This peaceful resort in Chiang Mai offers wonderful food between wonderful massages

Not far from the site of the big Royal Flora Ratchaphruek horticultural expo is a wonderful resort and spa called Baan Deva Montra. I wanted to relax and get some massage in Chiang Mai, and my secretary came up with this spot. It’s really tucked away, but not that difficult to find. It consists of individual pool villas, each with one, two or three bedrooms.
The resort wasn’t full, but even if it had been high season, it would still be quiet and peaceful because everything is self-contained. Families take the larger units, and while the parents go for a spa treatment, the kids can entertain themselves by the pool.
It’s a perfect place to unwind, but soon after settling in I was feeling hungry, so I went for lunch at the resort’s restaurant, which has a deck overlooking a garden.
I didn’t order too much food because I planned a visit to the spa later. The cheese-filled spring rolls were great, filled with cheddar and deep-fried and served with a sauce made from ordinary pickled relish. This is definitely a Thai version of grilled cheese sandwich!
For the main course, I had baked spareribs with honey, which were really good and not too tough. A soup of ground pork, tofu and seaweed was delicious, helping cleanse the palate.
They have a special dish called fried fish with Thai herbs, which was crispy, aromatic and mouth-watering. Another dish, fried som tam salad, was a variation on the usual papaya salad and very interesting and very good, but you have to eat it quickly before the dressing steals the salad’s crispiness.
There was a small bowl of braised pork in fermented black beans that went very well with steamed rice. It wasn’t too salty, but very tender and pungent.
I finished the meal with an order of lad na, a typical Thai lunch item of flat rice noodles covered with stir-fried beef and vegetables and a delicious gravy.
No dessert for me – I’d already eaten too much and still had a spa treatment to get to later in the afternoon.
Instead of going for a walk in the vast garden to digest my food I went back to my room and lay by the pool so I’d get even fatter.
Then I went for my three-and-a-half-hour treatment, sleeping through most of it. It was perfect, and I felt like jelly afterward. I skipped dinner and went to bed early and slept really well. In the morning, with much regret, I had to leave the resort because I’d only booked one night.
I felt I’d only just begun to relax, but at least I’d found a peace-ful place to visit next time I want to get away from it all. I can relax and be pam-pered and fed delicious food at Baan Deva Montra.