Into the Countryside: Northeastern Thailand
Part 1 - Markets, Wats and a Waterfall
So, if you stay with locals or family in Thailand (not at a hotel) you must register with immigration within 24 hours. As I was being picked up by my brother and sister-in-law on a Sunday, and Monday was a holiday (Navamindra Maharaj Day - which commemorates the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2016) that meant we had to check in with the police department on Sunday and then make a trip to Phayao on Tuesday to register. It was a bit of a drive to Chiang Kham from Chiang Mai so by the time we left the police station and made it to the house, there wasn’t much time to do anything except have dinner together as a family.
The next morning I went to the market at Chiang Kham to get breakfast, and buy fresh food for the day. The (daily) market didn’t disappoint, you could buy any kind of fresh or prepared Thai food there, like live eels (see photo left, below). I went to this market several times over the following two weeks and saw different things each time. Because there is so much variety it is hard to not be a little overwhelmed. Yes, I did buy fresh pineapple 🍍on every visit!
After breakfast, Piyaphat took me on a tour of the rubber tree farm, and then we went to the coconut plantation to water the young palms. 🌴🥥
Photos below L-R: Water storage jars by some rubber trees, the scoring and catching of the sap, weighing the latex for sale
Like everywhere in Thailand, local wats abound. Below are images from Wat Chiang Kham. The architectural details are amazing, like the golden crocodile.🐊 I also saw this lovely bee 🐝hive in a tree next to the wat.
We also went to Wat Nantaram, which is a wooden Buddhist temple built in the Burmese style (by people who had immigrated to Thailand from present-day Myanmar). This temple complex is stylistically very different from many of the other temples in Thailand, and is made of mostly teak. It also has a small museum inside (including pottery), and blooming Sai trees (the type of tree Buddha is said to have been born under).
One day we also drove to Phu Sang National Park. The park was only established in 2000, but provides good hiking trails, caves, camping and a warm waterfall.
Photos L-R: Phu Sang Waterfall; massive trees; close up showing some of the bee 🐝hives on this tree (many were lost during Typhoon Yagi); the bridge was damaged from the flooding during Typhoon Yagi
This area of Thailand has much fewer tourists, as it is quite remote. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, and I will be sure to create another post to cover the rest of my visit to NE Thailand.
