Thailand's
Chiang Dao Caves
One of our first outings in Thailand was the Chiang Dao Caves. They are located only a short distance from where we were staying and since our primary purpose in Chiang Dao was to get ready for and attend the wedding, we didn't want to travel far. When we arrived, we were amazed by the main entrance and then once you get on the grounds there are many shrines honoring several different spiritual philosophies including a large outdoor Buddha, a worship room for Hindu followers, an outdoor donation altar for each animal of the Chinese horoscope and a small meditation cave behind the large monuments.
Main Entrance
From the inside ...
On entering the cave you are greeted by a large room containing several sacred Buddha images ...
Inside the cave there are many limestone and crystalline formations ... stalactites and stalagmites ...
Colored lighting was used in some places to help emphasize the beauty ...
And periodically another Buddhist Schrine ...
These caves have a long history in Chiang Doa and are surrounded with legends and myths. As we were leaving we passed the ancient Shan Chedi ...a Buddhist Stupa (a hemispherical structure containing old relics, probably left by Monks, which is often used as a place for meditation) built over 1000 years ago by the Shan, a tribe of people who now live mostly in Myanmar ...
Andrea
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10 comments:
The caves ar amazing. I am glad you enjoyd it so much
Gosh, what beautiful photos. I agree, everything looks so clean and peaceful. It must have been difficult to leave it all behind. I love the colors. They say "happy".
Your "Fish Out Of Water" is lovely. Very interesting. Is this a flying fish? This would be very nice hanging on a wall.
Today we have rain, but tomorrow promises to be sunny. Pogo and I are having a lazy day today. Tomorrow we'll do some errands.
How is Izzi doing? Pogo sends woofs and a big lick to her. You have a wonderful day my friend, hugs, Edna B.
Most interesting cave. Seems you had a great time in Thailand. Thanks for sharing the photos.
What a magical and mystical place you have been! Those buildings look like something right out of a fairy tale.
How very beautiful.
And how lovely to learn that you would return.
These pictures remind me of how much I enjoyed travelling in Thailand - it was the first place I went that was not in the British Isles! Culture shock or what! It was brilliant - spent 6 weeks there, and 2 weeks in Laos - pretty much a turning point in my life.
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
I can understand how it could be a turning point in your life ... it may well be a turning point in my life as well. We will see, but I know I will return because I love it there and my son and his wife will spend much of their time there. And, I know there is so much more to see including a side trip to Australia (Brace yourself, Ha!)
Andrea
Amazing caves. So much beauty there.
wow, that´s a large cave and so beautiful. It was a long time since I´ve visited a cave and that was not this big. :)
looks like an amazing place to have visited and your photos are amazing. Caves are not easy to photograph and you did a great job.
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