Gonzo the Face Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 I think that this evening in the annual walk up to Doi Suthep Day...... Anyone going to brave the mountain ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uptheos Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 If an elephant could do it without roads, anyone can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo the Face Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 Well I guess I'll just have to take your advice...... If an elephant can do it, I guess this horsesazz can do it....... PS tomorrow look for my write up in the Page of Remembrance 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyecatcher Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Today is good day to do it...... Because tomorrow is visacha bucha day! If you want to know what its like read my thread from last years. Don't know how to link though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyecatcher Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Found it! For anyone, who is thinking of doing the walk next year….read on. If you have ever walked away from a football stadium of 50,000 fans at the end of the game, and then walked 14kms uphill you will get some degree of last nights experience. It took us over 30 minutes to ride the short 2km up Huay Kaew Road towards the memorial just beyond the zoo. Traffic was horrendous to say the least, and that, combined with hundreds of people already walking from the city areas. There was no thro traffic allowed beyond the University gates, which was the official car park . We spent about 45 minutes at the start point, and listened to a melodious chant-not and then an opening speech by some officials . The road at this point was already crammed with walkers leaving only a narrow lane down the right side for vehicles coming down. We headed off, umbrella in hand, water and camera, and joined the thousands on the walk. Both of us at least were dressed suitably with strong shoes and socks but the majority…you would think they were out on a fashion show. High heels, flip flops, full make up, and the girls; the same. Mobile phones stuck to their ears, actually no, it was blessing that that there isnt a signal for a lot of the way.. But I was astonished by the number of families dragging their 5yr olds on a 4hr walk, or pushing a pram and some actually carrying their kids. Not too many people I guess were older than myself, the majority seemed to be 30s and under. Along the route there were many food carts selling their sausage balls or squid; in fact that was your choice for most of the way up. A few places were giving away noodles; pat Thai and lots of free water, coke and fanta type drinks. It was a struggle to walk in your own space, many a time I would walk up the back of someones legs, or jab my umbrella down and pin their sandal to the floor. The route was quite well lit in several areas as someone had rigged up electric fluorescent lights but a couple of times it seems the power was overloaded with the number of sausage food carts and their electric fans , and the route fell into darkness; quite eerie and people seemed to stop talking. Elsewhere along the route it wasn’t quiet, some groups army or navy boys were chanting their he-man songs and there were solitary drummers banging the rythym to war galley, and pre requisite crappy dancing troupe that think they are good. The pace picked up towards the top with the anticipation of the end in sight, at this point there were also thousands walking down, those who had been earlier. As we approached stalls at the top, people were sitting in the road, looking to bed down for the night, and I have never seen as many foot massage chairs in my life with many takers as you can imagine. Then the bottleneck; the steps leading to the temple and the Naga stairs were choked solid, only 12 hours earlier I had literally run down those steps at pace zig zagging and now you couldn’t even see your feet. I was one who legged it over the side of the steps and walked up the outside of the walls; it would have taken at least 30 minutes to go one step at a time in the crush. At the top, we were exhausted. The outer area was littered with people sleeping on the floor for the night,ot sure how they could with the constant din of those bells being struck. The compulsory removal of shoes to go to the inner sanctum was a ticket to never finding your footwear again as there were single shoes strewn everywhere. I refrained from further stress and punishment and awaited my better half to do her thing. After all the water and fluid intake she needed the toilets only to come straight back to advise the water had run dry in the toilets…what would they be like in the morning.? It had taken us about 4hrs to get all the way to the temple and then about an hour stepping over people and trying to get back. We arrived back at the top of the main steps and looked down, wow, half were trying to get up, half were trying to get down. We were crushed like sardines, after going down about 15 steps I thought, this is what happened at Hillsborough; . It was too dangerous, couldn’t breathe and it was going to take us an hour to get down the steps. Fortunately I know the back way out of the temple and we could be 400m down the road in ten minutes, so we turned around and went out through the meditation areas. The girly took some convincing about it as it was pitch black and she didn’t want to go hiking with me.at 2am On the road we jumped onto a songthaew. I was hanging off the back; and besides us there were 27 other people in our songthaew, 7 on each bench, 6 on the floor in the middle, 2 with the driver, 2 on the roof rack and 5 of us hanging off the back. It was a slow return, one hour and the drivers were charging 50bt a head. Quite lucrative at 1300bt a trip. I guess every red taxi in the city was flying up and down last night as I roughly estimated their were 75-100 thousand people doing that walk. A couple of ambulances were trying to get down, but in vain really, sirens blurting but in fairness it was not easy to negotiate thousands of walkers and hundreds of taxis. Got back to the zoo area around 3am…many people were just setting off at that time… the street cleaners were already out collecting the thousands and thousands of plastic paper cups, bags, plates, straws, half eaten sausages, plates of food,… Well in conclusion, I would say its another new experience, but one I will never repeat. There were about 4 first aid stations we saw but you needed to have your heart attack at that point, anywhere else it’s a forelorn hope. Police; didn’t see any other than one or two sat eating and socialising. Security and control; well what I saw on the Naga steps was potentially frightening, no barriers no streamlining, just a free for all. Having said that; credit to everyone who completed the walk and many who walked back. From my own experience 14-16km is never easy but I hope they manage to get their wishes and fulfilment out the trip Oh well roll on Monday when I can do it at my own pace…..up and down in 2hrs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydneycraig Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 What time did you set off? When do most set off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiangmaiman99 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 I'll be looking 4 u Gonzo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo the Face Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 I'll be looking 4 u Gonzo... Try and find me on the way up so we can have a chance to chat........ on the way down, I probably will be traveling too fast for much conversation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyecatcher Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 I'll be looking 4 u Gonzo... Try and find me on the way up so we can have a chance to chat........ on the way down, I probably will be traveling too fast for much conversation Well just be careful this year Gonzo; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo the Face Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 Anyone go on the walk and have any comments ???? Just by chance did any of the airborne drone helis take any aerial clips of this procession??? that would be very interesting to see. Kilometer after kilometer of human kind snakeing up and down the mountain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo the Face Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 I was told earlier this afternoon that there was a bit of a rough up fight yesterday evening up on the mountain. Possibly due to the pushing and shoving.... Anyone hear anything about that??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MESmith Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 I was told earlier this afternoon that there was a bit of a rough up fight yesterday evening up on the mountain. Possibly due to the pushing and shoving.... Anyone hear anything about that??? How Buddhist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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