San Kamphaeng Hot Springs, Chiang Mai

So, as I’ve recently discovered, it ends up that boiling eggs in hotsprings is not just a Lao quirkiness but is a Thai obsession as well.  This past time in Chiang Mai, a mate and I decided to get on some scooters (top speed a whopping 60 km./ hour…), and go check out San Kamphaeng Hotsprings, the most well known hotsprings in the province...

The second that you enter San Kamphaeng Hotsprings about 40 km. outside Chiang Mai (about 1 hour by motorbike or tuk tuk), you can buy fresh eggs for cooking right at the entrance, complete with a bamboo basket you can use to lower them into the water.  After filling up on soft-boiled, half-boiled, or ‘welldone’ eggs you can digest that protein while soaking your feet in the sulphuric mineral waters (which supposedly help improve blood circulation and are a miracle cure-all for diseases) via a man-made concrete stream which channels the hotspring water throughout the park. In addition to visiting the boiling pot and mineral foot soak, you can also see two geysers that shoot water about 32 yards into the air- not exactly Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, but they’re pretty cool.  Pair a day at the hotsprings with a Thai curry dinner in a rooftop restaurant, a walk around the night craft market, and a late night jive to live reggae music and you have a perfect day!

The main attraction

 
Not only is the hotspring a natural hob/kettle, but it's a pretty good footbath as well...