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Friday July 6
We left the hotel at 8:30AM - we had arranged for a car and driver. The weather was not too good: cloudy and humid with sporadic showers. Sunny and clear sounds nice, but the heat is brutal when the sun is out - Nancy and I have started to prefer cloudy, as it is more comfortable.
First stop was an orchid and butterfly farm. Yes, they do raise butterflies - I assume for collectors. The orchids here are absolutely beautiful and very plentiful, we see them everywhere. This farm was a tourist stop/commercial operation, we had to pay an admission fee (surprise!).
Next stop was the Maesa Elephant Camp. We purchased the show and a 30 minute ride. The show was very entertaining and interesting. They demonstrated how the elephants haul and maneuver logs - they also played soccer, tossed darts and painted! The paintings are really quite nice and they have a gallery where you can buy them, along with a photo of the elephant the “created” the painting - it sounds crazy, but this camp is actually known for this. The ride was just short of terrifying - I thought Nancy was
going to pass out. I figured they would just do a couple laps around a field - nope! They actually go through the jungle - up and down very steep hills - and through a lot of mud. I now have a lot of respect for the elephant’s sense of balance - a human would have been slipping and falling all over the place. Our elephant was not responding to all the mahout’s commands (the driver), this added to the drama as we had missed turns, and the resulting unplanned excursions, along what I’m sure was supposed to be a predetermined route. It was a lot of fun after we got off. This adventure was strongly recommended by Michael Fonner (was this a brother-in-law’s set-up?). It was fun.
Our driver then took us to a nice place for lunch - it was an open-air restaurant at a different orchid farm. Very good food. Really glad we did not eat before the elephant ride!
Next stop was the Long Neck Village, a “tribal” village of Karen-Padaung families from Burma. It was very interesting and at the same time disturbing - since there is an admission fee and some form
of outside management - I get a sense of a “human zoo”. Their crafts were mostly weavings - some very nice. Nancy bought a few from a woman whose work had a very nice combination of colors.
We left that area, drove back through Chiang Mai, and went to Wat Doi Suthep. This Buddhist temple is on a hill overlooking Chiang Mai. The temple was originally founded in 1355. The current complex dates back to the 16th century. It is a famous and revered temple in Thailand, known for the 309 steps that are bordered by a NAGA balustrade - you approach the temple by walking the steps which teaches humility. Nancy and I took a photo of the stairs, declared ourselves “humble”, and took the elevator!
We had dinner at the hotel and then went to the night bazaar.
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Mary Weed
non-member comment
Great Commentary
Nancy, you were a brave one! Wonderful pictures of all the sites. Too bad it was foggy, the view from Doi Suthep is spectacular. You covered a lot by having a driver. Look forward to you next comments. Love, Mom