DAY 5 (2nd January 2023) – The Cave and Downtown Chiangmai
The one thing we have not done so far on our trip to Chiangmai, was to visit the city itself! While the city has grown in size and population over the centuries, it has retained a lot of its old-world charm. Although the city has been modernized somewhat, the new buildings have been carefully constructed to blend in with its numerous temples, pagodas and stupas.
Chiangmai is a historic city, founded in 1296 by Phaya Mangrai, the first king of the Lanna Kingdom, who made this city the capital of his newfound kingdom. We can still see the remnants of the Old City, where parts of the walls around the city still stand. Modern roads, drains and buildings have been built around these relics of old to preserve the heritage and history. A look at Google Maps shows the almost squarish outline of the Old City, which can still be clearly seen.
notice its size compared to the airport on the southwest; also notice the numerous temples that dot the map
Wat Tham Chiang Dao Cave
But first, we paid a visit to the Wat Tham Chiang Dao Cave, located almost directly north of the city, which houses a temple complex with a cave system attached. There is a stream that flows from deep inside the cave to the opening of the cave, and over many years, created several turquoise-coloured pools, which now is home to many types of fish.
This is the entrance area to the cave system and some of the buildings in the complex
Once we walked past the outer temple complex and the pools, we would come to the entrance of the cave system – I said “cave system” because there are several caves in the area which may or may not be interconnected in the inner regions which have not been explored. We went into the popular one, where we were offered guides carrying kerosene lamps to accompany and guide us inside. For a group our size, we had to hire two guides.
According to legend (and there are several legends), taking even one small pebble from the cave would bring calamity to you. Let’s not test the truth or myth of that!
Air Diamond Café and Hotel
This was a totally unexpected destination! We passed by this place on the way to the cave, and thought that it would be interesting to have a coffee after the cave adventure. I mean, a huge Airbus A330 plane in the middle of nowhere surrounded by shops does stick out and certainly catches the eye and captures the imagination. There is a café on board, but we had to pay just to go in, and since there were other cafes in the adjacent buildings, we just went there instead.
Chiangmai Old City
We ended up spending almost two hours at the Air Diamond looking at some of the branded clothes on offer in the shops. But we got going again and stepped into the old city as the sun was setting. Our driver dropped us just outside the Tha Phae Gate on the east side, and we made our way to the Three Kings Monument or Anusawari Sam Kasat.
The monument depicts the three kings who were said to have been responsible to make Chiangmai and the Lanna Kingdom flourish in its day, namely Phaya Ngam Muang (left), Phaya Mangrai (centre) and Phaya Ruang (right). Behind the monument is the white-coloured old provincial administration building.
As mentioned, the whole city was filled with temples of various colours and sizes. There are the few which I thought stood out among the many temples:
And a trip to Thailand would not be complete without massages. Well, even adventurers like us deserve a break after the long walks and scenic hikes over the last few days.
Since the night market along the Ratchadamnoen Road was in full swing, we had to sample some of the street food. Although chaotic and chock-full of people everywhere you look, and stall owners hawking their ware, we managed to sort out our food and drinks. I guess we were fortunate to find a short table and some wooden stools by the side to sit down to enjoy the food. Fried scorpions and cicadas – not for me though.
And finally, it was time to find a place to celebrate the January birthdays. Mom was turning 70 at the end of the month, while my daughter would turn 20 in a few days. And me – 50, a few days after. A milestone for all three of us, who were all born in January. We found a reasonably quiet place on the second floor and celebrated our various age milestones with some drinks and some cake.
Summary of Day 5
We covered quite a fair bit of ground on our final full day in Chiangmai, and then for the final night of our trip, we celebrated three generations of January birthdays. Once again, we thank God that the weather was perfect throughout the day, and we all had a great time! The map of the locations we visited are as follows:
