DAY 3 (31st December 2022) – Hmong Village, Bhubing Palace, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep and Wat Pha Lat
We managed to cover four locations, all of which are to the west of the city, and along the same general direction and road. Bhubing Palace was not in our schedule, initially, but we are glad that we made a stop there. The map below outlines our relatively short van ride for the day – all in, less than 50km, including back to the AirBnb.
Hmong Doi Pui Village
The Doi Pui Village is home to refugees from the surrounding war-torn countries, particularly the people from the Hmong tribe. I only got to know later that there are many other tribal peoples living peaceably with each other there. The government of Thailand had allocated many areas around the country to host these displaced people-groups, and had allowed them to cultivate the land, produce handcrafts as souvenirs, and continue on with their ways of life.
During our visit to the village, where the main street is lined with wooden huts selling all kinds of food, clothing, trinkets, hand-made baskets and bags, etc., absolutely no one harassed or pestered us into buying anything. All we could see were their genuine smiles and their warm eyes, as they welcomed us into their borrowed space. Surely, they must all long to go “home”, but this is their home for now, and perhaps for the foreseeable future (Bro Ray: I personally don’t think that it is fair to call this place a “tourist trap”).
For a small fee, we crossed over into a well-trimmed hillside garden, beautifully planted with all kinds of flowering plants, very-well spaced out according to the variety and colours of the flowers. Traditional tribal costumes with its colourful patterns and decorations were available for rent, and we could see that many people did just that. The entire scenery was bright and colourful throughout the gardens, which made the atmosphere equally as bright and cheerful.
After walking around quite a bit and enjoying the lovely sceneries, it was time to take a break in one of the huts next to a mini-waterfall… Perhaps in summer, the waterfall would be more spectacular, but for us on this day, it wasn’t. We also took the opportunity to grab a cuppa at the barista’s hut along the main road and had some food before proceeding to our next destination.
Bhubing Palace
An unexpected stop, we passed by the palace on our way to the Hmong Village. A quick search on the Internet convinced us that we had to make a stop on our way back. The construction of the palace and its surrounding buildings started in August 1961 and was completed within just five months! Built to accommodate the Thai royal family during their state visits to the Chiangmai province, and also to host foreign dignitaries. The first visitors were King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark in January 1962.
The park and its gardens are open to the general public, except when the King and Queen are in residence, usually between January to March. This means that if you plan to make this place as one of your adventure stops, you would probably have to check in advance whether they coincide with the King and Queen’s visit.
Among the more abundantly planted flowers in this garden are the roses – many varieties in different colours. Here are samples of the vibrant colours on display.
Now where was it said that, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”?
The park itself was quite huge, and there actually aren’t that many structures or buildings. You can obtain a map of the area at the registration counter (and pay a fee), and you’ll have the whole park to explore. Somewhere in the middle of the park was a flight of stairs leading up to a huge rectangular pool, which is probably used to water the entire place. Only GC and me made it all the way to the top to view the reservoir. The others just stayed back and chilled under a tree.
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
The next stop of the day is the famous temple located at the top of a hill, overlooking the city. This temple is famous for people coming here for the purpose of offering prayers and spending time in meditation. The access to the temple is via a long flight of stairs, or you could just pay for the use of the lifts (there are four in total, which bring people up and down quite speedily). We took the lift!
There are many places throughout the hilltop temple where silence is required, since there are many people meditating in any one of the buildings. Added to the fact that we were several stories above the traffic below, the whole complex is pretty tranquil throughout. I guess the keywords to describe this area is “mutual respect”. The locals and the tourists were very well-behaved, I must say!
At one end of the complex were a series of verandas looking out over the city of Chiangmai below. Apparently, in spring, the city will be barely visible when the preceding dry winter months could potentially light up and cause forest fires in the surrounding areas, hence the smoke would blanket Chiangmai in a haze.
Wat Pha Lat
We made a brief stop at this other temple complex, which is very much a contrast to the previous one. This was more, “grounded”, as in it wasn’t built at the top of a mountain, and from the architecture and design, looks to be very old. It had a few small lakes and there was even a flowing stream going through the grounds. It only has several buildings and contains an ancient stupa, which is a small dome-shaped structure and usually contains a statue of Buddha inside. There weren’t as many people here, though.
There is a trail called the Monk’s Trail which actually starts in the city, and winds its way to this temple (apparently takes about 45 minutes). In ancient times, this temple acts as a resting place for pilgrims before hiking up to the bigger Wat Phra That complex. With the construction of roads, reaching this temple became a much easier task. (Bro Ray: My apologies as my photos don’t do justice to the place; there are so many more lovely structures including the dragon staircase, which I did not take. When you adventure to this place one day, you will understand what I mean!).
Some of the structures at this temple complex
Summary of Day 3
So, we got back into the city, and went straight out for dinner to celebrate the final day of 2022. Although we did not go out to join the crowd at the New Year festivities downtown, we still had a great time in our AirBnb. What a way to end the year, and to look forward to a new year when the sun rises the next day.
