On our second day in Sukhothai, we woke up early to visit the Na Choeng Khiri (or Na Cheng Khiri) community village. The plan was to first visit their temple and be blessed by the locals before hiking up the mountain right behind the village. Later on, we would join them for lunch followed by some local wisdom in making leaf kites.

About Na Choeng Khiri

Na Choeng Khiri is a small community village in the Khiri Mat District of Sukhothai province. They are known for their agriculture and 99% of the villagers here are farmers. They grow organic rice, vegetables, and fruits, which we will get to try later on.

The people of this village were truly kind and friendly. We immediately bonded despite the communication barrier. I tried to speak my broken Thai as much as possible but that just made things worse as they would speak even faster and often with me.

Interesting tidbit. This village is now part of an effort to grow the community-based tourism of the region. SiamRise Travel in partnership with DASTA 4, Sukhothai office are the pioneers in this development project.

Soon after making pleasantries and being blessed at the temple, we took a photo and headed for a hike through the woods and up the mountain.

Hiking

Now we were told that this was going to be a soft and easy trek. Well, it wasn’t. I would say it was moderately challenging as we went up a steep slope for about 400 meters. To me, this was fine but for others, it might not be. A soft trek usually means that it is on flat grounds with a few small hilly areas.

Either case, I enjoyed it. I’m a part-time or pseudo adventurer. I say part-time because I don’t trek or hike much. I’ve never camped either. So for me, this was perfect. It could be more challenging too, I wouldn’t mind.

After the incline, it was pretty easy going. There were some narrow twists and turns with steep drops but nothing to worry about. Moments later, we came out to a clearing with a gorgeous panoramic view of the valley below.

We asked the villagers about the height we were standing at the moment. They weren’t sure. I’m guessing around 400 meters, give or take. It wasn’t that high.

We took our time taking photos here. The weather was nice too – windy and cool. After a solid 30 or 40 minutes, we continued on. We saw some caves that were apparently once upon a time used by the locals to seek shelter during battles.

Funny story. While going in one of the caves, I stepped on a slippery rock and fell in a crevasse. Like FLAT ON MY BACK. I was lucky not to break anything. Just a few scratches on my arm, legs, and back. Definitely watch your step.

Just up head from this rock formation was a Buddha head made of clay molded on to the mountain. Khun Kuan said that this has been there for about 50 years. We aren’t sure who made it though. It sort of looked like someone slapped it there like a week or so ago. Still, it’s kind of neat.

Now it was time to head back to the Na Choeng Khiri community village and have some lunch. On the way, I just had to take another photo at the viewpoint. Also, I wanted to know what it feels like to stand at the edge. It’s a totally different experience than just sitting there.

Lunch and Kites

When we reached down, the villagers had already prepared us a wonderful local meal. They explained each dish with so much gusto while our tour guide translated.

We all received this set of dishes that included four types of rice, fried vegetable (local plant), chicken with lemongrass, egg, pork neck and a spicy mackerel paste. For dessert, we were served a local fruit and something I don’t really remember. I didn’t try them either. I was just too full from the savory dishes. My favorite was the chicken and fried vegetable.

Full and satisfied, we moved on to our next activity for the day. Na Choeng Khiri folks are also known for their wisdom in making kites from these massive leaves. They helped us make (read: actually did all the work) them.

It was actually a very rewarding and fun experience. It felt like I was back home in my backyard with relatives and friends. An old lady from the village even played with us. In fact, her energy was extremely surprising and uplifting. I saw her running around and showed us who is boss in kite flying. She reminded me of my grandmother.

Final thoughts

I have to say, I underestimated this day. Ended up to be quite adventurous, eventful, informative and entertaining. It really gave us a unique and genuine feel of local life. Sometimes these kinds of tours can feel very forced but not this one. It felt nice being part of their life. Before leaving they even asked us to come back and I said “for sure, definitely” in Thai. We shared goodbyes and happy thoughts before returning back to our lives. Oh, what a day.