Chiang Dao Caves

It's surprisingly easy to get around northern Thailand by bus, and we (Max, Pia and I) took a short day trip to Chiang Dao, about an hour and a half out of the city to see some impressive caves. I enjoyed the bus ride as much as I enjoyed the caves themselves. I haven't really seen rural Thailand yet, so it was the first time I've seen huts and houses on stilts and people working out in the farms with their big hats and boots. I was taken through another world. I dozed in and out on the bus ride and I was woken by a soft hand stroking my arm. It was a Thai woman sharing my seat and she was commenting on my arm hair. She then proudly showed me how soft her arms are; no hair. Interesting small talk, but I'll take what I can get.

The caves were impressive. For one part you had to hire a guide who took a lamp and showed you which passageways to go through, which drop-offs to avoid, and pointed out interesting structures. She pointed out rocks that looked like elephants, lotus blossoms, candles, trees, curtains, and my favorite: the humps on the ground with the nub at the top were "boobs," she said. She pointed to her own to make sure we understood.

I had never been inside a cave before, so it was especially interesting to see how vast they were in some parts, while other parts you literally had to crawl through a hole with a two foot diameter. This is especially hard when the guide with the lamp is already through, so you have no source of light to get yourself through the hole without scraped knees or bumping your head. We were joking about the older folks with canes or big bellies we saw with other guides, wondering how they got through.

The temple itself was beautiful, and there was a pond with fish the size of my leg, and if Max fell in they would have eaten him alive in one bite. Although the time spent at the caves was short, I still looked forward to the bus ride home again. Something about bus rides makes me sleep like a baby. The seats aren't that comfortable but there were a few times when I felt myself bobbing and bam! my head slams the window and I'm awake again. The Thai boy who was sharing the seat with me also was bobbing a bit and we crashed heads once or twice. Maybe because it's hot and crowded and a little bit rocky, similar to a womb..? Either way, we were birthed back in Chiang Mai in no time. I'm having trouble posting my other pictures, but I'll get them up as soon as I can. This one below reminds me of the snow capped trees that I don't anticipate missing this winter.