Phra That Doi Tung Things to Do

These guards attracted much attention, especially from the ladies in our group. I asked whether we could take their photo and they were all smiles.

I guess they most likely feel lucky to be in Doi Tung whilst the trouble with the"Red Shirts" in Bangkok is happening.

4 more images

This beautiful garden is located at the bottom of the valley and can be seen from the balcony of theRoyal Villa. The photos displayed here are taken by my wife as she ventured down the steps to the garden whilst I had a cold drink at the hilltop cafe.

The photos reveal a well planned garden, water features and other decorations which highlight the plantings. Colour and contrast highlight this garden and I regret not being able to participate in the visit.

During the 3 days we hired the coach to move around the district we had our fabulous guide, Peter. Nothing was to much for him, he always had a suggestion for another nearby tourist sight.

Very friendly and always polite Peter spoke and understood English, in fact his accent was so good we never had any problem understanding him. He had his sister as assistant.

When we visited local orchid nurseries most of the staff spoke little or no English. Here Peter stepped in and acted as a interpreter. Without Peter we would have struggled in these rural districts.

Peter was proud of his heritage, his people are the Lanna people.

On the walk up the hill to the Royal Villa there is a traditional water supply for thirsty travellers. A beautiful method of storing and providing water.

We stuck with our trusty plastic water bottle purchased from the local stall for 10 baht, approximately 40 cents.

4 more images

Our tour bus, like all others, could only take us to the bottom of the hill where we changed to "Local Taxis", being utility vans with benches for seats and open rear end.

This turned out to be an exciting experience as the 34 friends in our group were seated in a convoy of 6 taxis.

The drive up the winding hill was exciting, it appeared as though the drivers were racing. Our vehicle appeared to have a larger engine and overtook all in front to be first to our destination.

The trip took approx 15 minutes, some good scenery along the way, but difficult to capture on my Canon. A trip to remember!

4 more images

The grounds surrounding the Royal Villa are full of colour. Flowers everywhere, contrasting colours with a background of rolling lawns which link to the surrounding rainforest.

A pleasure to walk these grounds and everywhere you will see the local maintenance team attending the grounds and garden.

The Royal Villa is positioned on top of the hill with outstanding views across the valley. The hills are covered by rainforest and centred on the valley floor you can see a magnificent garden. On the day of our visit the smoke haze from the March burn off lessened the clarity of our photos, but on a clear day the view would be outstanding.

1 more image

When the special buses bring you up the hill to Doi Tung they stop near the Information Centre where there is a cluster of tourist friendly shops and stalls. It did not take long for our group to find the orchid stall.

Some very nice orchids on display and in flower, however we were not allowed to purchase plants from Doi Tung as our Australian Quarantine Permit did not include this supplier.

Very nice to see, however we are permitted to import Orchid Flasks which contain orchids propagrated in a laboratory from seed in a sterile atmosphere. I purchased one small flask, and the plants are now successfully growing in my shade house.

2 more images

Before we could walk up to the Royal Villa and enjoy the gardens we had to purchase our entry ticket.

No one is allowed past the ticket office without having their legs covered, either a dress or trousers are necessary.

Many of our group were in shorts or womens half slacks. All required covering with the trousers issued free. These trousers were similar to issue when in hospital, step into and wrap around. It certainly brought some laughts when people of all shapes and sizes attempted to cover their legs.

It all proved to be worthwhile.