My Malaysia: Chiang Mai, North Thailand October 29-November 2, 2008 Part 5

From the mountain overlooking Chiang Mai, we returned to town for a great Thai lunch at Heuan Phen (curry noodle soup, jackfruit salad, spicy eggplant and glutinous rice-all for 300 Baht or RM30 for three people). Our last stop of the day (and for me the best) was at an umbrella factory in the town of Bo Sang, about 9 km east of town. It was fascinating to see how these beautifully handcrafted umbrellas began...from the wood of the mulberry tree to the rice paper to the paintings, etc. We bought several small ones for souvenirs as well as a beautiful black and gold fan with dragons on it (which will grace a wall somewhere in our future house) and we ordered two large canvas patio umbrellas which are painted inside, one is white with red hibiscus and the other blue with tropical fish, which we had shipped to Kuantan the following week.