Boiling eggs in a bamboo basket in the hot springs
This is from top of cave looking down. The tiny white specks in center are people.
Oops! Can not delete duplicate.
My friend Sang and I decided to take a break from Songkran yesterday and hired a car to take us out of Chiangmai to Roong Aroon Hot Springs. En route we stopped by Muang-On cave. The peaceful day was a welcome respite from the soakings of the Songkran festival which ends today, by the way.
Muang-On cave is; like most remarkable, beautiful or unusual spots in this oh so Buddhist country; a shrine. To get to the mouth of the cave you have to climb 200 steps up the mountain. There you crawl/duck walk through a very small opening at which point I began to experience a familiar and uncomfortable claustrophobic sensation. If not for Sang's encouragement and pressuring me, I would not have been able to enter. Inside the cave was immense and well lit and my phobic reaction soon gave way to appreciation of the subterranean beauty. The last cave I remember impressing me so was Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico. That was back in the 70's so there have been a lot of caves since then.
After spelunking, we headed to our real destination of the day Roong Aroon Hot Springs. The grounds and buildings looked like a nice country club with a hot water geyser, not a pro shop, as the focus of activity. We boiled eggs in the spring water, had lunch and then went for the plunge ourselves. You are given a small private cabin with a bathtub which you fill from two taps, one marked COLD and the other marked VERY HOT. There you soak, rinse with cold, soak, rinse with cold until your entire body just wants to lie down and melt into sleep. Sadly there were no hammocks available.
After a most peaceful day we were driven back to Chiang Mai. Due to the holiday traffic had been diverted from entering the area of our hotel so we had to walk about 10 blocks. From the taxi to our hotel everyone on the street did their best to insure we got home with nary a dry stitch.
Muang-On cave is; like most remarkable, beautiful or unusual spots in this oh so Buddhist country; a shrine. To get to the mouth of the cave you have to climb 200 steps up the mountain. There you crawl/duck walk through a very small opening at which point I began to experience a familiar and uncomfortable claustrophobic sensation. If not for Sang's encouragement and pressuring me, I would not have been able to enter. Inside the cave was immense and well lit and my phobic reaction soon gave way to appreciation of the subterranean beauty. The last cave I remember impressing me so was Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico. That was back in the 70's so there have been a lot of caves since then.
After spelunking, we headed to our real destination of the day Roong Aroon Hot Springs. The grounds and buildings looked like a nice country club with a hot water geyser, not a pro shop, as the focus of activity. We boiled eggs in the spring water, had lunch and then went for the plunge ourselves. You are given a small private cabin with a bathtub which you fill from two taps, one marked COLD and the other marked VERY HOT. There you soak, rinse with cold, soak, rinse with cold until your entire body just wants to lie down and melt into sleep. Sadly there were no hammocks available.
After a most peaceful day we were driven back to Chiang Mai. Due to the holiday traffic had been diverted from entering the area of our hotel so we had to walk about 10 blocks. From the taxi to our hotel everyone on the street did their best to insure we got home with nary a dry stitch.
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