Through our hotel, we arranged a private car to drive us around outside of the city, and it was the best idea for relatively cheap. We engaged the chauffer services of the amazing Belle!
We ventured up to the
Bor Sang Umbrella Village me. Initially pulling in, I was very disappointed, as the "village" is actually just a large sales building, and a small factory in the back. While it is very tourist-targeted, it was still quite cool. There were women actively making the umbrellas, so you were able to see the entire process of the craft. In the store, some of the painted umbrellas were quite breath-taking. It wasn't just the hand-painting that were striking, but also the intricate handwoven opening/folding mechanism underneath.
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| Bor Sang Umbrella Village: All hand-painted! |
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| Bor Sang Umbrella Village: All hand-painted! |
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| Bor Sang Umbrella Village: All hand-painted! |
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| Bor Sang Umbrella Village: Weaving the umbrella frame |
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| Bor Sang Umbrella Village |
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| Bor Sang Umbrella Village: Drying in the sun |
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| Bor Sang Umbrella Village: Incredible weaving ability! |
After this, it was a long and beautiful journey up into the mountain to
Bua Thong Waterfalls. They are limestone falls that are flowing fast enough that the limestone does not get slippery, and you can easily climb up the falls. Adam did just this, several times.
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
Now see if you can see and follow Adam on his climb up!
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
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| Bua Thong Waterfalls |
From there we traveled again, this time to
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, to see the mountain top temple as well as enjoy the panoramic view over and through the Chiang Mai valley. It started raining on our ascent, but it did not deter from the beauty of the place, despite the view being slightly foggy. You cannot drive all the way to the top, so up 306 steps we hiked.
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
Overall, while the sights and experiences of the day were great, it was actually the 5 hours spent driving that I enjoyed the most, getting outside of the city and seeing what Thailand actually looked like, and seeing how "real life" actually functions. It is such a beautiful and simple country, and extremely clean and well-organized.
