From street urchin to hiding out in the jungle, Four Seasons Style

Darn, I wish I could put these pictures in the order I wanted to!  Before you get here with the suede trunk across your king sized bed in the jungle you drive for an hour and a half north of Chiang Rai to get to  the border town of Sop Ruak which basically means the fork in the river where the Ruak river meets the Mekong at the Laos and Burma borders.  But on the way you pass....

Pineapple Village where all they sell is stand after stand of these small pineapples which are very crispy when you eat them.  early in the day they are all on the left hand side of the road and then in the afternoon they are on the right.  dunno why.  I guess they just share.

This is actually a variety of these small, crispy pineapples that they grow in Pineapple Village.  Cool, huh?

Here is the stand from a step back.  I understand they have a special use for the tops or  tips from the fields but I couldn't understand what they were trying to tell me.  look how pretty they spiral the fruit to see them ready to eat.

They you pass this weird Homage to Cocks.  I thought it was a temple but apparently somebody died here who loved cock fighting so they have this crazy place where there are hundreds of roosters places all over this place to pay homage to their love of cock fighting mostly.  check out these shots....

Cocks in front of the alter

Super giant human sized roosters watch over the alter

fields of cocks surround the grounds

More of them and you can even buy one to place there yourself!

You arrive by small boat the their camp, walk up a hundred stairs and then breathlessly bang the gong 3 times to represent good luck, health, wealth and wisdom I think it was.  I think I need one of these.

After another thousand or so steps you reach your tent.  Mine is called the Botanists tent.  There is a Culinary Arts Tent too which I need to see before I leave.

One more view....there is a huge patio too with massage tables ready  in case you dont' want to walk to the spa.  After walking to the "spa" today which was about a mile away uphill I think I would have them come to me next time.  The spa is actually 2 massage beds, a tub and an interesting toilet on a very edge of a hillside open on three sides.  one false lazy move and you are history.  you listen to birds while you get your massage.  pretty nice.