Chiang Dao

If you had asked me if I'd come back to Thailand after my first week in Chiang Mai, I probably would have said no.  After two days in Chiang Dao, that changed.  Chiang Dao, called city of stars, is a smallish town of 88,000 some 70km north of Chiang Mai nestled beneath Doi Chiang Dao, a limestone mountain of 2225m elevation.  Chiang Dao district is known as "Little Tuscany" for it's mountainous beauty.

This is a beautiful area surrounded by mountains and lush jungle.  Temperatures are a bit cooler than Chiang Mai, especially at night when it actually got cooler than I was prepared for.  I had to ask for another blanket at my guest house and was cold in the morning when I went out on the bike that I rented.  My accommodation was The Nature Guesthouse owned by a Thai family.  Accommodations were little bungalows clustered around a garden setting with beautiful flowering trees and butterflies fluttering around.  

The parents own the place, cook good food at their little restaurant, speak next to no English but were very friendly and accommodating. The daughter is married to a German and did the business end of things.  I made the trip there with a fellow resident of Chediview where I'm staying in Chiang Mai.  

Spence is from Portland, Or, has traveled extensively and is very familiar with Thailand so it was helpful to have his company.  We rented bikes from the guest house and we headed out to see the local attractions, the first of which was the Chiang Dao Cave which was very crowded and a bit kitchy but had pretty stalactite formations. 

                                         Bats

Outside the cave

 Dodging the selfie taking crowds somewhat tainted the experience though.  From there we cycled up to Wat Tham Pha Plong located in a beautiful setting at the base of the mountain.  

300 and some odd stairs take you to the temple which is actually located in a cave underneath the golden stupa.  

From the stupa are wonderful views down to the valley and the far off mountains.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaVKSDqYDco&feature=youtu.be

Brilliantly coloured birds flitted around in the canopy and the tranquility was definitely conducive to sitting and following one's breath.  Spence was only staying for the day so he left me there at the temple where I continued to enjoy the peace and coolness.  




I had a nice dinner at the guest house, a spicy pork salad, and an unexpectedly cold night. I definitely wasn't prepared for the colder climate and the morning found me shivering.  But a nice fruit, yogurt and granola breakfast with quite good coffee set up the day and I headed off on the bike to explore. On the way out of town, I happened on this most peculiar wat.  I can't imagine what sort of morbid Buddhist concept this represents. A vision of Buddhist hell I'm told

 I was looking for a way to get across the valley to explore into the mountains on the other side and found a nice quiet road that ran parallel to the mountains and a smaller dirt road that led up into a pastoral valley with rice farms, other crops unfamiliar to me, and some lovely homes.  

 


It was a blissful outing as I followed smaller and smaller roads through the peaceful landscape until the roads ran out.  

Making a big loop back to town I stopped for lunch and was lucky to make a good choice, something I often fail at.  This was one of those places on the side of the road with the big pots of, well, whatever.  It was full of locals and that`s usually a good sign.  The girl who dished up my chicken curry soup spoke good English and the soup was delicious.  Nice and spicy with an array of condiments, for 30 baht, just over a dollar.  Then I headed back to the wat on the hill for a dose of coolness and tranquility.  Beautiful as the ride was, it was very hot and the wat was the perfect antidote. Another nice cool night at the guesthouse and back to Chiang Mai in the morning with some regret.  As I walked to the bus station, the whole town had been transformed into a market with all the usual stuff:  food, cooked and raw, clothes and every other consumable product on offer. 

 It was with regret that I departed from Chiang Dao but I was pleased that I'd had this exposure to a different aspect of Thailand.