The Orchids from Chiang Mai, Thailand

I am a huge fan of flowers. So, when we made an unscheduled stop at Bai Orchid and Butterfly Farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I knew I was in for some good times. I did the butterfly post separately. It is now time to do the orchid post.

As I said in the butterfly post too, Bai Orchid and Butterfly Farm is a small place but it is beautiful and well maintained. They also have a well appointed souvenir shop which features what else but orchids based jewellery!

Our guide Aroon explained things about the orchids but I knew we had a short stop and I wanted the pictures first. I am now wondering if that was a very good idea. You see, I have the pictures but I know very little about orchids! So the post is mostly about putting in the pretty pictures I clicked!

As Thailand is my most visited country (it is a tie with UK, 5 times each) after the first two trips, I actually started looking forward to the trips because I knew I would be feasting on orchids. They are such a part of the decoration in hotels, shops, restaurants and homes!

The tryst starts right at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport as the place is full of beautiful orchids. If I go to Thailand again, I would surely click the variety found at the airport itself and do a post on it. It is one of the best ways to spend time too, unless you would rather shop!

All I picked up about the flowers is that some of the species are native to the land and others hybrid. Most I believe (but I don’t vouch) are hybrids that I saw. But native or hybrid, they added so much cheer to my day!

The Bai Orchid and Butterfly farm very prominently displays a sign which says you would be fined 2000 baht if you pluck the flowers! That would be around 4000 Indian rupees!

Given a free hand I could have easily spent an hour at the place, but that is because I like to click pictures. If you wish to see and click just a few pictures 40 minutes or less might be enough. I got about 30 minutes to spend admiring the beautiful orchids.

I on the other hand wanted to click every flower growing out there. 30 minutes for that are way too less. I failed miserably.

The flowers are arranged in neat rows. The place had only a few visitors when I went there. They have a nice restaurant within the premises.

I sign off this post with this gorgeous bunch. And even though there are many more stories from Thailand that I need to share, come Wednesday and I should be off to Goa!

We made an unscheduled stop at the Bai Orchid and Butterfly Farm Chiang Mai in Thailand and I am glad we did. When I went in there were a lot of orchids in bloom. There were quite a few butterflies in the enclosure too. I would any given day see the butterflies in the wild but it was a large enclosure full of flowers, so I think the butterflies were not at risk. However, I may be wrong in assuming this and I am willing to be educated.

As soon as we entered the butterfly enclosure we saw this bunch sitting on the ground. I have seen this once before and people who are in the know told me it is because of the salt content. Apparently butterflies like salt.

The top enclosure was made of net and butterflies were hanging for it. This beauty made only a brief appearance on the net and then hid itself effectively in the flowers and bushes.

By now you might want to ask me, where are the orchids. Well they are there but I am going to do another post on them as I have way too many butterflies to show!

How I wish I knew the names of the butterflies but I do not know even a single name. What a pity! I guess it is about time I tried to change it, after all I can identify about a hundred birds, so why not butterflies too!

When I was at the Bai Orchid and Butterfly Farm, it was not too crowded. The tourist who were there in the enclosure were super quiet and mindful of not scaring the butterflies.

While we were admiring the butterflies a friend from our group was visiting a place where they had King Cobras! He asked if I would like to join, but the chicken that I am, I shuddered at the mere idea!

I have to admit it was much more easy to click pictures in the enclosure than it has been to click out in the open. For one there were a lot of butterflies and they seemed to be used to human presence.

You could use any lens to shoot them, even your cell phone, as they were quite close at hand. They were quite fond of lantana flowers.

This butterfly at the first glance would look of a dull brown color, till it flapped its delicate wings and gave you a flash of blue!

And then there was this one, of pale blue shade, happily going about its business. The Bai Orchid and Butterfly Farm Chiang Mai is a small place but it is well kept. There is an entrance fee at the gate.

In the next part I will show you the orchids from the place!