Chaing Dao

So yesterday, we decided to head out of Chiang Mei and into the hills for a respite from the city. Well, we decided on Chaing Dao, which is a town about 75 kms from Chiang Mei. We took a bus, which was actually nicer than many of the buses we rode on in Europe up here. We are so glad we came up. For starters, our accommodation is very quaint. Its 6 bungalows nestled at the base of a mountain, the largest limestone mountain in Thailand. They have thatched roofs and are in a lush environment…..we are surrounded by banana trees and other flowering plants. The food at our restaurant is also some of the best we have had in Thailand.

In addition to the delightful accommodation, we also saw some nice sights. This area is famous for its caves and we got a tour of them. For the most part, the caves are completely dark, so a guide leads you through them. You have to crawl around to get to some areas, but its well worth it. The formations (all of which are named) are awe inspiring. They just look freaky (Hopefully we can upload some pics soon). After the caves, we checked out this famous monastery. It was at the top of a hill and required 500 steps to climb up to it. It was definitely worth it, but we were covered in sweat by the time we reached the top. The views from up there were beautiful and the temple itself was quite impressive. Its somewhat strange to see monks everywhere, but they seem to be just part of life here. Today, we check out a local hill tribe and some more monasteries/wats. To be honest, they are similar to churches in Europe or temples in India….and I can see them starting to blur in my mind after a while.