The Northern Rose

6 Sep 2011

Lanjia Lodge - great hideaway in Northern Thailand

"Over the hills and faraway.."

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Travelling in northern Thailand in the rainy season has some advantages. Less people, lower prices and greener nature. Last weekend me and my family went on tour yearly roadtrip up to Chiang Rai province. This time we followed a recommendation from a friend of mine to stay at Lanjia Lodge, not far from Chiang Khong and a great place to overnight if you are to continue to Luang Prabang by boat.

We started off from Chiang Mai as usual, and the journey up to Chiang Rai city was a pleasant one with our usual stop for coffee at Cabbage&Condoms. After arriving Chiang Rai, then we started the adventure. Were we to find Lanjia Lodge from the Google instructions we had? We also got a bit concerned since the road just got bumpier and bumpier. Almost a slight feel of Sri Lankan roads. But we assumed that this was the price we had to pay to get somewhere very special.

And special it was, when talking about less people I didn't quite expect that we would have a huge balcony just for ourselves overlooking a valley, the Mekong river and Laos. Actually we were the only guests at the lodge this weekend. The staff had been expecting us for some time and showed the best hospitality one can imagine. On the balcony we had our own very attentive hosts. Two persons from the Hmong hill tribe making sure everything was ok. My son was busy trying to catch up with the Hmong village kids playing, climbing trees and hiding in the bush. Not an easy task considering the strength and stamina that these children developed running up and down the hills to get to school.But he certainly tried his best following them here and there up and down the slopes of the fruit yard.

On arrival we mostly sat and enjoyed the view though, listening to the sounds of the valley. A distant truck, motorbike and nothing much more than that to be heard. In the evening we were served a tasty dinner with different curries and we were entertained at the balcony. A very short music and dance performance but with a lot of genuine feel to it. (Compared to the exhausted tourist shows in Chiang Mai anyway)

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The next day we were guided around both the Lahu village and through the Hmong village. The hmong shaman explained some of the local beliefs or practices, or what we should call them. There is a mix of shamanism(animistic beliefs) Buddhism and Christianity in these villages. My son and wife also tried to make some Hmong batik and we took part in a tree planting project to help reforest this area. We also tasted the local organic tea. There is a actually a lot of activities one can participate in at the lodge. Of course they have trekking as well. Our guide told us that the normally do a one and a half hour trek to a waterfall. Well, we skipped that travelling with a four year old but I am sure it is a nice walk considering the nature in the area.

The best part was probably how evening turned to night. Suddenly the curtain was pulled down and we were left to the sounds of chic chac lizards, and cicadas. In the morning we could see how the sunrise over the Mekong lifted the misty veil covering the valley.

Read more about the Lanjia lodge and the support of local hill tribes on the Asian Oasis website.

Text and photos: Per Sundberg

17 Oct 2010

“Holy Cow” - The stones are alive

"A wall is not just a wall in these parts of the world. These stones comes with a lot of respect".

The Significance of the City Wall of Chiang Mai and its guardians
When I first came to Chiang Mai in 1994, the moat and the old wall were some of the places that fascinated me the most about this old city. After doing the mandatory temple tour with a “tuk tuk“ in the old city, it was so nice to relax a bit on the lawn next to the wall, and just watch people pass by. I tried to imagine what life was like hundreds of years ago; When people where entering the city's gates on elephants and oxcarts, or walking with bamboo poles over their shoulders, carrying merchandise in and out to the market. How enemies where facing each other on either side of the wall, hitting their spears to the ground and insulting each other before the final battle. Nowadays, there is a completely different war going on here, the water splashing of the Thai New Year in April. I still get a historic feel every time I pass the old wall, despite the heavy traffic surrounding it. It sends out energy. You might feel that energy when you are passing by in the early morning to see the monks collecting alms, or in the evening when fountains are lit in the moat.

The holy stones of Asia
Chiang Mai was founded according to astrological principles and each entrance to the old city has a religious meaning aiming to strengthen and protect the city. You find the same thinking in many other countries around Asia. But what has always fascinated me is that stones are alive in countries like India, Cambodia, China and even Japan. The Khmer's have their stone temples of the gods, in Japan kami gods are inhabiting stones, and in China, when Mao wanted to destroy the city walls of Beijing, people were reluctant to do it because of the magic properties they considered the wall to have. So does the wall of Chiang Mai have its own guardians. When Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 the plan required a square with moats and walls facing cardinal directions. The main entrance to the city was in the north. At the centre of the city was the city pillar that according to old Indian belief represents Mount Meru. The wall and moat are considered to be the mountains and seas of the outer universe.

Every entrance and corner has its own guardian
One of my favorite areas of the wall is at Suan Dok (flower garden gate), that used to be just next to the old palace garden of Chiang Mais kings. Here a guardian called Surachato looks after the citizens. At the north-east, Sri Pum is glory-fies the city. At Thapae (the raft landing gate), the guardian Surakkhito presides of the city's foundation. Chang Puak gate(the white elephant) has a guardian named Khantharakhito that ensures the city's power and stability. The Chiang Mai gate has a guardian that protects the city's nobility. The Katam corner (fishtrap) is for the city's fortifications. The Hua Rin corner (watersource) influences the longevity of Chiang Mai and so on.

To have a harmonious city, the relations between the guardians has to be in order, between the center pillar and the outer area. So please remember; a wall is not just a wall in these parts of the world. These stones comes with a lot of respect.

2 Aug 2010

Enter The Nest - A mini resort in the City of Stars

It was a really lovely morning in the early rainy season, a time of the year when nature is full of sparkling colors and different shades of green.

I sat in the Nests open restaurant with its thatched roof, admiring nature while enjoying my morning coffee. Impressive enough, I concluded that the owners realized that with a view like this, you cannot serve just a cup of coffee. A whole pot of coffee is required! As a Swedish coffee addict, refill of coffee it’s a high priority, so the “three cup pot” was a wonderful surprise. Nearby, my wife and son were still asleep in the bungalow with just the fan on. Chiang Dao is cool at night- no air-condition required during the rainy season.

I was just reflecting on that it would be interesting to meet the owner of a place like this. The Nest, where does the name come from? So brilliantly located in wonderful surroundings, only one and a half hours from Chiang Mai. The place is balanced to suite families with kids, as well as busy career people who want to withdraw from the bustling big city for a while. The Nest defines itself as a mini-resort. For me, I came to think of the term “social lounge”, a place where travelers with higher demand for quality accommodation than the regular backpacker can find good food and great atmosphere, but with the same family feeling that you can get in a guesthouse.

The Nest also makes a great alternative to the top, high end resorts, many of which are constructed according to a similar “master plan”: that is a concrete building with some wood finishing in traditional Thai style, and repeating the same cultural concepts over and over again. There is of course nothing wrong with smiling Thai women doing traditional wais in equally traditional outfits. But the Nest breaks the pattern a bit, and creates some new refreshing thinking in the world of Thai resorts. Directly when you enter The Nest, the location itself strikes you, steep mountains all around and in the garden you find plenty of huge dipterocarp trees with hundreds of year’s history that are reaching for the clouds.

Then a Thai woman sat down at the table next to me, rolling her own cigarette. After finishing with her cigarette she started up a conversation in perfect British English.

- This is our Nest. Yes, we call it the Nest since the kids haven’t flown out yet. We have created our own nest, a great place to live but also for others to enjoy. Do you like the coffee? This is the way I have served coffee since I had a little coffee station on Koh Samui years ago.

I realized that this was the owner - Khun Wicha, that I wanted to meet. The moment for enjoying morning coffee developed into a short interview. I was so curious about the place. I declared that I was not only impressed with the coffee, but also the food, the pavilion with toys for children(that also is within eyesight from the restaurant), that they have working wifi here in the forest, and the comfortable beds in the pleasantly cool, small bungalow hut.

- You really have thought of everything, I said. How come, one can find this kind of a crossover western food style out here?
- I have worked several years as a chef in the UK, but since I am Thai taste always come first. In England, I met some chefs who didn’t even taste their own food. They only talked about the importance of ingredients. The ingredients are indeed important, but never forget the taste. I spend much time developing new recipes, and to get our local staff to understand the way how to cook western food. We also try to use organic vegetables and ingredients that are locally grown. In our menu we have tried for instance organic (free range chicken). We have our own fish pond and cultivate passion fruits, as well as rice. We try to listen to what our guests request; in the beginning we didn’t have showers in all rooms. But since people asked for this convenience we had to adjust. The same for the meals, we like to hear the opinion of the guests. We have nicer nature surrounding us than Pai, Wicha concluded. And we are supporting the local community and the hill tribes around here.

Another part that we at The Northern Rose like is the idea of planting new dipterocarp trees in the area. Wicha told me that they have 1200 dipterocarp seeds which they want to distribute.
There is no lack of good reviews about The Nest; however the Northern Rose thinks that the word deserves to be spread. Enter The Nest for a weekend, you won’t regret it.

Facts/Getting there:
Chiang Dao translates as the City of Stars, on road 107 towards Thaton, and Chiang Rai. On The way from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao you can also visit Mae Rim and/or Chiang Dao Elephant Camp. Not far from The Nest is Chiang Dao’s holy cave.
The Nest opened up at year 2002. Read about their history here. And about the people that run the place here.

Actually, there are two Nests. The Nest One has a swimming pool and western foods. At The Nest Two Thai foods is served. If you need to do some excursions, at The Nest, they also have an award-winning trek program.

Lanjia Lodge - great hideaway in Northern Thailand

“Holy Cow” - The stones are alive

Enter The Nest - A mini resort in the City of Stars

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