We bypassed Bangkok as several people told us it was way too crowded, noisy, polluted, and very chaotic. We settled into our hotel, a small boutique hotel with only 19 rooms, decorated with wonderful original artwork in the lobby, cafe, and lobby and in the rooms as well.
Breakfast was amazing! Served in their small cafe near the greenhouse patio and their own private art gallery!
After breakfast we walked for about 30 mins to the Chiang Mai Flower Festival location to watch the parade. Crowds of locals and tourists were gathered to see their hometown men, women, and children dressed up to sit in elaborately decorated floats of flowers or March in the parade.
After the parade we took a taxi to the contemporary art museum, which is located 30 minutes outside the city. They had some of the largest pieces of art especially paintings that I’ve ever seen. Also a lot of video art, which was quite interesting.
After having lunch at the Museum Café we went to the umbrella factory. There we saw mostly women making handmade paper and wood umbrellas of all sizes. It began with the soaking and drying of mulberry paper pulp.
Then the next station you saw a women cutting strips of very thin bamboo to make the underside sticks of the umbrella and using a loom to string the pieces into place. Afterward, you saw women, either mounting fabric or paper to create the top of the umbrella.
And then there were women who were hand painting the umbrellas with all sorts of designs. Inside the shop, I was able to buy sheets of handmade Mulberry papers for my own artwork.
By early afternoon we made plans for the Grab driver to drop us off at a massage parlor. Madam Massage was a beautiful historic building filled with charm and calm. We opted for the 60 minute foot and shoulder massage for 350 baht ($10.34 USD). Unbelievable!
so much color! can't wait to see the papers in your work.