Thread: Bo Klua salt well, Nan Province

This salt well is thought to be in use for around 800 years.

Looks like not much has changed in all of that time.

I've never heard and I never knew you could get salt water from a well. Is the salt consumable as table salt or sea salt?

I went there last Sep/Nov time and there was no salt mining going on (too dry I think).

There's a nice little coffee shop there though.

^^It was a surprise to me also. I thought I was going to see a salt mine.

This is salt for consumption. You can buy a bag for 20B. It's enough salt to last a few years. I have hardly made a dent in the bag I bought.

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

I went there last Sep/Nov time and there was no salt mining going on (too dry I think). There's a nice little coffee shop there though.

I was there in early December. I had no idea that the mining was seasonal. Good thing I went when I did.

Originally Posted by misskit

Last year a couple of friends and I went to Nan for a few days. We drove out to Bo Klua one morning to see the salt mines there. It was very interesting.



The man is dipping the salt water from the well.

Looking down into the well.

Miss Kit:
Thanks for sharing the interesting Bo Klua photos. It is my understanding this ancient salt mine was quite instrumental in the salt trade between Nan province and Luan Prapang in Laos. My husband and I have been to Bo Klua as well, but not to the salt mine. We came back from Chaloem Phra Kiat and looked up the area where the Nan River originates as a very small trickle or creek, and then traveled south on Route 1081 to Bo Klua. We stopped at the "Boklua View" resort and had some delicious grilled chicken, with home grown fresh vegetables, and a grand view over the village. The restaurant/resort manager is a local Hstin named Toun Upajak, who even volunteered and took us to his (unnamed) Hstin settlement right next to the Laotian border - and which is still untouched by civilication and a very unspoiled area!
Cheers - Amina

^ I have some photos of the Boklua View Resort and will post them as soon as my internet connection is better. Would be useless to even try this morning.

Their grilled chicken was great!

Originally Posted by Amina

We stopped at the "Boklua View" resort and had some delicious grilled chicken, with home grown fresh vegetables, and a grand view over the village.

We stopped there too. Most items on the menu were not available (there were literally 4 or 5 dishes), the staff were useless and the food average at best.

^Did you have the black rice? I thought it was very good. The grilled chicken seasoned with Chinese peppercorn was great.

Here are some photos.


View from the restaurant.

Originally Posted by misskit

Did you have the black rice? I thought it was very good. The grilled chicken seasoned with Chinese peppercorn was great.

I just get annoyed when everything you try to order is met with 'mai mee kha'. And yes, we had the chicken & rice (and something else) as that's pretty much all they had.

I wondered what those were when I drove past last time. As for food, well you rarely find anything to write home about when you are really out in the sticks.

[QUOTE=Amina;1857147]

Originally Posted by misskit

The restaurant/resort manager is a local Hstin named Toun Upajak, who even volunteered and took us to his (unnamed) Hstin settlement right next to the Laotian border - and which is still untouched by civilication and a very unspoiled area!
Cheers - Amina

Excuse my ignorance ... who are the Hstin?

[quote=Norgy;1857938]

Originally Posted by Amina

Originally Posted by misskit

The restaurant/resort manager is a local Hstin named Toun Upajak, who even volunteered and took us to his (unnamed) Hstin settlement right next to the Laotian border - and which is still untouched by civilication and a very unspoiled area!
Cheers - Amina

Excuse my ignorance ... who are the Hstin?

Norgy,
I need to apologize, but the correct spelling in English is "Htin", which is pronounced 'Tin.' It's a Mon-Khmer group of peoples of about 3,000, which live in villages of 50 or so families spread across the remote mountain valleys of Chiang Klang, Pua, and Thung Chang districts in Thailand. And a substantial number also live across the Laotian border in Sayaburi Province. They are primarily hunting for wild game, breeding domestic animals, farming small plots of land and, in Ban Boklua by extracting salt from the salt wells. I hope this clarifies everything, and I regret having caused the confusion. Sorry.
Amina

Thanks for posting the interesting pics.
Perhaps they need water to slurry the salt in the well, so they can get it out. I guess it is rockhard when dry. Hence perhaps the seasonality of salt mining ?

^You got me wondering so I had to phone my friends who went with me to confirm. It is indeed an underground salt spring. They were not adding water to the well.

Originally Posted by Bob63

Perhaps they need water to slurry the salt in the well, so they can get it out. I guess it is rockhard when dry

So why not mine the salt?
Wouldn't have to do all that boiling then

Originally Posted by Thetyim

Originally Posted by Bob63

Perhaps they need water to slurry the salt in the well, so they can get it out. I guess it is rockhard when dry

So why not mine the salt?
Wouldn't have to do all that boiling then

As the mines are alongside the river, can only assume that this method is used due to the water table.

I like the Boklua View Resort, have stayed there a couple of times. The part owner/chef has been very helpful in preparing dishes that are not on the menu, at very reasonable prices.

^^^ Thanks for the replies. Interesting.
I guess mining is a lot more complicated (and expensive) than lowering a bucket into a salt slurry and just lift it up.

If I ever get to Nan it would be a place to visit.
Thx for pics again

Very nice photos and intresting storys