Valentines Day Was The Best..

[Dustoff]

Who else of you were there?

Da wife and I and three good friends rented three rooms for two nghts over the 13th and 14th and gotta admit that, critical crabass that I can be sometimes, it was an absolute delight. Got no stake in the place, this was our first time there, and we would like to offer our sincere recommendation for those of you who would like to take a break from the busy-ness of Chiang Mai and escape to upcountry silence that is truly golden.

Not to mention the food.. Nest #2 where we stayed knocked our socks off with outrageous Thai cuisine and the restaurant at Nest #1 provided a Valentines Day BBQ dinner that had the most incredible variety of NOT hotel-buffet-style-boring-fare I have discovered in my seven years of living in Thailand.

Rustic-style bungalows that fit in with the country-ish style of the surroundings but almost exquisitely clean and well thought out, spaced far enough apart so your lady does not have to squelch cries of joy, and the loudest sounds are the great variety of birdlife.

Let's see.. negatives.. A few of us suffered headaches at night which we very rarely experience except when we have ingested MSG in dishes in Thailand but none of us thought to ask if they use it.

Also, DO bring your favorite brand of mosquito repellent!

Other than a huge variety of expensive wines, the alcohol selection is slim indeed and they discourage 'Bring Your Own Booze'' by charging a rather high corkage fee of 250B per bottle for glasses and ice and do not allow outside mixers in the restaurant. Their mixer charges however (Coke, Tonic, etc.) are surprisingly reasonable.

While we did not have time to explore everything in the surrounding area, the Chiang Dao caves are interesting only if you have never before explored a cave complex (wear shoes that grip well on wet surfaces), the King's Wildlife Sanctuary just up/down the road has a twittering bird or two but the rest of the wildlife hasn't gotten the word as yet, and several of the 'treks' are only for the young and hardy and even then you may come back with minor scarring and torn clothing as Tusker's Chas and Rachel previously mentioned.

Back to the positives, for Thailand, stunning scenery especially at Nest #2 where the limestone mountains leap vertically to incredible heights from almost outside the door of your bungalow, owner Wichai (Stuart's wife - Nest 1) and her sister Oh (Nest 2) and their gentle and efficient (albeit slow as a summer drizzle of rain) staff are an absolute thrill and fit right in with the timeless sense of da Nest..

We are already planning our next and regular visits...

[Blinky Bill]

Sounds like a memorable VD experience Dustoff.

A little more memorable than my VD at least........I had a rather boring dinner with my colleague here in Khartoum, Sudan. I had a bit of a giggle as I related to my colleague where I spent VD 3 years ago, it was in gay bar in The Hague, Netherlands. By myself!!

Last year was another story but I won't go into that.

[FolkGuitar]

While we did not have time to explore everything in the surrounding area, the Chiang Dao caves are interesting only if you have never before explored a cave complex (wear shoes that grip well on wet surfaces), .

I wish I knew you were going before you went.... As a photographer you may have missed some absotivly incredible live stone carvings in the mountain just behind the temple buildings to the right of the pond next to the entrance to the cave. You have to walk around the pond on the right hand side, step up about a meter or two and stay between the buildings and the rock wall, and look UP to the left. There are some Buddha carvings in the rock that must go back 500 years...

Another fifty meters or so and around the rock ledge are two large reclining Buddhas carved into the mountain, and several newer seated Buddhas. There is a banana bush blocking some of the best angles for shooting these (which was much smaller a few years ago....) but if you walk behind the bush and use a good wide angle lens you can get some spectacular photographs!

[Dustoff]

Thanks, Folkguitar.

Interestingly enough, we did fully explore the rock walls behind and near the entrance to the cave and found them far more interesting than the cave itself. Most of the carvings are incredibly detailed and obviously very old indeed. I kept envisioning monks balancing on dangerous bamboo ladders and scaffolding to accomplish the higher carvings on the sheer rock walls.

[tijnebijn]

Did you have some motorbikes available at hand ?

I think a must in Chiangdao , so you can drive in the small sois , always smiling locals

and the even more beatiful surroundings off the main road ofcourse .

I have my home here for nine years and I can tell you I never get bored when driving around .

And know of some great bird spot places , out of the main area .

Good to hear you guys enjoyed Chiangdao .

[Rasseru]

Glad you liked Chiangdao Nest. My wife and I have been there a number of times, sometimes taking friends. It is one of our favourite places to get out into the countryside away from Chiangmai.

Let's see.. negatives.. A few of us suffered headaches at night which we very rarely experience except when we have ingested MSG in dishes in Thailand but none of us thought to ask if they use it.

I think it must have been the fresh air. In any case, I very much doubt Wicha would allow any MSG near her food.

Oh, and if interested, Wicha can arrange great in-room massages too. We usually try to book those in advance.

[FolkGuitar]

Thanks, Folkguitar.

Interestingly enough, we did fully explore the rock walls behind and near the entrance to the cave and found them far more interesting than the cave itself. Most of the carvings are incredibly detailed and obviously very old indeed. I kept envisioning monks balancing on dangerous bamboo ladders and scaffolding to accomplish the higher carvings on the sheer rock walls.

Glad to hear it! I wonder if there is some way to get the monks to trim back that banana bush. When it was small, and behind the large rock in front, you could stand directly in front of the reclining Buddhas while being back closer to the building so shooting from a much nicer angle, and have the large rock serve as a frame on the bottom right side of your photo with the reclining Buddhas straight ahead. Every detail can be captured that way. Now, with the big leaves of the banana bush in the way, you have to go around the rock and shoot upwards, missing out on a lot of good carving....

But actually, I really prefer the seated Buddhas cut into the rock just after the pond. They SCREAM 'ancient!!'

A lot of mud has filled in the area just in front of the steps up to the new large seated Buddha. In fact, that water buffalo that is now half buried in the mud had it's legs completely visible (although folded under it) just three years ago. I guess flooding brought in more mud. The monks now keep that area nicely mowed down though. Good thing too, as in past years we've seen cobra there. Scared the daylights out of me. I don't know who moved away faster; me or the snake!

Edited February 16, 2008 by FolkGuitar

[tijnebijn]

True there are a LOT of snakes in Chiangdao !

Be careful where you walk, just in case take a long stick with you ,

at least if you don't know how to handle them you always can aim flat on the snake ,

and then bulb the head and tail , not so nice though the latest but no THAI will cry for that !