Escaping the heat in April

[uttradit]

4 minutes ago, ChrisKC said:

 

For the last two years the temperature here in April and May has been up to 45C

 

So you have answered your own question - anywhere there are hills will be cooler and if you are in Northern Thailand you won't need to go far!

 

Not all cities even capital ones are in valleys, Chiang Mai for example, right here in Thailand, is 1,000 feet above sea level.

1000 feet is not much.

[uttradit]

A mountain resort with pool looks best option.

[ChrisKC]

3 minutes ago, uttradit said:

1000 feet is not much.

"Hills" is not enough height I agree.

 

You original post gives me the impression you are looking for somewhere else in Thailand - if that is true, then up the mountains you need to go!

[jesimps]

10 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Try Manali in Himachal Pradesh. Absolutely spectacular.

 

Manali is already at altitude and has lovely fresh air, carrying the glorious scent of the deodar cedar trees that pepper the landscape. Though it might be a tourist spot, I've never seen another tourist there. That part of India is predominantly Buddhist, not Hindu. Lots of bell-wearing yaks around town. There are small guest houses and one nice hotel, rooms with a fireplace and a large balcony, where the snow-capped Himalayas are in full view.

 

From Manali it's a gut-wrenching drive up to Rohtang Pass, but well worth it (provided you survive). The road is gravel, winding up another 8-10,000 feet to Rohtang. Boulders sometimes roll down the moutain and cross the road, so one must keep his eyes open. Traffic obviously goes in both directions, but generally there's only space for one vehicle, and there are no guardrails. The traditional wood-framed trucks common to India roads come at you full speed, with Shiva as their co-pilot, so to speak, so caution is not their byword. There are a few spots along the drive where the drop is around 5000 feet, straight as a beggar can spit. Plenty of cars and buses do not make it, and their wrecks are still sitting untouched near the bottom of the drive. So common are bus mishaps that take dozens of lives on India's Himalayan roads, that the reporting makes maybe Page 29 of The Times of India newspaper. It's a 'dog bites man' sort of tale.

 

Keep going after Rohtang and you hit the Ladakh area. The entire area gives one the feel of the Sean Connery/Michael Caine film "The Man Who Would Be King", based on the Kipling tale. In honor of that film, the first time I went I grew the beard as worn by Connery in the movie (the under-chin area clean shaven).

 

There was a TV show in the US called Ice Road Truckers or something like that, and one of the drives they did was up over Rohtang Pass.

 

 

When I was working in Delhi I drove up to the Rhotang Pass and back in my old Ford Granada. Stayed in a guest house in Kulu which was very basic, but adequate and cheap. I found the whole journey from the plains to be terrifying and I wouldn't attempt it again for anything. The views from the Rhotang Pass made the journey almost worthwhile, despite the two punctures and the fact that the engine kept cutting out on the hairiest parts of the track because of the thin air. To this day I can still hear the screams of my girlfriend at the time who travelled with me. 

 

I also visited Mussoorie during my time there which was a much easier drive and I found the place very relaxing, partly because I didn't have to spend the whole holiday dreading the drive back down. We needed a wood fire every evening because it got quite chilly, which made a nice change from the heat of Delhi.

[uttradit]

14 minutes ago, ChrisKC said:

"Hills" is not enough height I agree.

 

You original post gives me the impression you are looking for somewhere else in Thailand - if that is true, then up the mountains you need to go!

What's the elevation on Mae Hong Son? Probably similar to Chiang Mai.