Cooking English Breakfast while Camping at Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand - Day 04 - Ep 07

Day 04 - Ep 07 - Good morning guys and join us in preparing our breakfast today. This will going to be our last day here in Doi Inthanon National Park and right after breakfast, we will wrap up our camping gear, load it into our car and head straight towards our home in Bangkok. This return journey would be somewhere around 13 hours as it took us 12 hours to reach from Bangkok to Chiang Mai city center. So for such a log journey, we want to make sure we have enough energy and that's why we will be preparing a heavy breakfast, rich in proteins and much needed energy.

Previous Ep 06 - Day 03 - Royal Agriculture Project and Siribhume Waterfall

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

We are going to prepare english breakfast today with two modifications. First, we will going to use flat bread or paratha instead of sliced bread (or toasts). Second, we will going to use pepperoni instead of beef bacon, because we are unable to find halal beef bacon yet in Thailand (Bangkok or Chiang Mai). BTW, if you guys know a place in from where we can get halal beef bacon, please do share and comment.

So our english breakfast, that we will going to prepare includes:

Fried Chicken Sausages
Fried Chicken Pepperoni
Fried Eggs
Baked Beans in Red Tomato Sauce
Cheddar Cheese
Fried Flat Bread
English Black Tea with Milk
Gala Apples
Flavored Yoghurt
Apple juice (Chabba)

So common, lets start our preparation...

Previous Ep 06 - Day 03 - Royal Agriculture Project and Siribhume Waterfall

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

BBQ Grill, Camping & Night Life at Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand - Day 02 - Ep 04

Day 02 - Ep 04 - It's BBQ time now! no further wait, we hit the sunset time and that means our wait for Big Game is over... yes!!!. For today's BBQ we are going to inaugurate our brand new BBQ Grill. During the BBQ preparation we discovered a new tool, a small hand-held fan.

Previous Ep 03 - Day 02 - Camp Setup, BBQ preparation and colorful stalls around Camping Site

Next Ep 05 - Day 03 - Thailand's Highest Elevation Point, Doi Inthanon Summit and Natural Trail

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

My wife actually, bought that for her, to use during hot sweating days of Bangkok, but I thought to utilize that during BBQ preparation and it worked like charm... so highly recommended if you guys want to save your shoulders from that kind of a labour.

From the time I started setting up the BBQ Grill to the time I tasted from the first batch, it took around 2 hours. The second and final batch of BBQ sticks were done in additional 30 minutes. So all in all, it took around 2.5 hours, but o'boy that was worth it!

Once we tucked in ALL THAT BBQ and our tummies are all-overloaded, we set out for a nice 'n chill stroll around the camping site. What a wonderful day was today!

:) Shukar Alhamdolillah (Thanks All Mighty Allah)

Previous Ep 03 - Day 02 - Camp Setup, BBQ preparation and colorful stalls around Camping Site

Next Ep 05 - Day 03 - Thailand's Highest Elevation Point, Doi Inthanon Summit and Natural Trail

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Camp Setup, BBQ preparation and colorful stalls around Camping Site - Day 02 - Ep 03

Day 02 - Ep 03 - We finally selected a nice spot to setup our camp and while setting up our camp, we made sure our camp's window and door are properly aligned with direction of the wind, so we won't have any ventilation issues inside the camp.

Previous Ep 02 - Day 02 - Camping Site at Head Quarters of Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Next Ep 04 - Day 02 - BBQ Grill, Camping & Night Life at Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

We bought this camp from BigC in Bangkok a day before our trip and is a double insulated camp, good enough for two person. BTW I am thinking about creating a separate post for the kind of camping equipment and gear we purchase and carried along with us and how it helped improved our experience and stay during toor. Do let me know in the comments if its a good idea to have a dedicated episode for that and things like how much certain things cost and from where to buy them in and around Thailand. Some of the equipment/gear we ordered from online stores. So, yeah, if you think it is a good idea then please do let me know in comments and I'll reply back with the answers and if I receive enough questions that could make up a dedicate episode then I'll do one as well.

One thing that we were quite sure and very excited about was doing BBQ at night while camping our :D and we finally got that chance. So, as soon as we finished setting up our camp, the next thing we did is to prepare the BBQ meat for marination, so that we can do the BBQ at night. Do checkout the video as this is a very special, spicy Pakistani style BBQ that is famous in the sub continent. We let it marinate for 4 to 5 hours and will do the live BBQ grill at night.

Then we visit different types of colorful stalls that are setup around the border of camp site, offering various snacks, soups, coffee, juices, etc.

Previous Ep 02 - Day 02 - Camping Site at Head Quarters of Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Next Ep 04 - Day 02 - BBQ Grill, Camping & Night Life at Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Camping Site at Head Quarters of Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand - Day 02 - Ep 02

Day 02 - Ep 02 - We woke up at a hotel in Chiang Mai city center and without wasting any time further on breakfast, we went straight to Makro Chiang Mai to do some groceries for our camping trip and then head towards the Doi Inthanon National Park.

Previous Ep 01 - Day 01 - Traveling by Car from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Thailand 

Next Ep 03 - Day 02 - Camp Setup, BBQ preparation and colorful stalls around Camping Site 

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

It took us:

• 15 minutes to reach Makro from city center
• 1 hour and 15 minutes from Makro Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon National Park Checkpoint #1 or main entry gate
• 45 minutes from checkpoint #1 to head quarters of Doi Inthanon National Park

So, if you are traveling directly from Chiang Mai city center all the way to head quarters of Doi Inthanon National Park, it would take around 2 hours to reach your destination.

The entrance to Doi Inthanon National Park is free and you don't have to pay anything for the entry. The road that leads you from the checkpoint #1 or entry gate towards the head quarter is all marked properly with signs guiding you along your way, and you can reach the head quarter easily by following them. 

The first public campsite and the biggest and the one with most facilities is the one that's right adjacent to the head quarters of the park. You will find all necessary amenities including:

• Public and free parking
• Public and free restrooms - separate toilets and shower rooms
• Plenty of tap water (not recommended for drinking or cooking)
• Electricity charging points
• Proper street lights and flood lights - well lit area in the night as well
• Restaurants
• Small to medium sized grocery shops having almost everything you need for your camping trip including Ice, beverages, drinking water bottles, etc.
• Food stalls (meals, soups, snacks, etc.)
• Various stalls for winter wearables like gloves, woolen caps, socks, shawls, etc.
• Small gadgets and camping gears etc

Do checkout this video comprising of a quick tour of the facilities around this main camping site and other information like, registering for camping pitch, fees, renting camping equipment on site etc.

Previous Ep 01 - Day 01 - Traveling by Car from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Thailand 

Next Ep 03 - Day 02 - Camp Setup, BBQ preparation and colorful stalls around Camping Site 

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Traveling by Car from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Thailand - Day 01 - Ep 01

Day 01 - Ep 01 - We left from Bangkok around 7am and travelled for almost 12 hours, with few quick stops in the middle, and reach Chiang Mai city center around 7pm. Now, we already knew that the Doi Inthanon National Park closes at 6:30pm, so we do not have a chance to checkin today, so we head straight to city center to do an overnight stay at Chiang Mai city.

Next Ep 02 - Day 02 - Camping Site at Head Quarters of Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai 

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

So guys if you are planning to checkin the same day and you are traveling from Bangkok, then you should leave early like 5am and we did planned to leave that early, but unfortunately our last minute errands took too much of our time (we should have completed the packing at night instead of leaving some stuff to pack in the morning). Lesson learned, the hard way :(

So we reached Chiang Mai city center, quite exhausted and very hungry. So, we went straight to the city center food street and found this fabulous Turkish cuisine restaurant called Little Istanbul. The food was superb. Check out the video to see what we ordered and how it was? :)

Next Ep 02 - Day 02 - Camping Site at Head Quarters of Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai 

List of all Episodes - 4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

4 Day Camping Trip To Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand - All Episodes

Camping trips are best of the breed, and I'm just crazy about every aspect of camping trips... starting right from the planning phase, I love contemplating different available options about where to go for camping, which locations have what benefits, their unique offerings etc., and then within a location, what campsites are available, which offers what views and so on. What kind of temperature we can expect, other weather conditions, distance, scenery, flora and fauna. What's activities are available in the surroundings, experiences that are unique and different, people, cultural sights and sounds. I mean, honestly, I can spend a weekend or two, enjoying just the planning phase :D

So this time, we planned to visit the very north of Thailand and you know what? for people like us, who love cool weather and avoid hot sunny days for outdoor activities, north of Thailand is just the right place for us. Unfortunately, for people like us, the climate of Thailand is not very appealing, its hot.. hot.. and hot, throughout the year :( and therefore, what a better treat for us to have a pleasant cool weather specially when you are outdoors for several days :)

Chiang Mai, is kind of a dream place for us, living in Thailand. It is so lush green, hilly and is much cooler in comparison to rest of the Thailand. Thailand doesn't have winters... yes :(... no winters... but if you really wanna enjoy something close to winter, you can head towards the northern Thailand to places like Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and few others.

Now Chiang Mai, is a whole province, and it has a lot to offer. It is lush green and has mountains and hilly areas and one of the best offerings of Chiang Mai is it extremely popular destination attracting both locals and tourists a like... the one and only... Doi Inthanon National Park.

And yes! we are going to an exclusive 4 days camping trip to Doi Inthanon National Park, so pack your virtual bags with us and hop on!

Ep 01 - Day 01 - Traveling by Car from Bangkok to Chiang Mai
Ep 02 - Day 02 - Camping Site at Head Quarters of Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Ep 03 - Day 02 - Camp Setup, BBQ preparation and colorful stalls around Camping Site
Ep 04 - Day 02 - BBQ Grill, Camping & Night Life at Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Ep 05 - Day 03 - Thailand's Highest Elevation Point, Doi Inthanon Summit and Natural Trail
Ep 06 - Day 03 - Royal Agriculture Project and Siribhume Waterfall
Ep 07 - Day 04 - Cooking English Breakfast while Camping at Doi Inthanon National Park

2012-01-21 Hunting Trip to Khipro, Sindh

Total Participants – 14

Per Head Cost – PKR 3,182

Total Time – 46 Hours

Departure from Karachi – 21 Jan 2012 @ 02:15 am

Arrival at Karachi – 23 Jan 2012 @ 11:55 pm

Transport Type – Hiace Low Roof (14 Seater)

Transport Rent – PKR 7,500

Fuel Cost – PKR 6,880 - Petrol PKR 3,500 and CNG PKR 3,380

Total Kilometers Travelled – ~ 600 km

Stop by after crossing Hyderabad for a cup of Tea. It was extremely chilly out there and probably the lowest temperature we experienced in our tour.

Were close to Mirpurkhas when sun rises.

Reached Mirpurkhas Main Bus Stop at around 7:00 am

The tire went flat soon after we left Mirpurkhas for Khipro. 7:15 am.

After 15 minutes of wait, we assembled again and left for Khipro at 7:45 am.

At 8:30 am we reached Noman Liaquat Qaimkhani’s House at Khipro. Noman’s father, pictured above.

Had a scrumptious breakfast at 9:00 am. Noman’s family’s hospitality was unforgettable for sure.

After a six hour drive and a superb breakfast, a 15 min nap is all you want and so did we

At 10:00 am we left for Salt Lakes at the out skirts of Khipro.

We witnessed the amazing Salt Lakes at around 11:00 am.

And another nearby beautiful Lake.

At around 12:00 pm, we left for Hathingo to get supplies for our night stay at Desert.

Reached Hathingo at around 12:30 pm. Arrange supplies, hire 4 x 4 and left for Desert at around 3:00 pm. In case you didn’t noticed “that” flag… see below image.

Jeeeeaaaaaayyyyyy Mahajir!!!
La hola wala quwwata illa billa…

Around 4:00 pm, we reached the Desert and settled down at our chosen spot close to a big Lake.

Had a delicious Chicken Biryani in Lunch arranged by Noman’s friend. 4:30 pm.

Hunt some birds on our own
What??? you don’t believe this? check below image

See!!! that’s me… and that’s the real double barrel gun with real bullets… isn’t that enough for the proof?

And the onslaught continues till the Dusk. Man! I was tired by that time… after all the whole party was relying on my hunting skills

Erecting tents on Desert sand was a tricky task too. Initially we inserted the wooden nails vertically, but the wind pressure uproot them very quickly due to frictionless desert sand. Then one of the local dig the sand by hand and inserted the wooden nail horizontally in the hole and dump the sand on top of it. That trick work well and soon we be able to erect the complete tent.

Mmm… the Sajji setup was all set by the Dusk at around 6:00 pm.

Yes, there was an option for Camel ride too!

Had a hot cup of Tea, soon after maghrib prayers. It was really good… may be because it was cooked on wood fire.

And finally we left for Rabbit Hunting in the night. It was a once in a lifetime experience. We left in three 4x4s, the designated hunter has to sit on the bonnet of the jeep and the helper hang on the side with a big torch in his hand. As the jeep moves slowly into the desert the helper moves the torch light around in search of wild rabbits. As soon as one is sighted, helper focus the torch on to it and the rabbit became stand still for few seconds. The hunter has to take the shot during that few seconds, if not the rabbit recovered from the shock of intense light and run away.

Unfortunately we were not able to hunt any rabbit because we failed to follow the guidelines i.e. we made a lot of noise during our hunt which led the rabbits away from us. We did spotted 3 wild rabbits but all at odd times so much for the luck of the rabbits

Had a wonderful dinner at around 10:00 pm. Sajji, Steam Roast, Chicken Karhai, Cold Drinks and Special Kheer, again, from Noman’s family.

We also enjoyed the BBQ of the birds we hunt during the day.

After dinner, we sat around the bonfire and crack jokes and share stories

And, play cards

At around 2:00 pm, most of us went to sleep.

At around 5:30 pm, we woke up and left the desert for Hathingo.

Offered fajir prayers at Khipro Jama Mosque.

Had a cup of Tea offered by Noman’s cousin, the young “Daakter Saab” (MBBS Graduate) . Finally, we say good bye to Noman’s father, brother and cousin at around 9:00 am and left for Karachi.

With some stops, here and there, we reach Karachi by 11:00 pm. And by 11:55 pm we were at home. Home Sweet Home

Slideshow of all photos
Click on the image below to open slideshow in a new window

Playlist of all videos

Final Plan–Rabbit Hunting Trip To Khipro

Itinerary:

Saturday 21st Jan 2012

02:00am Departure from Karachi
06:00am Arrival at Mirpurkhas – Fajir
06:30am Departure from Mirpurkhas
07:30am Arrival at Khipro – Breakfast
- Visit Salt Lake, Village & Forest
- Lunch, Zohar
- Bird Hunting from Zohar to Maghrib – Asir, Tea, Maghrib
- Rabbit Hunting after Isha till 10:00pm – Isha
- Bonfire around Desert Camp
11:30pm Dinner in Desert Camp – Dumpukht & BBQ Rabbit

Sunday 22nd Jan 2012

00:00am Night Stay in Desert Camp
06:30am Fajir
07:00am Departure from Desert – Breakfast
11:30am Arrival at Karachi

Instructions:

Khipro weather is chillier than Karachi, so please carry warm clothes, jackets, sweaters, woolen caps with you, specially desert night is expected to be much colder.

Make sure you have chargers for your mobile, camera and other gadgets. If you have car charger please bring it along. It is good to have multiple car charges with us, so we can share it.

We will be going in our private Cars. If you have one please volunteer your car. Fuel will equally be shared by all. Plus, any wear n tear will also be shared by all. More than 4 people will not be allowed in a single car, so people can travel comfortably and car will remain safe and sound.

It is recommended to carry some light snacks, fruits and water/drinks with you, because we will be travelling around 5 hours non stop.

Carry your toiletries (brush, toothpaste, soap, body spray, etc).

Salt Lake:

Village:

Forest:

Desert Campfire:

Bird Hunting:

Rabbit Hunting:

Planning Rabbit Hunting Trip to Khipro

Assalam o Alaikum,

We are planning  following tour to Khipro next week or week after that.

Departure from Karachi at Fri 4:00pm
Arrival at Khipro at 9:00pm
Night Stay - Camping in the Fields & BonFire - { First Night }
Dumpukht (Salim bakra with rice and all) in Dinner
Desert and Forest Visit in the day
Rabbit Hunting at Night - 4x4 & Ammunition - { Second Night }
Departure from Khipro at Sun 11:00am
Arrival at Karachi at Sun 4:00pm

Approximate Cost per head will be PKR 2,000/=
All those who are interested should reply ASAP to book the seats.

+92.321.8707783