Chiang Mai, The Lanna Kingdom Beckons
Nature in myriad hues abounds. Towering mountain ranges, verdant valleys and luxuriant forests are everywhere as we touch down at Chiang Mai. The natural beauty of the region is unparalleled with tall mastiffs, turquoise waters and vast stretches of trackless forests. The city that has earned the nickname, Rose of the North, sits smugly on the Mae Ping River basin, about 300, above sea level.
Even at first glance, it becomes palpable that Chiang Mai, like the rest of Thailand is both modern and traditional, absorbing other cultures as much as it remains dedicated to its rituals and practices. If you can see the smiling countenance of a Thai stretch out his hand to greet you, you also get to observe him reverentially fold his hands into inconspicuous wais when passing a Buddha shrine, no matter where.
We arrive at Chiang Mai late Saturday noon from Bangkok and after checking into Hotel Maninarakon, a seven-minute drive from the airport, we, my husband and I, spend the rest of the day absorbing our surrounds. As we amble across the maze of canalways that forms the city centre, I simply allow myself to become a part of the ceaseless flow of visual data around me. Chiang Mai strikes me as a city that is vibrant at a leisurely pace, quite in contrast to Bangkok that dizzily throbs with life. The city is flush and very much alive in the charm of art and culture and appears to revel in peaceful serenity. The colourful taxis of Bangkok are conspicuous by their absence in Chiang Mai where we get to spot only the yellow-green cabs. I find myself constantly comparing the two cities, if only sub-consciously. Unlike Bangkok, open space is more bountiful in Chiang Mai. We even perceive a better traffic sense in Chiang Mai. Discipline apart, we are struck by the aesthetic manner in which several dozens of two-wheelers get parked in the shopping area, close to our hotel.
As suggested by the travel desk personnel at our hotel, we decide to spend our evening strolling along the kilometer-long Saturday Market or Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai’s most popular weekend haunt, a fifteen-minute walk from our hotel. A human ocean is already there as we near the open bazaar. The snaking street is a visual treat for the spectacular display of assorted wares – ranging from the ethnic to electronics and eats. Silverware, painted Lanna lanterns and umbrellas, bamboo craft, embroidered fabrics and a host of other goods flank the sides of the lane. Street musicians, some of who have albums to their credit, strum away at their guitars while Thai dancers and puppetry artistes regale the visitors with little shows. Abba, Cliff Richards and Jim Reeves yet rule their roost here in their CDs that appear popular buys, both with natives and tourists. We spend a couple of hours soaking in the ambience of the market before repairing for the day.
Our next morning programme takes us on a city tour of Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city founded as the capital of the Lanna (Land of a Million Rice Fields) kingdom by King Mengrai the Great. Even today, in the old walled city of Chiang Mai, the strong flavour of its 13th century roots are palpable at sites like Wat Chiang Mon. Mr.Num (meaning Young) is our tour guide for the trip and our first stop, he tells us, would be Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Doi Suthep, for short. It is the 14th century temple, Chiang Mai’s most famous landmark overlooking the city, nestled in the midst of dense forests. Though funicular rail cars carry pilgrims and visitors to the temple, we are willing to have our endurance tested and hence climb the three hundred odd steps to its top. Num tells us that the temple attracts pilgrims in great numbers from all over the world throughout the year for its golden pagoda which contains the relics of the Buddha.
After absorbing the wonderful sculptures of the Buddha in several meditative and other postures, we wend our way to the tribal village in the surrounds of Doi Suthep. We trek up the fertile landscape to get to a village that offers vignettes of bucolic tribal life interlaced with the modern. Barely two dozen ‘homes’, single-room wooden structures on stilts, stick out from amid rice paddies and banana orchards. We parade down the muddy road, get introduced to its inhabitants who beam welcoming smiles at us. They are not conversant in the English language, but through ample gestures, manage to entice us to buy some of their handcrafted wares that include shawls, linen, items of clothing and jewelry. On our way back we stop for a photo shoot of Bhuping Palace, the winter residence of the royal family.
Doi Inthanon on the third day of our stay is a full-day trip to Chiang Mai’s most popular National Park, also home to Thailand’s highest peak by the same name, at 2,565m above sea level. Our guide for the tour is the charming young lady Ms.Pranom, meaning “good lady” as she tells us. The coach snakes its way through several hairpin bends to reach half way to Doi Inthanon, our first stop, to the roaring sounds of the raging Wachiratarn Waterfalls with a drop of over 50m. We barely get a hundred yards close to it we are drenched by its jet spray, a ferocious beauty. Even as we stand in awe of this white avalanche, a brilliant play of sun and thundering water creates a spectacular rainbow that our digital companion braves to capture, despite the aqua onslaught that threatens to douse it.
En route Doi Inthinon, we get to see some of the sites where King Bhumiphol’s Royal Project is underway. The monarch introduced the Royal Project four decades ago to supplant opium, to substitute its illegal cultivation which had become notorious, with peach trees. The success of the project led various government bureaus to support it, resulting in more sites being identified for the purpose, spread across northern Thailand. Today, not just peaches, but a wide variety of fruits and vegetable are cultivated under the project. The Hmong and Karen villagers harvest cool-weather fruits including strawberries, grapes, apples, guavas and even some exotic flowers, which they sell in open markets that dot the hills along the highway.
Continuing on the mountainous sojourn, we visit the Sirithan Waterfalls almost entirely nestled in the canopy of dense greens, before proceeding to the twin chedis dedicated to the Thai King and Queen by the Royal Thai Air Force. Set in the midst of lush landscaped gardens, the chedis are not just spectacular constructs in themselves, but offer a breathtaking view of the Inthanon environs. We finish our day by trekking along the AangKa Eco Trail, chasing birds and butterflies that elude our lens. After much perseverance, I manage to click a solitary avian fellow who, unfortunately I am unable to identify or have Pranom do so for me.
On our last day at Chiang Mai, we take the route to San Kamphaeng to visit the Mae Sa Caves with its unique Buddha statue formed from stalagmite and stalactite, and the hot sulphur springs, a short distance from here. The route is a veritable handicraft ‘centre’, being flanked by villages where every kind of craft with which one associates Chiang Mai and Thailand itself, is practiced. They range from silk and silverwares to bamboo, celadon, lantern and umbrella crafting. The famous 200 or more years old, Bo Sang Umbrellas and Parasols of Borsang Village crafted from paper, silk and cotton, in several sizes, unfold in a medley of colors and motifs. Num regales us with tales related to the origins of these sunshades. We learn that for the second consecutive year, the umbrella-making centre of the village has been the proud recipient of the UNESCO Award for Excellence for Handicraft in South-East Asia.
We are barely a few days away from one of Thailand’s most colourful festivals – Loy Krathong, the full moon celebrations of the second month of the Thai calendar (November). So we get to see plenty of Lanna lanterns in the most amazing of shapes, sizes and patterns. As the story goes, the Lanna lanterns were a chance invention, aimed to shield candles from blowing winds. Num regales us with the story of their origins, saying that farmers would carry candles to their paddy fields at night for visibility. However, to prevent strong winds from blowing out these candles, they would cover it baskets wrapped with papers. From this humble purpose, they began to be made as adornments to decorate temples, as an offering of respect to the Buddha. Num further explains to us that different shapes of lanterns have their special symbolism or significance. An octagonal-shaped lantern, for instance, is made as an offering to Lord Buddha, while a jar-shaped or the diamond lantern is a housewarming gift for a jar is believed to represent the incoming wealth of the household. From its humble beginnings, the Lanna lantern has come to occupy an important place in Thai culture. When Chiang Mai hosted the 18th Asian Games, lanterns fluttered alongside flags, to complete the décor.
The Mae Sa caves, yet to be really discovered by tourists to Chiang Mai, are stunning in the formations they display. We ascend over hundred uneven, stone steps to reach the mouth of the caves which has a very narrow entry point, into which we descend through a dozen odd steps to enter a reasonably lit area that contain the brilliant handiwork of nature. Towards the end of the caves, we feel a slight sense of suffocation, thanks to the low oxygen ambience, but brave it well enough not to miss the architecturally beauty that it has to offer. Still mesmerized by this hitherto little-explored territory, we emerge from it, to wend our way to the springs.
The Springs are located in the middle of a huge resort-like area that have small cottages, spa, sauna, gym, cafes and lush gardens. While there are several little hotspots, the main spring in the centre bubbles out of the ground setting off its tall plume of steam against the blue-green mountains in the distance, a sight most scintillating to savour. Boiling eggs in the steaming spring water, especially quail eggs seems a favourite pastime with the locals. We watch a young lad wielding a bamboo slat bag with several eggs strung up with a stick that he lowers into the smoking waters and observes gleefully the boiling eggs.
For the food aficionadas, they can eat their way across Chiang Mai which boast a healthy blend of world class eateries offering a wealthy choice of cuisines, and the roadside stalls, for those with an appetite for gastronomic thrills. Of course, for us, dedicated vegetarians, we are barely able to indulge in a gustatory adventure, options being limited and fares on offer being rather bland for our spicy-lusting tastebuds. Or is it that we are unable to access the right outlets, I’m not sure. One aspect of Chiang Mai and the northern cooler climes of Thailand becomes apparent to us: fat-infused curries cooked in creamy coconut milk and spice pork sausages form an integral part of the menu in most restaurants.
The pleasant aroma of wispy early morning mist wafts over us as we bid adieu after a weeklong stay in the most hospitable land of the Thais. Even as we exchange goodbyes, we know there’s a lot more to the city that we are yet to explore and delight in, that we would be back, perhaps at a time when the pressure of time would not hang heavy on us!
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