Doi Tung
12 February 2011 | thailand
michael and jackie
The mountain road spirals down from Phuchasai to paddyfields busy with rice farmers planting out seedlings in the flooded fields. We turn onto the main road in the direction of Burma. First of all though we turned off the main highway up another mountain road to Doi Tung. Passing a Chinese village the road ascends with small nurseries established on the switch back bends. Eventually we arrive at the ridge and could see Doi Tung. The king's mother had a villa built here. It was a condition of her return from Switzerland. The building is very much in the style of a luxury Swiss chalet of the 1970s. Below the villa gardens were laid out with temperate flowers. Many of the plants are English and produce a remarkable blaze of colour. The garden is actually on the former site of a hill tribe village. The village was apparently a well known stopping point for the drugs trade. Much is made now of the employment provided by the garden. Numerous Thai tourists throng the gardens and palace, taking advantage of the numerous photo opportunities. After sampling the excellent local coffee, another opium substitution programme, we dropped back down the mountain road to meet the Burma highway.