202. | Changthong Heritage Park: Chiang Mai’s Green Museum

When choosing my second – current – Chiang Mai accommodation, I acted a little more consciously than I usually did since I left last August.

As I wrote in the post “Moving in the big city”, I had the intention of changing rooms.

However, for the first time, before booking the room, I looked at the map a little to see what I could find in the area.

I chose the room based on what I discovered at the time.

Changthong Heritage Park

For some reason, this area caught my attention on the map.

I quickly searched for it and found the following page:

Changthong Heritage Park: Chiang Mai’s Green Museum

This is what caught my eye in the second paragraph of the article: “…there’s a place in the city you don’t want to miss…”

That’s it! As I read the rest of the article, plus I also read the TripAdvisor reviews, I knew the author was right.

I really don’t want to miss this!

Why didn’t I want to miss it out?

The description in the article cited as a source answers this question, so I can’t help but include it here. Here it is:

This botanical park covers 4.8 hectares on the outskirts of Chiang Mai and is Thailand’s first museum of ancient trees, with plants dating back more than a hundred years.

The purpose of this park is clear: to preserve the country’s living heritage so that future generations can enjoy it. More than 1,000 rare and centenary trees were brought from other parts of the country and planted with sublime delicacy, resulting in a unique park.

Each species was carefully placed following sustainable design principles. Great Japanese, Singaporean, Chinese, and other architects from all over the world, as well as architecture schools, have already visited this museum to appreciate its art.

Inspired by a tropical moss garden, it features gardens, moss, and tropical elements, but not much of the traditional museum concept. Walls? None. Barriers? Only those dictated by common sense. Lines? No way. And therein lies the magic.

That’s all for the introduction. From now on, I’ll do the talking.

I set off on a trip on Saturday

The map can sometimes be deceiving.

When I looked at my room and this park nearby, I saw that they were only a kilometer or two apart. That means I could get here almost anytime.

If this distance weren’t a straight line distance. There’s a river between me and the park, I couldn’t ignore it. So the park is 6+ kilometers away from me after all.

This isn’t a significant distance for me, so of course I decided to walk to the park.

This – as always – turned out to be a good decision. On the way, I met a nice little group.

Optimus Prime and the guys

Optimus Prime, Megatron, Sentinel Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide were all waiting in one corner.

I’m not a fan of this series, but it was still nice to see the guys. Especially in the creative way they appeared before me here.

Among the trees

The map of the park looks like this:

I knew I wanted to write about this experience. Now that I’m sitting here in front of the camera, I’m in trouble.

Several directions are outlined in my mind. I decided to take them all.

Among the trees – simply

I enjoyed this park. I saw and photographed a lot of beautiful trees. I drank a good coffee, ate an excellent meal, lay under one of the trees and read a lot. I talked to two Thai women and left the park after a few hours.

If I look at Saturday objectively, nothing much else happened. I came up with this version of my experience report because if I look at my day from the outside, nothing much happened.

I took almost 300 pictures that are actually just trees. (I don’t even dare to think about how I’m going to select the ones I’m going to use for a gallery…)

If someone asked me why I didn’t stay home and look at the tree in the yard three hundred times, I would see reason in this question for a moment.

Fortunately, only for a moment of madness.

Among the trees – experiences listed

Of course, the park is mainly about the trees, but not only about them. If I take into account what I saw, a nice list emerges.

Beautiful forest images floating in the mist of water humidifiers.
Forked palm trees.
Artificial waterfalls with clear water.
The sound of gurgling water in many places.
Beautiful and huge benches and tables made of dead trees.
A small pond surrounded by trees.
Moss-covered tree trunks, groves.
Beautiful flowers.
Trees of never-before-seen shapes.
Excellent resting areas, swings, huge pillows, chairs, benches.
The labyrinthine network of paths, from all directions to all directions.
Bonsai trees, in larger sizes.
The magic of autumn among the trees.
Traces of careful work everywhere.
The coffee was really damn delicious.
And the famous Tom Yung Kung menu (rice, scrambled eggs and crab soup with divine citrus flavors).

By the way, I know since cooking school that the word Tom in the name of Tom Yung Kung soup is not the American male name, but the Thai word for soup.

If I summarize my list of experiences as having visited an artificial garden, created with perfect harmony and taste, then I am very, very close to the truth.

On this day, I enjoyed being able to get very close to perfection.

Among the trees – presence with my feelings

I like to touch trees.

I know I’m not alone in this, I’ve met many people who have said the same thing about themselves.

I don’t know and I don’t care how fashionable it is, but sometimes I hug one or two. I don’t know why, but I don’t care either. Just like that. I do it sometimes.

I didn’t touch the trees much in this garden, and it didn’t occur to me to hug one.

This place radiated respect.

I somehow felt the age of the trees and the nobility they radiated.

I had intended to meditate, but this place ultimately didn’t invite me to do so. I didn’t look for a reason. In retrospect, all I can say is that maybe my entire stay there was one long meditation.

I didn’t look at the clock while I was there. But from the timestamps of the photos, I can already see that I spent 5.5 hours in this wonder park.

I looked at many trees for a long time. From several directions, because they showed their different faces. I looked for the right settings for the photos. I enjoyed the coolness of the water spray on my skin.

It was relaxing to read for a long time on a large cushion and listen to the pleasant music that the park provided. Now I am not thinking of the sounds of nature, but of the pleasant music that was playing at just the right volume from the secret speakers in one of the resting areas.

My grandfather really loved working with wood. He carved and made everyday objects from it. That is why I have a deep admiration for wooden things. It was a friendly feeling to look at the huge and obviously heavy benches that were shaped with great precision in the back of the garden. Even the trees that were set aside for later processing radiated dignity. I know my grandfather would have really liked this part of the garden.

I also spent a long time in the café. It was peaceful to read there. The location and interior design of the place are such that it offers relaxation without time.

There was a young girl who made a video of herself not far from me. She did very beautiful dance and yoga moves under the giant trees. I don’t know for whose pleasure the video was made. Maybe we both enjoyed those moments.

I saw others sitting in a meditative state. Talking peacefully. Somehow I felt like we were in the same place, connected by this park, but still everyone was enjoying the place in their own dimension.

I was drinking a water in the middle of the park and the woman at the bar spoke to me. Then I talked to her friend for a longer time. We talked about interesting things. Of course they knew where Hungary was, because the friend’s daughter works in Eger and they often go there.

The most pleasant moments were caused by the wet and humid pictures.