The Oriental Village, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai province is famous for its charming rural personality. People from all over the world are going there to experience this tropical rural life. Just thinking about all the animals you can find there, delicious food and great cooking classes, astonishing nature, rich history, beautiful architecture and the most friendly people in the world seemed like a paradise. A paradise I wanted to experience as soon as possible.

 

Location

I was making my bucket list of things I wanted to see, explore and experience in Thailand and was thrilled by the majority of things that Chiangmai province was offering to the travelers.

Naturist resort Oriental Village is located 20km from the Chiang Mai in a small picturesque village. I was traveling from Bangkok with the night bus to the Chiang Mai, and then just took the taxi from the bus terminal to the Oriental Village. It didn’t take long to get there, and the price for the ride was about 700THB.

There are lovely San Khamphaeng Hot Spring, Mae Kampong waterfall, lots of fields, forests, hills and temples to explore that are very close to the Oriental Village naturist resort and that you can reach with a short ride on one of the bikes you can get in the resort.

About the resort

Oriental Village is the first naturist resort in Chiang Mai, one of the first in Thailand and certainly the one that stands up the most from the others.

Plain open space

The first thing that amazed me was the fact that there are no walls. Most of the naturist resorts have some kind of fence (sometimes even big walls that separate nudist place from the rest of the world), especially in Thailand where nudism and naturism are still kind of taboo. But when you enter through a small gate into the Oriental Village first thing you will notice is that this big property is not having any fence that will separate it from the neighbors.

 

Well, the beauty is in that not only the place is plain open but next to the resort are charming Thai fields, and you do really feel like you are in an Asian, oriental village. Perfect Oriental Village I would say. Every now and then you can spot local farmers working on the fields next to the resort, but it seems that they are so used to the nudity that doesn’t even bother to look in the direction of the resort.

Tropical garden

The other thing that blows my mind is the garden! Words can not describe all the beauty, harmony and utopian decoration of this tropical garden that fits in flawlessly into the rural nature of Chiang Mai province.

You could spend all days by admiring tropical flowers and the plants while gently swinging in the shade or enjoy in the taste of sweet fruits in one of the bamboo huts placed in the garden soaking in a charming surrounding.

 

Or merely chatting with the guests or with Paulo, the owner. He is a fascinating man and a great businessman that left France decades ago and moved to Asia. You will often see him walking through the garden, looking if everything is perfect or there is something to be done. And he would not hesitate to roll up his sleeves and do what is needed by

himself.

Besides Paulo, there is Nui. She is a receptionist and a waiter and assistant and much more. You will find here doing everything that needs to be done, from watering the plants to answering all of your questions and bringing food to your table. There are also more staff members that take care of the garden, cleaning, cooking and doing everything that needs to be done.

Accommodation and more

There are three types of cottages in the Oriental Village: Budget, Standard and Superior. The prices are different, and the difference between them is mostly in the size of the room, bed, and TV. In all cottages, you can find a big and cozy bed, TV, aircon, minibar that is filled daily with water, beer and soda (and has the same prices as the restaurant!), inside and outside shower, and a small terrace. Cottages are beautifully decorated and have everything you need to enjoy at fullest.

Food

After waking up, I would usually go to a restaurant for breakfast. Coffee, juice, and fruits are included in the room price, and if you like to have a heavier breakfast as I do, it has to be paid, and you can choose from several breakfast menus. For lunch and dinner, there is quite a big menu with Thai and western food. The price of the food is slightly bigger than in the city restaurants, but still at a reasonable price.

Pool

 

Nothing, not even coffee, feels so good and wakes me up in the morning like swimming! I would quickly eat my breakfast (toast with jam, eggs, and bacon or something like this), took my coffee, juice, and fruits and headed to the pool area to enjoy in the soft morning sun. And the pool is phenomenal – big, clean, with a magnificent view of the garden and endless fields.

What to do

After a morning swim and enjoying in coffee with the good book by the pool its time to work out! There is a nice open gym in the back garden behind the cottages where I loved to work out, and there you can also find the table tennis table and the petanque field.

In the front garden next to the pool you can play darts or badminton, and by the restaurant, you can show how good you are in billiards. After all that sporting you can enjoy a great massage in one of the bamboo huts while listening to the birds and watching the sunset.

 

 

No matter if you choose to stay in Oriental Village for weeks or just a couple of days, I am sure that you will be planing to come back from the moment you left!

For more information and reservation go to the Oriental Village website: https://orientalvillage-chiangmai.com/

To see how did I spend the entire day in the Oriental Village join me on Patreon: click here

Disclaimer: I was invited to the Oriental Village as a guest, but all the opinions in the post are my own.