Exploring the Freshwaters of Chiang Dao, Thailand
After our short stay in Chiang Mai we were off to Chiang Dao on Bill’s 26th Birthday! Since we were travelling on his big day, we decided to celebrate both the 1st and 2nd of February (after all it was still his birthday on 2ndin the States). The celebration started off with a windy trip to Chiang Dao through the sprawling mountains of Northern Thailand and checking into our AirBnb. It was a quaint house with one bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, swinging shutters on every window, and very tropical backyard. Having a kitchen to cook was a godsend, as it allowed us to save some money and not have to leave the house for every meal. Our most “famous” meal we made was local eggs and rice, with banana or pomelo on the side for breakfast, and although it may not sound super appetizing, mixed with a brown, sweet, and salty sauce was super tasty.
The rest of Bill’s birthday was spent exploring our very first spring outside of a Wat Tham Cave filled with Sharptooth Catfish, Koi, and Blue Mahseer Barbs. After a quick dip in the spring run for some photographs, we ended the day with delicious Korean/Thai food and a big ole’ beer. Happy Birthday, Billy!
Two Blue Mahseer Barbs from the run of a mountain spring.
A Sharptooth Catfish from the same spot.
The following day we visited Wat Tham Pha Plong temple nearby. We had to climb over 500 steps to the top of the temple which was made up of dazzling architecture featuring gold dragons and buddhas. Luckily, the temple had some inspiring Buddhism quotes along the way to help us climb the steps.
In Chaing Dao there is much to see from the towering mountains and tricking streams to the small towns sprinkled amongst them. One place we visited a few times was the hot springs about 20 minutes from the town. It isn’t exactly what we pictured it would be, but it was none the less unique. The hot springs was made up of small seeps here and there leading into a cool mountain stream. The local people had made use of the hot springs by tapping into the hot source through intricate piping and pumping the flow into multiple tubs of steaming, sulfuric hot pools for people to sit in and relax. It was a cascade of one tub water into another, down the little hill the hot spring was escaping out of and into the crisp rocky stream. Although the hot spring was a nice area to warm up in after a dip in the refreshing stream, it wasn’t the area we were interested in photographing. Upstream a little, gave birth to a plethora of small fish you could not even see from above the water, including Stone Lapping Minnows and Stone Loaches. We both got in and snapped some photos and videos, but these guys were moving all over the place making it exceptionally difficult but fun to photograph. While Bill took some amazing photos, Katie chased the butterflies around to document and draw them in a little drawing book Bill gave her as a gift.
A Stonelapping Minnow from Northern Thailand.
Another day we went for a long drive to see the temporary lakes north of the Chiang Dao area. These lakes fill up during the monsoon season and then as the rain tapers off, the water is trapped in these wide sunken plots of land leaving these lakes to slowly shrink as the air becomes dryer and evaporates the lake. Unfortunately, we did not see any aquatic wildlife here nor was it very inviting to swim in, but this adventure did lead us on a wild goose chase through sketchy dirt roads in the countryside, Katie holding on for dear life to Bill. On the drive back, we stopped to take a dip in the Pong Arng Hot Springs and the Sri Sangwan Waterfall in Pha Daeng National Park. These hot springs were a bit warmer than the previous spring in Chiang Dao, pumping water out at about 50-60 degrees Celsius (or 122- 140 degrees Fahrenheit). Of course, if we were to directly jump in it would scald us but the national park offered multiple hot spring pools mixed with a cool well water for a nice relaxing mineral bath. The waterfall on the other hand was a crisp, cool stream flowing over years of carved out rock. Unlike most waterfalls we’ve been to with smooth rock worn down over the years of water flow, this waterfall was made up of course limestone, great for climbing over to the swimming areas directly under the falls.
On our last day in Chiang Dao, we headed into the Wat Tham Cave near the first spring we saw earlier in the week. You walk into the cave to the first chamber still lit by outside light with multiple buddhas and just past that you can pay for a guide to show you the rest of the cave. These local guides used a kerosene lantern to light the way through the cave, casting eerie shadows on the wall from the unique stalactite and stalagmite formations. We followed the guide through tight squeezes (thought Bill was going to get stuck in one spot) and monstrous, yet breathtaking caverns. We even spotted our first cave critters, including bats, cave spiders, and isopods!
Although we were sad to leave our little house, the mountains of Chiang Dao, and the Greater Coucal calling “whoomp whoomp whoomp whoomp” every morning, we were thankful for our time here. Now we were onto our next challenging task, how the heck are we going to get to the infamous Cave Lodge in Mae Hong Son province?
We will leave you with one of the wise Buddhist quotes we saw in the Wat Tham Pha Plong temple. Hope you like it. “When will it end, if you reminisce of the PAST? Where will it lead to, if you muse of the FUTURE? Just MEDITATE and keep your mind only on the PRESENT MOMENT.”
