Sukhothai Hills

At the bottom of the Ramkhamhaeng Mountain Range are a lot of hills not tall enough to be called mountain. Not only that I was curios to explore these hills, I also thought it might be a good idea to make it a new content to my photographic tours or embedding it into one as a special event. You need to know there are no regular trails up these hills. One rather need to find a passable track through the jungle. What you do is to observe the terrain and figure a rocky spot at the top. As photography is the goal you do not want to have a lot of tree tops in front of your lens, right? It helps a lot to talk to the locals to figure the best trail. So it happen I found myself on the way up at a nice clear sunny afternoon. It actually was easy to walk but still straight up all the time. Half way I had a sneak view through the trees.

As you can see it is not to high up but already a nice view. The target was a rocky cliff. The vegetation became more bulked and I soon arrived at my destination.

In the distance I could see an upper peak at the next hill who promised an even higher and more open view towards the Mountains. But this would be a walk for another day. It was just about time to go back down because the sun went down quickly.

Another day another hill. This time I had chosen an area more close to the mountains. The road already is on a higher level there. I recognized a rocky platform at the top with almost no vegetation. The perfect spot for photography.
I parked the car on the side of the road where I found a little trail leading in to the forest. It was ending very soon. This time it became more steep and the walk more difficult because of the rubble ground. I met 2 farmer woman on her way back down with buckets full of mushrooms. I told them what I am up to and ask for the best direction to go. They said I am on the right trek but it still is a long way. The walk became a climb and I had to rest several times. It was kind of late as I did not want to go down this way in the dark. So I paused not to much and regret my decision to carry only a small 300 ml bottle of water. Through the trees I could see the platform several times. It did not look far but every time I looked the distance seems not to shrink. When I reached the rock at the top I was totally soaked. It took me an hour but the magnificent view was worth every step.

video snapshot

The clock was 5.00 pm and I gave myself half an hour for photography and to relax. 6.30 pm the sun is down and one hour to go down should be enough I thought. Up there I did study the hill formation to figure a more easy way back.Walking down the ridge should be longer but more comfortable. Back in the woods the jungle dictated my way. I slightly ripped my finger on some thorns and was ending up in the dark climbing down large rocks following a riverbed. This should be a safe way to find back to the bottom. And it was. I finally came out of the forest only 50 meters from where I had parked my car. I guess I underestimated this little adventure and my time schedule was simply wrong. My knees where shaking and I felt exhausted. The next little store was not to far to go and a fresh cool beer brought back my animal spirits. I believe I had own it. This is definitely not proper for a tour. Otherwise anyone who ask for it is welcome. Well there many other little peaks to explore. Many more easy to enter like the first one. But this will take some time...