Bhubing Rajanives Palace: Thailand's royal winter residence
In the afternoon of our 5th day in Chiang Mai, we went to a royal place. Bhubing Palace is a popular destination among local and foreign tourists. There are a lot of beautiful things to see in there, too. If you are into nature tripping, you could add this to your itinerary as well. Entrance to the palace costs 50 bahts per person. Visitors are required to dress appropriately.
Located at Doi Buak Ha, Muang District, Chiang Mai, the Bhubing Palace is the winter residence where the royal family stays during seasonal visit to the people in the northern part of Thailand. The palace is also the guesthouse for prominent state visitors from foreign countries. The palace was built in 1961 initially with one building and the guesthouse. Other buildings were constructed additionally later on.
Planted infront of the palace and the guesthouse are roses of different colors.
That's me walking away while feeling cold because I only brought with me this thin shawl that can't even protect me from the cold. Yes, you can see the sun was shining strongly, but I still felt cold. I totally forgot that Bhubing Palace was located in higher lands.
There is a water reservoir to reserve water for use at the palace. On one side of the reservoir stands a teak woods gazebo. Along the bank is a landscape gardens of flowering plants. There is also a musical fountain, but it wasn't on when we were there.
Me and aunties. Nakakapagod auntie.
Those are cherry blossoms but they are not yet in bloom so they look withered. In the colder months, that's when they bloom.
There are service vehicles that take visitors around the palace, but many people also opt to walk. Anyway, there are benches and resting places if you feel tired from going around the place.
Bhubing Palace could also be a haven for biology and horticulture enthusiasts. Apart from flowering plants, has other varieties of greens planted on different areas of the compound such as these cabbages. They have gardens for various plants and trees around the compound.
We stopped by this place and tried to figure out what the numbers mean since those are the only figures we understood on the label. We figured it was a date. But I gave a clever suggestion that it is a measurement, specifically MASL (meters above sea level). It is a date. Thailand uses a Buddhist calendar which is 543 ahead of the Gregorian calendar.
Bhubing Palace is located atop a hill, so if you opt to walk around, you'll have to walk to hilly roads. But as I mentioned there are vehicles that take visitors around. You just have to check the schedule at the entrance.
Dona was our designated navigator, Mara the documentor, and I the follower and person in the most of the photos. I totally just handed over to them the itinerary plans.
We spent several hours walking around the palace. We left shortly before the palace closes. We took the red taxi going back to town. There are a lot of them waiting for passengers outside.
The palace opens for visitors daily from 8:30 to 11:30 am and 1-3:30pm. The palace temporary closes during the Royal visit which happens on January to March.
