Burning the Inheritance

Chiang Dao is a small town of about 16,000 people located about 40 miles north of Chiang Mai and about 25 miles from the Myanmar border.  The town of Chiang Dao is located in the valley below Doi Chiang Dao, one of the tallest mountains in Thailand which rises to a peak of over 7,000 feet.  Being in the mountains, temperatures in Chiang Dao run about 10 degrees cooler than Chiang Mai and, although it wasn’t oppressively hot in Chiang Mai, we were still looking forward to some cooler temperatures.

Getting there was pretty painless. We had a lazy morning capped by a last cappuccino at Coffee Let It Be as we waited for the Grab we had scheduled, timed to get us to Chiang Dao around check-in time at 2:00 PM. The drive into the mountains was quite scenic and, as Doi Chiang Dao rose up in the distance, we began to get pretty excited about our stay there.

Relief from the heat aside, we came to Chiang Dao looking for a couple of days of quiet away from the city and were not disappointed.  We stayed in a simple but comfortable hut (one of five with only one other occupied) situated in the middle of a large field of rice paddies.  Most of the rear of the hut was windows which, along with our rear deck, afforded a beautiful view across the rice paddies with Doi Chiang Dao looming in the background.

We woke our first morning to find that a dense fog had settled into the valley. It was a wonderful way to start the day, sipping coffee on our back porch watching the rice paddies and valley slowly emerge from the rising mists and, as the sun began to make its way through the fog, seeing Doi Chiang Dao reappear in the distance.  We very quickly became unmotivated to do much more than laze in the sun reading and enjoying the view, which was fortunate as there was really next to nothing else to do.

We did try walking into town our first morning but, despite navigating our way through the rice paddies (one of those places where Google Maps has absolutely no idea), we were unable to find a way across the river that didn’t involve jumping barbed wire fences or backtracking several miles down the road we came in on so we returned home after what turned out to be just a nice walk. 

There was also a coffee shop on the road in, not too far away, but it had “just closed” the first night we visited it and was “temporarily” closed the next day.  Fortunately, our place, the Baan Porhdoi Goidao (which, as near as I could determine translates more or less to “Coffee Shop and Rest House”), also had a small on-site restaurant which provided us with breakfast and could provide other meals with a little notice. 

So, full disclosure, we had seen the Baan Porhdoi Goidao on an older YouTube video (there were only 3 huts at the time) and were pretty excited when found that it was available on Booking.com.  One of the things we had seen on the YouTube video was a traditional Thai barbecue that could be served on the rear deck of your hut, but we didn’t see any obvious advertisement of this when we arrived.  I queried our host and was happy to discover that it was in fact available and ordered it for our second night there. 

The traditional Thai barbecue consisted of a charcoal brazier with a domed cooking surface on which we could grill a wide variety of meats, non-meats, and vegetables.  This grilling surface was surrounded by a donut shaped well into which we poured a kettle of soup stock and in which we could add selected items like mushrooms. leaks, and scallions to make a soup to accompany the various grilled items.  We were provided with a generous supply of various types of meats, non-meats, almost meats, and vegetables as well as plenty of soup stock to keep the level in the “donut” replenished.

All of this was delivered to and set up on our rear deck along with enough charcoal to keep the whole operation going for several days if necessary which, given the amount of food provided, was certainly a possibility.  We spent an enjoyable evening watching the sun slip behind the mountains slowly cooking pork and chicken in delicious variations over the brazier dome with their juices dripping into the soup brewing in the donut.  The simple acts of cooking, the smells, and the scenery around us all combined into not just a great meal, but also a memorable experience.

As a footnote I should mention that while we missed the Yee Peng lantern festival in Chiang Mai, we did see quite a few lanterns released and fireworks launched from the town of Chiang Dao that night.  We also saw a candle or torch lit procession which, from a distance, looked very much like a fire serpent winding its way up the mountain of Doi Chiang Dao.  Probably not quite the celebration they probably had in Chiang Mai, but memorable nonetheless.

Yoga in Chiang Dao (Colleen)

Having left Chiang Mai and settled into our northernmost spot in Thailand in the rice fields of Chiang Dao for two very quiet peaceful days, I thought participating in a yoga class on our beautiful terrace would be great.  With the time difference of 12 hours I could participate in my favorite yogi’s Tuesday night class back at OHMGrown Yoga in Collingswood via Zoom at 6am Wednesday morning.  It worked perfectly, although it was mostly dark and a bit chilly when I started, I quickly warmed up and the sun came up and it was a very nice way to greet the new day.  Namaste.

Moving On

Sadly, after two nights in Chiang Dao, our time in Thailand (over a month!) had finally come to an end.  Thailand was a place we had been looking forward to seeing more of and were not disappointed and it now seems like a place we are likely to come back to again and again.  A wonderfully rich culture, beautiful islands and beaches, ancient temples, and incredibly friendly people, other than a bit of heat and humidity at times, what’s not to like? 

We’ll certainly be back again, but for now it was time to move on to our next destination, one which was a late walk-on to our itinerary and another which we approached with a bit of uncertainty and even trepidation, the country of Cambodia.  See you there next!