Another day sleeping in, but not too late. I was up until 2 a.m. backing up photos and seeing how they turned out.
This morning we debated what to do, and decided we would head out towards Chiang Rai today.
I wanted to trace a similar route to what I had done last February on my motorcycle. There are some places I would like to see again because I know they’re worth seeing again, and a few I didn’t get to see.
We headed north towards Fang, to Wat Tham Chiang Dao. The Wat is okay, and has some interesting things to see, but I really wanted to see Chiang Dao Cave. Last time I came through, it was closed. I was disappointed, but what do you do? You come back!
As it turned out, the cave was open for us to enter, so I was happy. We had some Khao Soi soup for lunch. The ladies at the restaurant were nice, and the soup was delicious.
We headed back to the car, grabbed our cameras and headed up to the cave. I have to say, I figured it would be interesting, but my expectations were blown away. This was an incredible experience, and not what we were expecting at all!
We figured it would be a walk through a lit cave, and not something bordering on spelunking like we did!
At the point where you can enter the guided portion of the cave, you have two options: the well-lit path, with no guide needed, or the path where signs (and guides) insist that unless you have a light and guide, you WILL get lost.
It was only 200 Baht ($7.82 Cdn) for the guide, so we got a guide. After a short walk into the cave, we realized they were right! Even with a light, we would have taken a looong time to find our way through there.
There were some tight spaces we had to crawl through, and contort our bodies a bit to make it. Some spots were very low, where we almost had to crawl. The guide patiently waited for us to squeeze through. There was also one section with a steep dropping winding staircase.
The rock formations were interesting, and many were named after various items and creatures they resembled. I believe the estimate of the trip through the cave was about 750 metres. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but it takes a while!
It was one of the more interesting experiences we’ve had here, and unlike one I think we’ve ever had! We weren’t expecting it at all.
Once we made it to the end, we tipped our guide another 200 Baht for getting us out alive! Haha!
We continued down the other path where a guide wasn’t needed. It was a fairly long trip to the end and back, and had a lot of interesting rock formations as well. There were also several shrines along the way, and a sleeping Buddha at the very end.
The entry fee to get into the caves was 40 Baht each ($1.56 Cdn), and totally worthwhile even if you were doing the unguided path.
One thing I found interesting is that parts of the cave had a lot of sand in them. I am curious how it got there, whether it was washed into the cave during the rainy season, or brought in by staff to make into concrete for walkways, etc. There was one spot where some deposits were indicated as “sand chedis” which is a type of religious construction that is shaped like a cone, thinly tapered at the top, with a wide base. Maybe the sand is deposited naturally.
After exiting the cave, we checked out the other buildings and got ready to leave. We parked right beside a tree where a bunch of bananas had been left to feed some small rodents that appear to be related to chipmunks. They were up in the trees, darting down the trunks to fill their bellies full of banana. I managed to get some decent photos of them, fortunately.
After that, we were back on the road, and headed towards Fang. We stayed at the same place I stayed at on my last trip, and one night only costs 400 Baht ($15.64 Cdn). We had a bento box at a Japanese restaurant and headed back to the hotel for the night.
Tomorrow the plan is to go up the mountain at Doi Ang Khang.
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