I recommended Maesai if anyone of u wanted to chill out for a couple days in thailand.
Maesai is a small town by the Thai-Myanmar border which has yet to be overun by the annoying-ethnoecentric-farangs and the loudmouth-spitting-chinese .
Here's some info .....
Bus ticket from ChiangMai to Maesai (54 Baht)
1.5 hours bus journey.
I stayed 2 nights in this Guesthouse (Maesai Guesthouse. 250 to 300 baht) by the river that separate Thailand and Myanmar.
A splendid place to chill out.
Paid a visit to the "big cave". Took me almost 2.5 hours to walk from Maesai to the cave. (about 8 km).
U will find stalls selling strawberries, strawberry wine, mulberry wine along the road leading to the "big cave". These stalls are similar to those stalls selling pomelos in Ipoh, Malaysia and betel nuts in Taiwan. Yes, the ladies selling the strawberries makes my testosterone level spikes a few notches higher and makes the journey a lot more enjoyable.
I bought a bottle of mulberry wine and of course, I took some pictures of the strawberry angels. = )
It's a pity that I could not find any guides near the big cave. Self-exploring the cave can be thrilling especially when u are uncertain that the lamp might ran out of kerosene, leaving u in total darkness, before u exit from the cave.
I have validated that 2 days ago.........Alone, lost in a cave without a lamp is a feckking balls-shrinking experience!