Here’s yet another great day out for you. Quite a special one with lots of historical and cultural interest. We tend to start these days out at around 11am, due to business commitments, but if you were to set off a little earlier you’d give yourself even more time to take it all in.

First on our itinerary on this day was to visit the ancient ruins at Wiang Kum Kam.

Wiang Kum Kam was an ancient settlement  before it became King Mangrai’s capital around the period of 1287-90. King Mengrai moved his capital due to frequent flooding, but Wiang Kum Kam remained important throughout the Lanna period.

When the River Ping changed course, during the Burmese period,the area became flooded and was buried under river mud and silt. In the 1980s, after rediscovery during construction of a football pitch, the ancient site was developed into an historical park.

There are several Temple sites revealed over quite a large area with a wonderfully rural feel to it.

A popular way to get around the whole site is by taking one of the pony and cart tours available.

With our days itinerary our time here was limited but I fully intend to return and spend a whole day there at which point there will be a much more detailed report on this wonderful site. For more photos visit our photobucket album here.

Most of the major routes in & out of town show large blue tourist information signs and there are also smaller individual signs.

Wiang Kum Kam features on many and if you travel out of town on either the Lamphun Road (Rte 106) or the Hang Dong Road (Rte 108) you will see the signs for you to follow.

So, after our brief visit to Wiang Kum Kam, it was a short excursion on the outer ring road (Rte 121) towards San Kampaeng and taking a lunch stop at Inter – Mini Golf, an 18 hole pitch & put obstacle course, on the San Kamphaeng Road opposite the turn off to Bo Sang.

The interesting, and challenging looking mini golf course costs 100 baht per person and has a very pleasant cafe area attached, with a wide ranch of food available at quite reasonable prices.

After lunch, we made a short ride to the fabulous Bo Sang Umberella Factory

Bo-Sang-Umbrella Factory

Once again, even having been in Chiang Mai for 3 years now, I got that ‘newcomer’ feeling as we entered Bo Sang from the opposite direction to the one I have used previously.

A Little History.

Over a hundred years ago a Monk named Phra In Tha, from Bo Sang Temple, travelled to the Thai/Burmese border to make meditation. Whilst he was there a Burmese man brought him a hand painted paper Umbrella. On visiting the mans village, Phra In Tha, observed the villagers making the umbrellas and carefully wrote down various procedures that go into making of them.

Returning to Bo-Sang he passed on the information he had gathered and taught his own people how to make these most useful works of art.

Since then, the craftspeople of Bo Sang have developed a wide range of styles for the Umbrellas that have become a very famous part of Chiang Mai heritage.

Lo and behold I finally saw the main Umbrella factory that I have always missed on my previous visits.

Much more ‘touristy than the smaller affair mentioned in my previous Bo Sang report, from my family visit, it is nonetheless much more interesting, with a much better insight into what goes into the making of the famous Umbrellas.

Behind the huge shop is the ‘factory’ area, where you can stroll around at  your leisure and watch the five stages of the manufacturing process.

1. the paper making process, using bamboo or mulberry pulp.
2. the cutting of bamboo for the umbrella skeleton.
3. the making of the umbrella skeleton.
4. the adding of the paper to the skeleton
5. the hand painting and finishing of the umbrella.

If you are wanting to find out more than just what you get from looking it is possible to get a guide to go around with you, who can answer your questions.

A nice touch to the set up is that the artists, of which there are many, will, for a small fee, paint one of their many designs onto to virtually anything you give them. One present craze is mobile phones.

The manageress in the shop, Kun Nok, is very helpful and friendly so don’t be afraid to go and have a chat.
For more photos please visit our photobucket album here.

UPCOMING EVENT-BO SANG UMBRELLA FESTIVAL-16th-17th-18th of January.

With ever more knowledge of this wonderful region of Thailand, and its culture stored away in the old grey matter, the day old would not have been complete with out the obligatory Temple visit. And that is not meant in a derogatory way. My love of the Temples of Chiang Mai and Thailand is great, and trips out really are not complete with out at  least one Temple included.

Many say ‘ once you’ve seen one Temple you’ve seen them all’. I say, open your eyes. Each Temple has something unique to itself, be it the setting, the architectural design, art work, the lay-out, location or the inhabitants, both human and animal, not forgetting the often varied plant life. Ok, some are less exciting than others, but I will never tire of searching  out new ones, and mostly the lesser known ones. Something that increases my love for these places is that some of the most beautiful examples I have visited so far have been tucked away, off the tourist trail and you see that the artwork, the landscaping, the care and the love is not just done for effect.

All that said, Wat Doi Saket is one of those that can be considered to be on ‘the tourist trail’, as many of the larger mountain Temples are.

Without wanting to put the place down, for me it felt a little too ‘sterile’. Its hard to pinpoint why, and such perceptions can be very personal, so don’t let my opinion put you off taking a look. There is a lot of beauty there, and with its location, some stunning views.

Most notable for me was the Chedi ‘within’ a Chedi, something I’ve never seen before.

And the artwork inside the main Temple is another mind blower, with some quite surreal and futuristic works included on the huge walls.

My favourite part of this visit was going up to the neighbouring peak, via a mud track opposite the main road entrance to the Temple.

At the top is a recently landscaped area with terraced lily ponds and even better views than you get from the Temple that it overlooks.

It has a grand statue of the Buddha aboard a multi headed pink elephant.

There are tables spotted around the terraced garden and it is a perfect place to sit in meditative thought. For more photos please visit our photobucket album here.

Time constraints needing me back at the cafe by 6pm ended another great day out. Thanks again to Ally for coming up with the route.