If I'm honest, I have to say we were on a hunt, a hunt to find and follow the coldest temperatures in Thailand. Obviously the higher you go the colder it gets and although Thailand's highest mountain, Doi Inthanon is only 2,565 meters, Temperatures can start to get pretty cold once you get around 1,500m. Another huge factor in low temperature in tropical Thailand is the wind. Even though some parts of the country may be a lot higher, regions of lower elevation can still be much colder - and this was the case here at Nam Ngao (half way between Bangkok and Chiang Mai).
The reason why wind can have such a huge factory here is because parts of Thailand can funnel wind channels down through and between large mountain ranges and open valleys. When the wind blows from north to south, Thailand receives a lot of its air and weather from China. At this time of the year China is extremely cold and the winds bring with it the colder air. Pockets of cool or cold air can come and go in a matter of days and we were following the forecast of cold air hitting this particular area. It therefore made sense to reroute and head to any high ground in the area.
The forecast had told us that early morning temperatures at 6am would be as low as 2°C. We had all the right gear to keep us warm and allow us to camp comfortably at such low temperatures and wanted to test them out.
In fact, my sleeping bag is rated at much lower temperatures:
the comfort rating is -9°C,
the limit rating is -16°C and
the extreme rating is a very cold -39°C.
Such a sleeping is almost totally unnecessary in Thailand but it was originally bought for a 4 week expedition I had planned last year in 2020 in the Himalayas where temperatures would have been down as low as -15°C and camping would have been at high altitude above 6500 meters in the snow... that trip however got cancelled because of COVID19 - and this was the reason to hunt out the coldest temperatures available to us, and see how good our gear really was!
Cutting to the point, the temperature never dropped to 2°C but did drop to 7.9°C outside the tent and 8.3°C inside the tent. Not as cold as we were hoping but still a good test run for the sleeping bag. As a result or review, I slept in only underwear and used the sleeping bag as an unzippled blanket just over the top of me and I was pretty warm. Definitely confident it would keep me warm in minus temperatures.
We woke up warm but leaving our sleeping bags was a different matter. Enjoying the view from inside we hung out in the warm bags until the sun was much higher in the sky. We had a slow morning pottering around the camp and had an early lunch. The bacon and sausages fried up nicely but the instant pasta, although edible wasn't great.
Even the smell of bacon wasn't enough to wake up our sleepy dog! Although we started to work out that it was more to do with the colder temperatures and that she doesn't like the cold. She is a mixed breed, partly Bang-Kaew, a Thai breed and another mix that we don't really know since she was a rescue dog from the streets when she was a tiny puppy.
Although she handles the heat very well and doesn't overheat like many other breeds do, she certainly knows when its too cold and goes back to/stays in bed when the temperature drops. For her, that means early nights/evenings and late mornings.
And the old saying is, "Let sleeping dogs, lie", literally!
Sure enough, the day did warm up and we knew exactly where we were going. A Google Map shortcut would lead us around the southern edge of Chulabhorn Reservoir, over the dam and about 35km along an offroad mountain track connecting to our next stop.
We passed the reservoir and had total freedom to drive the full length of the dam wall.
We could already see a few grassy spots on the far side that looked accessible and planned a quick stop to wash off. As long as there were no locked gates or 'do not enter' signs, things should be OK.
As expected and as seen on the map, we found the track taking us down to the water's edge. Small metal boats were strewn everywhere and left to rust away. Many were full of water because of the holes in the bottom and some had already sunk.
I am not sure if these were old tour boats or local fishing boats. Either way, they didn't look like they were being used that often.
The plan of wading in and having an afternoon wash was quickly cancelled when we saw how boggy it was. The water was clean and clear but since the soil was so soft, it would have meant we would have ended up muddier and dirtier getting out after the wash.
We edged around the banks of the reservoir and found an exit that brought us back to the same track and continued on. We soon found ourselves back on a concrete road leading us out to the side of the dam. We knew the concrete would stop and turn to dirt but didn't expect to find a derelict observatory at the end of the hard top.
In front of us stood a huge observatory. Locked up, overgrown and abandoned, it was still exciting to find.
We stopped just at the bottom of it and got out to look. I was on my way up the small footpath to see if maybe the door could be squeezed open or unlocked to allow me a glimpse of the mighty telescope.
I was quickly called back by a voice from a small 'lodge' just behind where we parked. A man came out to see what we were doing and explained that the observatory was empty and no longer housed the telescope. He spoke good English and told us he was a professor at one of the Bangkok universities and that he was partly responsible for the project.
We were informed that the old telescope was undergoing a restoration clean at the university because humidity got into the lens and was affecting the images. He couldn't tell us when they were planning of having it up and running but that it was their intention sometime in the future.
After a short chat, I didn't even think to ask him if he had the keys to open the observatory door to let us have a peek inside, even if it was empty!
He asked where we were going but told us that the track we were planning to drive down would probably be a dead end and that there was a gate around the first few corners that would probably be locked. We still wanted to give it a go so thought we would try our luck.
The gate was a little further than a few corners and took us along a flat grassy track but sure enough, the gate was closed and chained!
We came back passed the old observatory and circled back around the dam. Knowing that the offroad shortcut would have saved us around 110km to where we wanted to get to and that the time was ticking, we decided to go back to the same campsite and stay another night.
The following morning was just as cold but just as peaceful. Our dog seemed a little warmer during the night but did bury herself under the sleeping bags sometime in the middle of the night.
We slept in a little later and waited for the sun to warm us up before leaving the roof top tent. We took a while to rearrange and sort out our bags and gear and then set off for yesterday's destination along a 'more sure' but less adventurous route.
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