On Saturday morning, we visited the stunning pagodas of Chae Son National Park, located in Lampang. The temple, Wat Chalermprakiat, is one of the most unique temples in Thailand. The stairways and trails snaking their way up through the forest give this place a magical feel. Even though the temple has an old feel, it was actually built in 2004 to commemorate 200 years since the reign of King Rama IV of Thailand. We parked at the bottom of the temple, and then got onto a shuttle. The road up is steep and narrow so they only allow their drivers to use it. After a slightly nerve-wracking, roller coaster type ride, we were dropped off at another temple most of the way up the mountain. We still had a 20-40 minute walk up to the pagodas at the top. It’s almost entirely uphill so it’s fairly strenuous, but it’s all stairs and there are lots of places to sit and rest on the way up.
Once at the top, we enjoyed our view of the valley, exploring several different platforms and Buddhas. There were gongs, bells and beautiful forest to enjoy. Going down the same way we came up, we hopped in our van to head for lunch —which was incredible and huge. We had many different dishes, including a special pad se ew for me! Just when we thought we could not eat anymore, the brought out a giant bowl of ice cream and milk bread. Needless to say, we were completely stuffed.
Back on the van, we headed to a waterfall with seven levels, followed by a hot spring. The hot spring was said to be as hot as 105 Fahrenheit, so we were advised to spend only 15 minutes in the hot spring. We entered our small rooms where the hot spring was automatically replenished through a simple hole in the bottom of the pool. My soak was rejuvenating, even on an incredibly hot day. While we soaked, our guide was actually boiling eggs in a basket - which was apparently the thing to do! There were signs at each pool about how long you needed to keep your eggs in the water to boil. The egg itself was surprisingly not cooked all the way (just the yolk) - our guide said this was from the minerals in this specific hot spring.
The next day, I caught up on work a little bit before heading to Ram Bar for a drag show. This drag show apparently happens every night, and I was shocked at how crowded it was for a Sunday night! My recommendation is to call ahead for a reservation. I had an early morning on Monday, so I headed out early after only a drink or two.
After my morning meetings, a few folks in our group went to a prix fixe lunch at Blackitch, an artisan kitchen. The seven-course meal was focused on ingredients that are foraged, curing and fermenting, and themed with the ecosystems of Thailand: marsh, ocean, rainforest, etc. Typically, these restaurants phone in their vegetarian accommodations… but Blackitch delivered! I could tell they got creative with their presentations, and mimicking textures of what the meat dish was (for example, using firm tofu crumbles to mimic pork, or cheese to mimic shellfish).
I spent the rest of the week wrapping up work for a long break. On Thursday, our Community Leader had booked an Airbnb for the group to spend Thanksgiving at. Thus, began my search and effort to make pumpkin pie. And, I wanted to make it gluten-free, so everyone in our group could eat it. I found a pumpkin… which did not look like the ones at home, microwaved it, mashed it, and followed a recipe to make a crust out of almond flour. I was so nervous about how it would turn out! Fortunately, it was a hit! And, I was proud that my pie was many people’s first pumpkin pie.
Our spread was nothing short of incredible. Mac n cheese, salad, Spanish omelette, mashed potatoes, pizza, cheese board, cookies, apple cider punch, wine, deviled eggs and more. Though there was no turkey on the table, we all were entirely and thoroughly stuffed. We spent the evening playing games and cleaning up before zonking out.
The following day was our Town Hall event, where we had the chance to share feedback about the month and learn about our next stop. That evening, our farewell event was a Muay Thai match. It was so exciting to see this regional match. There were about 10 different matches, and they switched from male/female matches. The final match was actually a Thai versus American. And, though I was rooting for Thailand, America won.
Alex and I had plans to stay in Thailand for another week, visiting Pai and Bangkok, but most of the group was leaving Chiang Mai shortly after. We said our farewells—for the one month folks, it was really bittersweet.
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