Overnight Escape at Fern Paradise

A little while ago, I got that familiar itchy-feet feeling, and needed to escape my city of Chiang Mai. This happens quite regularly, and it might come as a surprise to some, but I get incredibly sick of Little Bangkok, with the same busy cityscape day in and day out. Also, exhaust fumes give me headaches.

I looked up a few choice keywords on Google and came upon a peaceful-looking resort named Fern Paradise. I was almost immediately sold when I landed on their website, complete with pretty pictures and easy navigation. Our one night's retreat from the city was booked.

Paradise among the ferns.

We stayed in the Superior Room, which cost ฿2600, and came with wi-fi, a TV with CNN and BBC News (you don't know how long it's been since I've had a glimpse of foreign news), free coffee, tea and water, and some sort of luxurious concoction of shampoos and conditioners that made my hair smell like a papaya. Oh, and the room was nice. Pretty nice. Pretty beautiful, actually.

While we were there, I got to interview the owner and architect, who is a very interesting man: an environmentalist, photographer, fern collector, and much more. He was an inspiration to talk to, and gave me a brief lesson in a variety of subjects, ranging from nature to Thailand's Lanna culture, to the importance of having great passions and dreams.

The only shortcoming we experienced at Fern Paradise was the food situation. The dinner is not cooked on the premises, although you do order off their own menu. I later learned that the food comes from a nearby restaurant, and although it was very good, it became a problem when one of our dishes never arrived, and we were still starving at 9pm. Myself and my boyfriend are both terrible grumpylumps without food, so we had a big debate over whether to order one more dish, knowing that we couldn't go to bed with grumbling stomachs. We did order another one, which turned into two when the waitress sniggered at our herbivorous ways and said, "You will still be hungry, I promise.". Of course, we regretted it when it turned up at 10pm and we had already waited the hunger out in our room, discussing the strange incident. In the end, I chalk it down to my bad luck with food in Thailand - damn me for being an insatiable vegetarian gorger!

However, when we rose for breakfast, we were pleasantly surprised by eggs, croissants, jam, fruit and real coffee, and all qualms we had about the food were forgotten. I then interviewed Niwat, the owner, which I hope you'll have a look at here. His mind is worth a read! And Fern Paradise is worth an overnight escape.

Our dinner - delicious Tom Kha Gai soup with mushrooms instead of chicken.

Stir-fried Chinese watercress.

One of my favourite naughty dishes in Thailand - battered vegetables with an addictive, acidic chilli sauce.

After our food disaster, we rose to this! Fresh croissants, yes please!

A rice barn in the resort, which has been converted into a lovely bedroom.

Ferns everywhere, from all over the world.

Our room - The Davalia Barn.

Our view outside of the ferns and trees.

Beautiful four-poster bed.

I always appreciate the little touches.

Cool lock and key!

An old photo of our rice barn being converted into a room.

An illustration of the Davalia Barn.

Relaxing under our rice barn.

Swinging on a swing.

Perfect.

Venturing out into the jungle.

More lush nature and greenery.

Another rice barn, along with some free bicycles to ride around the area on.

The pool in the resort.

Lounging about.

A bright pink fern!

Interesting fern leaf tips.

Another oddly-coloured fern.

Baby ferns. It takes years and years for ferns to grow big!

In the fern nursery, learning about all the different plants and where they came from.

Niwat showing us the fern spores.

Some lovely guestbook entries.

One last shot of our bedroom at night. Pretty!