It was nice to have a bit more of a sleep in this morning before visiting an eco-village with several different ethnic groups. After a quick breakfast, we had a not-so-quick bus ride to the mountains north of Chiang Mai. The village is home to a range of hill tribes who found asylum in Thailand, after fleeing prosecution in a range of countries, including Tibet, China, and Myanmar (Burma). These groups were given a place to call home by the king on the condition that they were not to leave the valley of their new home and were educated in Thai culture.
We hopped back on the bus for lunch at a beautiful orchid farm. Full of delicious food, we ventured further into the mountains to see the sacred Doi Su Thep hill. This temple is home to some of the remains of the Buddha in a magnificent golden pagoda. According to legend, the location was chosen when a chosen elephant left to roam came to its final resting place atop a hill. We climbed over one hundred steps up the magnificent dragon staircase to reach the temple, and were bedazzled by the vast array of intricately carved Buddha statues and the beautiful facades. A monk blessed us with holy water and bracelets of white twine. Buddhists believe that the twine calls back wandering thoughts, and keeps us protected from illness.
Another bus ride through the lush, rolling hills brought us back to the city for dinner. We were wowed by the scale of the open-air venue with a unique, self-serve, self-cooked, smoky buffet barbecue. Here, we had the privilege of a wide array of meats and veggies to choose from, which we then cooked ourselves on charcoal hot plates. Although a culture shock, it was certainly a “big experience” filled with laughter and top notch cooking by our modest (and wonderful) selves. After filling our bellies, we made our way back to the hotel to pack for our next three days building a house in a village in Chiang Dao.
Liam S and Emily D.
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