Mae Ping River Cruise
In the late afternoon, we decided to cruise along the Mae Ping river from the city of Chiang Mai. We looked at the the map and saw a river cruise being advertised on it. Then we called them for a rate and booked the cruise for both of us.
Twenty minutes later, the minibus of Mae Ping River Cruise came and took us from the McDonald’s near Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. We had to join a trip with other 4 foreigners. The minibus took us to the pier at Wat Chai Mongkol.
At the outset, the tour operators described about the trip and then Aom and I made payment of 300 baht each for the boat fees. We went down into the long -tailed boat at the pier and started.our journey along the Mae Ping River,That was my first time for such a ride.
The Mae Ping river is different from the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. Mae Ping is smaller but has no waves from other boats.There were only few local boats and few tourist long- tailed boats to be seen. So the traffic in the river as seen seemed to be quiet. That was our great journey. The boat was cruising slowly and let us enjoy the scenery along the Mae Ping banks.
In the city area, we saw some highrise buildings which are mostlly hotels and apartments. I think the business areas in Chiang Mai are not on the highrise buildings. They are mostly in the city of Chiang Mai for tourist and handicraft businesses . Well , that is not our point. Let’s go back to our trip :D.
When we cruised out of town, green surrondings along the banks made us feel cooler with the oxygen from the trees. I loved this scenery because I live in the big city like Bangkok that looks like a concrete forest. There were both modern local houses and Thai style houses. Some are old traditional Thai- styled with luxury decorations. Some are for real local people with only small homes or cottages.
After half and hour, we reached a farmer’s house that was included in the cruising program. But after Aom and myself went up to the pier, we saw small duck and goose cages with an english writing “Goose Family” and “Duck Family”. We suddenly knew that was not a real farmer’s house because Aom’s Grandmother’s house is in Ayudhaya province, a city just north of bangkok.That was a real farmer’s house.
When we walked around the farmer’s house, the guide pointed at some herbal names and explained to the foreigners. Aom and I had little disappointment with this set-up farmer’s house. There was a rice farm but only 1 square metre. Imagine a sticky rice farm with only 1 square metre land. This is really a fake. To make ice farm there must be a minimum 1,600 sqare metres of land or 1 rai.
So this farmer’s house should be a museum or demo farmer’s house. This would be great for the foreigners who want to know about Thai farmer’s house and life style with in a few minutes. (I mean you can walk around within 15 minutes).
If you are cruising along the Mae Ping River, I think you should have more interest in the countryside life styles of the local people along the river banks more than this farm house. Anyway, Mae Ping river is good to see and to cruise along . The farmer’s house can be like a bus stop that let s you go for a wash or stretching yourslves and have some drinks and fruits. From this farm house they will cruise you back to the pier at Wat Chai Mongkol in Chiangmai City.
If you have a few hours to spare in Chiang Mai, you are invited to share your experiences and pictures here.