Monday, May 9, 2016

Chiang Mai Part 2 of 3

Our 2nd private driver was Chai.  He was a lot of fun, was great with the kids, and had a huge base of knowledge of so many things (from tourists, to places to visit, to politics).

Our first stop of the day was Thai Silk Village.

We learned how the worms grow, reproduce, and make cocoons that are used to extract their silk webbings.



After extracting the silk and making it into thread, the thread can be dyed using natural plants, then women on looms design bolts of fabric like these here.

Our 2nd stop was the Paper Umbrella Factory.  Here we learned how bark is taken from specific trees, beat to loosen the fibers, then soaked to further separate fibers, then the fibers are dried on screens to make thin sheets of paper.  Finally the sheets of paper are placed overlapping with a special glue mixture until it is thick enough to form an umbrella or fan.  There were pre-painted fans and umbrellas for purchase or you could choose a blank one which could be custom painted.

Aaron decided to get our day pack painted with elephants.


Oliver picked out a pre-painted fan.

Carson picked out a blank fan with the wish to have a dragon painted.


Next stop was the Muang On Cave.  This was up in the mountains and had lots of stairs to get to the entrance.


Entrance to the cave.

There were a couple of narrow stairways (very close to climbing a ladder in some instances) but mostly the cave was large and cavernous.


There were many shrines, mostly Buddhist, throughout the cave.

One of the best things about the cave was playing with shadows.  Here you can see us standing on the left with our shadows projected on the wall.

As we walked back out of the cave and down the many stairs, we caught our first monkey sighting of the trip!

The next stop was San Kamphaeng Hot Springs.  The grounds here were very beautiful.  There was lots of green spaces and a playground to play on. 


A unique perk to these hot springs was the ability to buy eggs and cook them in the hot springs.  It made for a delicious snack!

Last stop of the day was Art In Paradise.  This was an interactive 3-D museum and was our favorite touristy place that we visited.  Everything you see below was painted on the walls and floors to make it look like the scene was really happening. 
Enjoy the photos below as they do not require any captions!
































Last thing on this post: An evening walking street market!
 








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