Happy Tour Of Northern Thailand : Part One

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup,

First, many thanks to forum member DavidGtr who suggested the Chaiprakarn Banai Resort in his very extensive reply to my message asking for hotel/guest house recommendations last week ! And a sincere thanks to all forum members who responded.

A rather terse sketch of a trip for me (American, resident in Chiang Mai over nine years in two installments) and visiting friends (married couple) with their nine-year old son. For my friends this was their first trip to Thailand, and they arrived in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong after only a day-and-a-half in Bangkok. Note that our trip took place during the period of the rites for HRH Princess Galyani when alcohol sales were suspended : whether what seemed like light traffic to me outside of Chiang Mai was related to this (or the end of the Loy Krathong holiday), I cannot say, but it might have been.

1. rental car : since my car is smallish, lower to the road, and has very darkly tinted windows, we rented a medium-sized-SUV Toyota Avanza 4-door with fold-down extra rear seat, automatic transmission (not 4-wheel drive) from North Wheels for 1500 baht per day, 5000 baht deposit : I paid in advance in cash rather than pay a small surcharge for credit card payment.

I highly recommend North Wheels for great customer service, helpfulness, and quality of vehicle maintenance. Fortunately we had no accidents on the trip of any kind, and on return the cash deposit was quickly returned. I was surprised at the gas mileage I got on the Avanza since we did a lot of very steep and windy and up and down driving, as you'll see.

2. Day 1 : Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao to near Wat Tub Thao turn-off on Highway 108 near Chaiprakarn. Overnight at Chaiprakarn Banai Resort, a few kilometers north of the Wat Tub Thao turn-off and about seven kilometers south of Chaiprakarn.

Easy driving to Chiang Dao on Saturday. As usual took my friends around the "back way" to see the old Burmese style Buddhas set in the rocks, and to see the old Monk's cave (which now has an "l-shaped" new stone wall around it.

Into the cave we went, and while Khun G. and his son, Nong G., went deep into the cave I went back out to sit by the pond or lake and enjoy the view of the carp, the stone naga-headed boat, the incredibly full-breasted statue of Mae Toranee with Khun P. who was not feeling well at all. Even though Khun P. was not feeling well, she found the statues and animal figures and things we saw walking around the "back way" into the cave very fascinating.

Khuns G. and G. really enjoyed the Chiang Dao caves, and I always "get something" from visiting Chiang Dao : dare I use the word "spiritual" ? I noted that the little market near the Wat/cave had suspended sale of the bottled lao ya dong (medicinal whiskey), but not the sale of herbs to make it yourself, and I was impressed that the ban on alcohol would also be extended to lao ya dong !

My original intent was to go visit Wat Tub Thao and its caves, and then drive up to Tathorn to find a place to stay for the night, or even push up higher in the mountains toward Doi Mae Salong. But, because Khun P. was feeling really wiped out, we all talked and decided to nest as close as possible to Wat Tub Thao rather than press on.

So, first place we came to that connected in my head with the list of suggestions from DavidGtr was the Chaiprakarn Ban Ai Resort.

As we drove in (with no reservation), I thought : what a beautiful, idyllic place, but it's got to be too pricey for us keeneeow Farang.

Lovely gardens, many young teak trees everywhere, very quiet. People that worked there very helpful and friendly.

Lo and behold, either through my natural charms or my passable Thai or through much more probable and mundane reasons the price was only 490 baht per night for a private little a-frame by the lake for me and a somewhat larger room in a larger building big enough for three beds for my friends.

Everything was fresh, smelled clean, sheets were immaculate, and that price included breakfast.

Out of curiosity I asked a woman (who I later found out was the younger sister of the owner) if more guests were expected for the evening : she said a party totalling fifty people of Israelis in 4-wheel-drive vehicles was due later that night.

I admit to having a fantasy of boisterous noisy Israelis singing "Halvah Nagila" all night long, but that fantasy, as so many of my fantasies, turned to dust.

Nong G., watched carefully by dad, was able to use a small boat to paddle around the lake which delighted him and gave him a chance to blow off more of that energy that youth so generously equips the young with

Meanwhile Khun P. rested, and caught up on her sleep, while I spent a long time talking to the owner's sister sitting down by the lake.

I went to bed very early, enjoying my view of the lake until dark, reading "Van Vliet's Siam" until I fell asleep. And I slept so soundly I didn't even hear the party of 50 arrive !

We went to the breakfast buffet about 8:30AM, with Khun P. feeling much better and enjoyed the usual scrambled eggs, pancakes, etc.

3. Day 2 : Wat Tub Thao and caves : Doi Mae Salong : on to Mae Sai, night at the Wang Thorn Hotel, Mae Sai.

We checked out about 9:30AM and went the few kilometers to Wat Tub Thao, parked and walked up the long flights of steps to the cave entrances.

In the cave entered by the left stairs, is the perhaps 20 meter high Phra Buddha of (most likely) stucco over bricks reputed to be at least 500 years old, and, while it is not as impressive aesthetically to me as other major older, larger Phra Buddha images in Thailand, the dramatic effect of its containment in this massive cave chamber is, for me, very powerful.

An area I saw last year in the left main cave (to the left of the main sitting Buddha in maravijaya or bhumisparsamudra) that was under construction has now been "finished" : a wonderful reclining Buddha about six to eight meters long is installed there now on a raised stone-mortar pediment perhaps 30 inches off the ground, covered over with an absolutely stunning (and new) teak wood shrine. The Buddha image itself is almost certainly very old, and I hope to find out more about this image in the future.

The left arm of this reclining Buddha image (he's reclining on his right side, so left arm is on top) was covered over with an orange cloth of honor, but the extent to which the hidden right hand was elevated suggested to my eye that this Buddha's right hand might be an example of the rarer form of representation of the Buddha reclining where he is awake with a finger (fingers ?) of the right hand uplifted which is considered a "teaching" pose. Of course I was not going to violate the image by (even barefoot) climbing up on it and lifting the orange cloth to inspect the fingers of the right hand !

In the walkway between the two cave entrances where they had the statue of the Buddha's physician, Yogi and Doctor Sivagomakaraji, which you may know ... with his snow white hair, beard, and robes ... next to a statue of the archetypal Vedic yogi-sage (Sanskrit "rishi" : Thai "Ru See" or "Lu See") with his leopard-skin cloak.

I put ten baht in Sivagomakaraji's offering box, with a special wish for the well-being of a physician friend of mine in the U.S. who had visited the caves with me last year. Yes, a real Farang cheapskate

I went with my friends far enough in the second cave (on the right) to see the bats (khankow) hanging off the ceiling, and then I felt a strong desire to and relax in the brilliant sunshine outside the caves.

My friends took over an hour to go very down in the second cave, much further than I've ever gone, and they reported a mammoth sized cavern way down there on their return.

... to be continued ...

Edited November 21, 2008 by orang37

[Ajarn]

I would like to see some of your nice photos