Mae Kampong Village

Ryan and Claire joined us on our venture to Mae Kampong Village.  Kampong is the yellow flower that grows there.  Mae is the river that runs through the village. Back in the nineties, the Thai government decided that each tambon (region) should identify a superior product they produce. It would be branded as their OTOP (One Tambon One Product).  Mae Kampong named their product as eco-tourism. The population of Mae Kampong Village is 500 people.  They are known for their home stays.  You can stay with a family and join them in their daily life of farming, bamboo cutting, etc.  It has become a popular destination for Thai tourists.   It is about an hour journey from Chiang Mai, the last several miles are up a very steep, narrow road.  Tour buses can’t make it up the road but our 10 passenger Sprinter van joined many others in the parking lot.  We were not planning on a homestay but we wanted to have a slice of the Mae Kampong experience.

Most of our experience of Mae Kampong revolved around food.  We walked up the narrow road through the center of the village, stopping to taste their sausages on a stick, eggs cooked in a banana leaf, fermented pork in a banana leaf, croissants marked with a fish and filled with everything from sweet potatoes to truffles, more sausage, grilled pork, and my all time favorite — a fresh strawberry on mochi with red bean, taro, purple yam or matcha.  I can’t possibly describe how delicious it was.

We walked up the steps to the Wat Mae Kampong 

and then down very steep steps to its pavilion in the river.  Chinda and I made it with the help of Ryan.

There are only two temples in rivers in Thailand and this is one of them.  Chinda and I took our shoes off and went inside.

Back up another set of steep, uneven steps and we headed back to the main road.  The incline of the road became so steep that a couple pickup trucks trying to navigate the road had to back down and get up more speed before trying it again.  We found a nice restaurant above the river to enjoy some cold drinks.

Chinda and I waited at the restaurant while the rest of the group hiked to the top of the town for the promised view.

Heading back down we stopped for a lunch.  I was too stuffed already to eat….well, I did have one more strawberry/mochi delight.  We returned to our van and asked the driver to take us to Teddu Coffee.  We hiked down another set of steep, uneven steps to this beautiful coffee place on the river.  

I enjoyed the cat inside the box right next to the dessert display with a 60 Baht sign in front of him.

I was also intrigued by the bathroom.  You had to take off your shoes and use the provided slippers in order to use the toilet.  It made for quite a process and a long line waiting to get their slippers.  We came here not because we were desperate for more food and drinks but because it is a sweet place to sit in the jungle,

next to a little waterfall 

with a suspension bridge exit.

We headed home completely stuffed after a day in which we only had to take off our shoes twice.  After getting Yves to bed Matt and Melissa headed out for an evening with Claire and Ryan.  The grandmas were delighted to babysit.