Mae Nam Ping Kayak Tour 2022

Days 6 and 7: Kayaking to Bhumibol Dam, then Journey Home

16 January Ban Phukaew Home near Bhumibol Dam (22 kilometers paddling, then short drive)
We planned an early start to complete the day’s long paddle before afternoon headwinds might come up. Iew had set her alarm to 4:30 a.m., which helped. As yesterday, David was happy to hop on the speedboat. The rest of us had a long paddle southeast to get out of the second big basin. On the way we stopped at the little mountain island Koh Phrabat Huayhang, which has a Buddhist chedi on the summit. We didn’t know how best to climb to the top, but on the east side we found a good trail of concrete steps, though overgrown. We passed a shelter and shrine on the way to the golden chedi at the top. Apparently this had been a pilgrimage site in the past, and looked like a great place for a meditation retreat. Geologically, the island is interesting for a massive vertical vein of white quartz that runs through it.

Dawn arrives for our last day in the kayaks.


Jai and Areeya whip up breakfast.


David enjoys his eggs, bacon, and ham.


Areeya and Chris begin their paddle.
Our roomy two-story raft is on the left, and another rental raft behind also has guests.


Chris and Areeya are radiant in the early morning sun.


Now we head out into the open water.


We paddle to Koh Phrabat Huayhang.


A stiff climb leads to the top of Koh Phrabat Huayhang.


We find this chedi at the summit.


Iew pays respects to the Buddha.


A shrine near the summit


View back the way we came from atop Koh Phrabat Huayhang:
Last night we camped on a raft to the left, and yesterday we came through the channel on the right.

Finally we reached the last narrow section. Here David got back in a kayak and Chris hopped into the speedboat for a fast ride back to our starting point and his car. Chris would drive to meet us later today at our accommodations. Meanwhile Jai and Chat had given us packed lunches, which we enjoyed on the water.

David takes place of Chris in the kayak for the final paddle.
Jai will speed Chris back to his car. Chat has gone off with fishing friends.

The narrow section opened into the third and largest basin, where we followed the east shore to another Buddhist island, Phra Phutthabat Doi Khao Nam. We pulled in at the northwest corner and followed a concrete path up to a group of temple buildings, shrines, and golden chedis with great panoramas. I didn’t see any residents at this well-cared for temple, but met some Thai tourists who had come up the steps from the main dock on the island’s southeast side. On the way back to our kayaks, Iew and I detoured on a small path to a little building with a white marble reclining Buddha. A solar array lay nearby.

Near the top I pass this large Buddha image.


The golden chedi partially obscured on the right tops the highest point.


A view ahead: Bhumibol Dam is just around the corner in the distant left.


Iew heads down the concrete path.


We detour to a shrine with this white marble Buddha.

A short paddle took us to the turn east where the towering Bhumibol Dam came into view, and soon we arrived at an access road near the dam. It would be a few more hours before Chris would come, but luckily local police gave us a ride to nearby Ban Phukaew Home, a resort run by the electricity company EGAT. The beautifully landscaped resort felt a bit old fashioned yet was very comfortable after nights of camping in rafts. We got together in the resort restaurant for a good Thai dinner.

We begin the last leg of the journey.


A view back to Phra Phutthabat Doi Khao Nam and its main dock.


Bhumibol Dam comes into view. We will pull in at the sloping road to the left of the dam.


Our home for the night

17 January Bangkok
At dawn Chris took us in his car up to the dam and its lofty viewpoints. Then all of us and gear piled into the car for the drive to the main highway, where David and I got dropped off at a bus stop. Then Chris, Areeya, and Iew drove back toward Hidden Holiday House. But this was the wrong bus stop, and David and I watched—bus tickets in hand—in dismay as the bus stopped 150 meters down the road, then sped off without waiting for us. After much hand wringing and phone calls to Chris and Areeya, we had to buy new tickets and wait a couple hours for the next bus. Finally we got on and had a pleasant enough ride to Bangkok’s huge Mochit bus station, conveniently arriving before dark. We then took a short taxi ride around Chatuchak Park where David hopped on the Skytrain and I on the MRT subway to our respective hotels. David and I met up the following night to watch an open-air movie at the German-sponsored Goethe-Institut. And we met up again a week later on Koh Tao in South Thailand. In February all of us plan to join a ‘soft-nut’ nine-day bicycle ride organized by Chris in East Thailand.

This concrete dam is the highest in Thailand at 154 meters (505 feet).
Construction began in 1958 and finished in 1964, then it took another six years for the reservoir to completely fill.
When operations began, the dam provided 74% of Thailand’s power generation, but by 2003 the figure had dropped to 2%.


The placid Ping River below the dam


A garden near the dam has a photo of King Bhumibol (King Rama IX).


Chris and Areeya perch precariously atop the dam.


Iew and Areeya feel a sense of accomplishment.


Our last look up the valley and the magnificent journey we had experienced there 

The adventures of our little group continue in February with a ‘soft-nut’ bicycle ride in East Thailand led by Chris at www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/EasternThailand2022

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