HILL TRIBES TOUR (Day 5 - part 1)

Today we went on a day tour. A minivan arrived at our hotel at 7:30. Along with a tour guide and driver, there were six other tourists. We drove 20 minutes to our first stop, the Bai Orchid and Butterfly Farm.

Apparently orchids are super easy to grow here. Our guide showed us the different male and female parts on the same flower then described how they cultivate them. The flowers start out in small glass flasks. After 1 1/2 - 2 years, they're transplanted onto a coconut husk or something similar. Some bloom once a year, others twice. There are some 100 species here (1,000 in Thailand and 25,000 in world). We walked among the rows of orchids with their dangling roots. There were all sizes, shapes and colors... white, pink, spotted, red, yellow, purple, orange, yellow with red spots, lavender.

We walked though a thick pole curtain to enter the butterfly exhibit. Beautiful creatures flitted everywhere.

In the gift shop were lovely orchid and butterfly glass pins.

We drove for an hour past rice fields and mountain jungles to Chiang Dao cave. In the old days, the cave was used as temple since the people didn't have enough money to build one, so it was filled with various small shrines and statues.

We slowly made our way though. Lights guided our way through the cool, long cavern. The cave ran about three miles, but it supposedly got quite narrow after the main section. Water dripped constantly from above, meaning that the stalactites and other formations were growing. Apparently during the rainy season, the whole cave filled up with water up to four feet deep.

An assortment of shrines...

A couple toss sticks for a reading at one of the shrines.

Among the shrines was also a Reclining Buddha statue (carved of stone and wrapped in a gold blanket) and a gold-pained Burmese Buddha.

Outside, we walked around the temple complex.

Carp are considered holy fish.

A new temple was built to replace the cave.

We drove for an hour up into mountains, grabbing some lunch in a small cafe, then continued on another 40 minutes to Thaton (or Tha Ton) temple with its massive white Buddha and a spectacular view of the Kok River. Behind these mountains lies Myanmar (Burma).

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