It was a trip made possible by Wen!
Northern Thailand: Road Trip 4 Dec - 12 Dec 2010
I didn't know what to pack and what to expect. All I knew was we would be on 'wheels' most of the time, exploring the highways and provinces of Northern Thailand. It sounded so exciting, and I was looking forward to this year end trip, until I fell ill 2 days before the trip!
What a time!
Nursing a sore throat and fever while making our way to the Airport on Thai Airways, I must say that food on board was good. As if they knew, they served congee, tasty congee. Although there was no individual TV set, it didn't matter to me since all I needed was sleep. It wasn't a direct to Chiang Mai, and we had to transit in Bangkok.
There was nothing much at the domestic transit terminal, all we did was wait. We just learned that Air Asia is starting a direct Chiang Mai flight in Jan 2011! Well....
Day 1 (Chiang Mai City)
The city of Chiang Mai was a bustling place, just like any Thai cities.
Full of Ang Mohs, backpackers, motorcycles, temples.
We spent the rest of our afternoon exploring the city centre.
Tha Phae Gate - Old City Wall
A moat, surrounding the old city...
We visited 3 temples in the vicinity and this temple sure caught our attention.
Wat Phra Singh
A buddhist temple which started construction in 1345.
An embalmed monk - I almost couldn't tell if he was dead or alive until I took a rather closer look.
The walk under the scorching sun must have drained away whatever Panadol had done. I was too sick to continue sight-seeing. I stayed in the hotel and watched Clash of the Titans while they visited the Saturday Night Market. Pathetic.
Nevertheless, Montara Happy House was pleasant and I didn't mind staying in the room on my own. Good TV channels (HBO), clean cosy room.
It was conveniently located in the city centre too - second hand bookstores, MacDonald & cafes. There was a huge 'Watsons' / 'Guardian Pharmacy' just beside the hotel too (that was where I got my lozenges). You can easily find toiletries or medication you need over here.
Day 2 (Out of Chiang Mai City)
I was feeling much better today.
It is the King's 83rd birthday and we are all in yellow as a form of respect!
Wen got our hired Toyota in the morning and we started our road trip.
Here's an amazing rider handling 2 vehicles - in motion!
Wat (Temple) Phrathat Doi Suthep
Doi Suthrep refers to the mountain this Buddhist temple is located, not too far away from the city of Chiang Mai. Founded in 1383, the popular tourist site was crowded and we had a tough time finding a 'spot' to park our car. (Over here, there was no need for alloted parking lots!) The approx 300 steps up the temple took us to a beautiful view of the surrounding from the top.
Cute young little girls wearing traditional costumes sat quietly at the entrance of the steps, if you want to have a picture with her, you'll need to give her a 'little token' which she'll keep tightly in her little bag, her mother watching from a distance of course. I felt sorry for her. But she is very adorable.
Street stalls were scattered just outside the Temple, catching the crowd along the road. They served pretty cheap and good food. We had noodles, rice sausages & strawberries!
Bhuping Palace
Just a short distance away from Wat Doi Suthrep, we visited the Bhuping Palace where the Royal Family resides during seasonal visits to North Thailand. Built in 1961, the palace was a huge well-kept garden, ideal as a hosting place for State visitors too.
Entry: Non Thai - Baht 50, Thai - Baht 20
At most attractions, they do segregate between the Non-thais and Thais. To those Thai look-alikes, you can try! We did make past a few!
Flowers were everywhere. Despite not being a suitable season to see blooming flowers, we were lucky to see quite a number of them.
And the beautiful landscapes & interesting structures.
Lots of walking today, we deserved a good dinner that day back at Chiang Mai city.
Riverside Restaurant
http://www.theriversidechiangmai.com/
The 1984 restaurant was situated along the tranquil stretch of Ping River, we were there just in time to catch the beautiful Sunset.
Sunday Walking Street
The night in Chiangmai is never complete without visiting the popular weekend night markets - Wualai Walking Street (Saturday Market)/ Tha Pae Walking Street (Sunday Market)
There were stage performances, stalls lined with handicrafts/ t-shirts/ food, sky lanterns were lit everywhere, and of course, fireworks for the King!
The streets were packed.
It was a relief that Montara HH was just a distance away from the main street, we were exhausted by the time we retired. :)
The following days were road trips to the North of Thailand.
Weather was turning chilly.
Day 3 (Chiang Mai City - Mae Hong Son Province)
Off on Highway 108, we made our way to the Mae Hong Son loop.
Composed of a total of 13, 814 square kilometers, MHS (The City of Three Mists), is considered the most moutainous province in Thailand and is normally coved by mist throughout the year.
Mae Ya Waterfall
My throat still wasn't well enough for anything heaty, but they tried this grilled fish sold at a row of eating stalls at the entrance for the fall. People came to order grilled chicken, fish, eggs, and brought them to the waterfall for a nice picnic.
Obluang National Park
Popular for the Gorge/ Canyon in the park, the rocks and cliffs are subjected to erosion by the strong currents of the river. We walked up the bridge connecting the huge two rocks.
View from the top of the bridge
We then continued the road to MHS town.
As we still had some time before heading to our guesthouse for the night at MHS town, Wen decided to give a shot to visit the wild sunflowers at Bua Tong Fields in Doi Mae U-Kho, since we had expected not to see much bloom.
Indeed, the place was huge and would have been beautiful if we could see the sunflowers bloom in full. Nevertheless, we got to see the beautiful sunset from there.
Our guesthouse was located right beside a night market surrounding a lake. This town has an iconic Temple - Wat Chong Klang which we visited the next day as it was already closed when we arrived.
Piya Guesthouse.
It felt like living in a chalet and the night walking street was just outside this guesthouse. We spent the night having dinner at one of the street stall and browsing the market streets.
I then discovered that I developed rashes all over my body that night. It was red spots which we thought it was heat rash. A lesson to all, at such remote places, always let the tap/shower run water for a few seconds before letting it touch your skin. You might notice that the initial gush of water is yellowish. I forgot about this and I was 'disfigured' neck down. I had to visit a Pharmacy (again!) next morning, just to get anti-histamines. Unlike in Chiang Mai, it was more difficult to find a pharmacy in this town. :(
Day 4 (MHS - Phang Ung Lake)
With a long sleeve top and a shawl to wrap my hideous neck, we went in search for breakfast.
The morning market at MHS served interesting dishes and they are a must try for their exotic flavour and taste. With Myanmar as its neighbour, we found some Myanmar inspired delights at the market.
The spice tasted like curry with red chili. Thick and spicy. A bit too strong for me, but I liked the deep fried stuff, tasted like the Malay's Begedil (deep fried potato cutlet).
This tasted very much like our local Mee Siam. But they gave a bowl of bean sprout for add-on if we like, hmm... they were raw. No thanks.
We were served tea too, in traditional chinese cups. Nice.
We then got back to the temple we visited last night beside our guesthouse, a Myanmar inspired creation.
Burmese traditional costumes
A cycle of life, old, sick and death.
These markings along the streets were not parking lots for vehicles, but for the night market street stalls.
From a distance, we spotted a temple right at a top of a mountain. We drove our way to the top and we were happy to experience the panoramic view of MHS. We spotted the small airport too, which is now proudly serving daily flights with the influx of tourists to the town.
View of MHS town, where we were.
The airport runway
We left the town and made our way up North again, but not before making a trip to the Long Neck Village. A significant history way back in the 1980s where Burmese minorities had conflict with the military regime and were forced to flee to the Thai border area where they lived with much uncertainties of what were to come. The women of the Long Neck Karen villagers, also known as Padaung, displayed a fascinating culture around their necks as a form of identity - brass neck coils. The influx of tourists to catch this extraordinary sight brought about their security under the Thai Government and was probably how they managed There were many other explanations for the neck coils, I was very excited.
Before we arrived at the Village, we saw elephants along the way, supposedly a common site in Chiang Mai where it was believed to be a suitable environment for elephants breeding and training.
We visited the Kayaw tribe - one of the 3 Karen villages.
My heart felt heavy after walking through the lane of little stalls selling woven shawls. They were hand woven by these women, and sad to say, we were there to 'watch them on display'. They earned their living by giving up their privacy, showing how they weave and sell them to tourists. Apart from that, they were given a meagre sum of money as a form of support, but I saw through the real reason. Tourists. Sorry for them.
Nevertheless, it seemed only the older generation was tightly bounded by the neck coils, suppressing their shoulders to 'elongate' their necks. The younger ones had loose neck coils which they wore just for show, just like the child below.
We left the place and headed out for Ban Rak Thai.
A beautiful village with lake, mountains, tea plantations and there served a delicious Yunnan Style restaurant.
The village was proud of their tea harvest as well, we were served all kinds of tea from Jasmine to Rose to Ulong, all sorts in these interesting cup-over-cup, a method to contain the aroma and flavour of the tea.
The rows of tea for sale and plantations.
The lunch here was absolutely great and we took a walk in the surroundings before heading next to our stay for the night.
Camping at Phang Ung Lake! - to be continued... (Day 5 - Day 9)
I didn't know what to pack and what to expect. All I knew was we would be on 'wheels' most of the time, exploring the highways and provinces of Northern Thailand. It sounded so exciting, and I was looking forward to this year end trip, until I fell ill 2 days before the trip!
What a time!
Nursing a sore throat and fever while making our way to the Airport on Thai Airways, I must say that food on board was good. As if they knew, they served congee, tasty congee. Although there was no individual TV set, it didn't matter to me since all I needed was sleep. It wasn't a direct to Chiang Mai, and we had to transit in Bangkok.
There was nothing much at the domestic transit terminal, all we did was wait. We just learned that Air Asia is starting a direct Chiang Mai flight in Jan 2011! Well....
Day 1 (Chiang Mai City)
The city of Chiang Mai was a bustling place, just like any Thai cities.
Full of Ang Mohs, backpackers, motorcycles, temples.
We spent the rest of our afternoon exploring the city centre.
Tha Phae Gate - Old City Wall
A moat, surrounding the old city...
We visited 3 temples in the vicinity and this temple sure caught our attention.
Wat Phra Singh
A buddhist temple which started construction in 1345.
An embalmed monk - I almost couldn't tell if he was dead or alive until I took a rather closer look.
The walk under the scorching sun must have drained away whatever Panadol had done. I was too sick to continue sight-seeing. I stayed in the hotel and watched Clash of the Titans while they visited the Saturday Night Market. Pathetic.
Nevertheless, Montara Happy House was pleasant and I didn't mind staying in the room on my own. Good TV channels (HBO), clean cosy room.
It was conveniently located in the city centre too - second hand bookstores, MacDonald & cafes. There was a huge 'Watsons' / 'Guardian Pharmacy' just beside the hotel too (that was where I got my lozenges). You can easily find toiletries or medication you need over here.
Day 2 (Out of Chiang Mai City)
I was feeling much better today.
It is the King's 83rd birthday and we are all in yellow as a form of respect!
Wen got our hired Toyota in the morning and we started our road trip.
Here's an amazing rider handling 2 vehicles - in motion!
Wat (Temple) Phrathat Doi Suthep
Doi Suthrep refers to the mountain this Buddhist temple is located, not too far away from the city of Chiang Mai. Founded in 1383, the popular tourist site was crowded and we had a tough time finding a 'spot' to park our car. (Over here, there was no need for alloted parking lots!) The approx 300 steps up the temple took us to a beautiful view of the surrounding from the top.
Cute young little girls wearing traditional costumes sat quietly at the entrance of the steps, if you want to have a picture with her, you'll need to give her a 'little token' which she'll keep tightly in her little bag, her mother watching from a distance of course. I felt sorry for her. But she is very adorable.
Street stalls were scattered just outside the Temple, catching the crowd along the road. They served pretty cheap and good food. We had noodles, rice sausages & strawberries!
Bhuping Palace
Just a short distance away from Wat Doi Suthrep, we visited the Bhuping Palace where the Royal Family resides during seasonal visits to North Thailand. Built in 1961, the palace was a huge well-kept garden, ideal as a hosting place for State visitors too.
Entry: Non Thai - Baht 50, Thai - Baht 20
At most attractions, they do segregate between the Non-thais and Thais. To those Thai look-alikes, you can try! We did make past a few!
Flowers were everywhere. Despite not being a suitable season to see blooming flowers, we were lucky to see quite a number of them.
And the beautiful landscapes & interesting structures.
Lots of walking today, we deserved a good dinner that day back at Chiang Mai city.
Riverside Restaurant
http://www.theriversidechiangmai.com/
The 1984 restaurant was situated along the tranquil stretch of Ping River, we were there just in time to catch the beautiful Sunset.
Sunday Walking Street
The night in Chiangmai is never complete without visiting the popular weekend night markets - Wualai Walking Street (Saturday Market)/ Tha Pae Walking Street (Sunday Market)
There were stage performances, stalls lined with handicrafts/ t-shirts/ food, sky lanterns were lit everywhere, and of course, fireworks for the King!
The streets were packed.
It was a relief that Montara HH was just a distance away from the main street, we were exhausted by the time we retired. :)
The following days were road trips to the North of Thailand.
Weather was turning chilly.
Day 3 (Chiang Mai City - Mae Hong Son Province)
Off on Highway 108, we made our way to the Mae Hong Son loop.
Composed of a total of 13, 814 square kilometers, MHS (The City of Three Mists), is considered the most moutainous province in Thailand and is normally coved by mist throughout the year.
Mae Ya Waterfall
My throat still wasn't well enough for anything heaty, but they tried this grilled fish sold at a row of eating stalls at the entrance for the fall. People came to order grilled chicken, fish, eggs, and brought them to the waterfall for a nice picnic.
Obluang National Park
Popular for the Gorge/ Canyon in the park, the rocks and cliffs are subjected to erosion by the strong currents of the river. We walked up the bridge connecting the huge two rocks.
View from the top of the bridge
We then continued the road to MHS town.
As we still had some time before heading to our guesthouse for the night at MHS town, Wen decided to give a shot to visit the wild sunflowers at Bua Tong Fields in Doi Mae U-Kho, since we had expected not to see much bloom.
Indeed, the place was huge and would have been beautiful if we could see the sunflowers bloom in full. Nevertheless, we got to see the beautiful sunset from there.
Our guesthouse was located right beside a night market surrounding a lake. This town has an iconic Temple - Wat Chong Klang which we visited the next day as it was already closed when we arrived.
Piya Guesthouse.
It felt like living in a chalet and the night walking street was just outside this guesthouse. We spent the night having dinner at one of the street stall and browsing the market streets.
I then discovered that I developed rashes all over my body that night. It was red spots which we thought it was heat rash. A lesson to all, at such remote places, always let the tap/shower run water for a few seconds before letting it touch your skin. You might notice that the initial gush of water is yellowish. I forgot about this and I was 'disfigured' neck down. I had to visit a Pharmacy (again!) next morning, just to get anti-histamines. Unlike in Chiang Mai, it was more difficult to find a pharmacy in this town. :(
Day 4 (MHS - Phang Ung Lake)
With a long sleeve top and a shawl to wrap my hideous neck, we went in search for breakfast.
The morning market at MHS served interesting dishes and they are a must try for their exotic flavour and taste. With Myanmar as its neighbour, we found some Myanmar inspired delights at the market.
The spice tasted like curry with red chili. Thick and spicy. A bit too strong for me, but I liked the deep fried stuff, tasted like the Malay's Begedil (deep fried potato cutlet).
This tasted very much like our local Mee Siam. But they gave a bowl of bean sprout for add-on if we like, hmm... they were raw. No thanks.
We were served tea too, in traditional chinese cups. Nice.
We then got back to the temple we visited last night beside our guesthouse, a Myanmar inspired creation.
Burmese traditional costumes
A cycle of life, old, sick and death.
These markings along the streets were not parking lots for vehicles, but for the night market street stalls.
From a distance, we spotted a temple right at a top of a mountain. We drove our way to the top and we were happy to experience the panoramic view of MHS. We spotted the small airport too, which is now proudly serving daily flights with the influx of tourists to the town.
View of MHS town, where we were.
The airport runway
We left the town and made our way up North again, but not before making a trip to the Long Neck Village. A significant history way back in the 1980s where Burmese minorities had conflict with the military regime and were forced to flee to the Thai border area where they lived with much uncertainties of what were to come. The women of the Long Neck Karen villagers, also known as Padaung, displayed a fascinating culture around their necks as a form of identity - brass neck coils. The influx of tourists to catch this extraordinary sight brought about their security under the Thai Government and was probably how they managed There were many other explanations for the neck coils, I was very excited.
Before we arrived at the Village, we saw elephants along the way, supposedly a common site in Chiang Mai where it was believed to be a suitable environment for elephants breeding and training.
We visited the Kayaw tribe - one of the 3 Karen villages.
My heart felt heavy after walking through the lane of little stalls selling woven shawls. They were hand woven by these women, and sad to say, we were there to 'watch them on display'. They earned their living by giving up their privacy, showing how they weave and sell them to tourists. Apart from that, they were given a meagre sum of money as a form of support, but I saw through the real reason. Tourists. Sorry for them.
Nevertheless, it seemed only the older generation was tightly bounded by the neck coils, suppressing their shoulders to 'elongate' their necks. The younger ones had loose neck coils which they wore just for show, just like the child below.
We left the place and headed out for Ban Rak Thai.
A beautiful village with lake, mountains, tea plantations and there served a delicious Yunnan Style restaurant.
The village was proud of their tea harvest as well, we were served all kinds of tea from Jasmine to Rose to Ulong, all sorts in these interesting cup-over-cup, a method to contain the aroma and flavour of the tea.
The rows of tea for sale and plantations.
The lunch here was absolutely great and we took a walk in the surroundings before heading next to our stay for the night.
Camping at Phang Ung Lake! - to be continued... (Day 5 - Day 9)
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