. Built in 1912 but partially moved in ‘67 from Chiang Mai when they were building a new cement bridge there. Originally there was one built here by forced labour of the Thai people by the Japanese and then burnt down as they were retreating. Part of the span from Chiang Mai was a replacement for the one that the Japanese burnt down. The story on this and the connection to Japanese is a different slant on their friendship.

Unbelievable road, twisting and turning, switch-backs like crazy. I don’t get motion sick but this was having a bit of an effect… a little nausea with headache. Being a passenger in the backseat is not the same as being the driver.

Lunch at Fang. This “city” used to benefit from petroleum but that all dried up. Now it’s mandarin oranges and vegetables. It’s not a place that tourists stop but we had Joe to order for us.

Next is Wat Thaton. We didn’t go in this temple but to look at the outside off it, the view… to the military base in Myanmar and the twin city of Thaton… in Myanmar. A few years ago this Thaton was a very “dangerous” place to be before Thailand built a military base here too. Just after leaving Joe pointed out the 1000 acres mandarin orange groves & 10,000 acres of dragon fruit trees.

It’s cooler today…. Only 35 but feels like 36 cuz it rained last night for about 1 hour. I think all of Thailand is looking forward to rainy season. That’s when for next 2 months it rains but only at night. Monsoons come in August/September when it rains constantly. We also passed by what used to be rice paddies. It will once again, once the rains come. On the hillside there lots of lychee trees. The fruit hanging down reminds me of cherries hanging. They will be ready about July. I also noticed some plants with bags hanging off…. apparently they are guava.

It was a very, very long day for us but also for Joe. He drove probably 6 hours plus our stops. We got to stay in a 4 star hotel called Laluna. Its too expensive for Joe to stay too. It might be a very nice place but there is no dining room/bar, not many customers….none at the pool and their wifi sucks (I realize now that it wasn’t their wifi) so I cannot add pictures until I get where they a larger bandwidth???