My friend, Sybil, in Victoria recommended that I visited her good friend, Judith, in Lampang for another slice of Thai culture/geography/history. So I did. Lampang is about 100mi southeast of Chiang Mai, is the capital of the province of the same name and has a rich history going back 1,000 years to the Lanna kingdom. Historically and culturally, Lampang is overshadowed by Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and consequently is much less developed. This was noticeable immediately in that there were far fewer foreigners and less tourist related infrastructure. After a lifetime of Peace Corps work all over the world, Judith has lived in Lampang for some years, taught at the university and enjoys life there.
In terms of tourist sorts of activities, Lampang is noted for horse drawn carriage tours.
Judith met me and took me off for a type of traditional Thai lunch in a little place full of locals who seemed a bit taken aback at our appearance. When she employed her fluent Thai, they quickly made space for us and I enjoyed a tasty khao man gai, strips of chicken on rice with a few little cucumber slices and a broth accompanying.
We then walked along the river around and part of the city admiring the Burmese influenced architecture.
Judith showed me the shop of a man who has a keen interest / obsession with those old carriages and has a quite quirky and ecclectic collection of carriages in various states of refurbishing as well as all sorts of other stuff.
Apparently this man carries on this project strictly for the love of it, receiving no funding or income from it.
And a shop where these beautiful lanterns were made
A few hours seemed adequate for an introduction to Lampang so after our tour I caught the bus back to Chiang Mai but very much enjoyed the day and Judith's company.
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