Northward bound.

We did it last year and had such a good time that we decided to do it again ie drive from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to Pai. Even though we had done it before, we still found places and things that were new to us.

Fueled with coffee, we set off early from BKK. The drive itself was uneventful and pleasant. We did our stop at Tak which is a province near Chiang Mai for lunch by the river. It was a nice pit stop as the weather was cool and the food was good (and cheap!).

Things started to go wrong when we arrived in Chiang Mai and I discovered that TH had forgotten to load my trolley bag into the car! His responsibilty was to see to the luggage while I cleared up the laundry, fed, cleaned and walked the dogs before we left home. Thank goodness for overnight buses that ply the BKK-Chiang Mai route and our driver. TH called him to send my bag to the bus terminal and it went on one of those overnight buses. Tip to anyone forgets or has a forgetful spouse when it comes to luggage.

Pit stop on way to Pai.

Pai is about 1,500 m above sea level and there are 700+ curves on the road that leads to it. This means that we had to make a few stops along the way as the children felt a little carsick. Pai is a little town in the Mae Hong Son region that is gaining popularity with tourists. It is laid back and quiet and also a little artsy and bohemian. You can find a few studios there and in the night market, many artist plying their wares that range from hand painted T-shirts to postcards. I noticed that it is more crowded than last year which is good for the town's economy. At the same time, I felt a little sad as it meant it wsa getting commercialise which could spoil it's charm. Consolation is that Starbucks or MacDonald's has yet to make an appearance!

We could see this padi field from the pool. It's a real working farm and not just for show.

I refused to get into the pool, but it didn't stop the children.

We stayed at a really pretty resort that was surrounded by padi fields. There was horse riding and ATVs for the children and adults to do. The kids had a great time going for horse rides by themselves with the guide while I lounged by the pool in my sweater! It was cold, about 15C.


The area surrounding the resort. In the morning...brrrr...

At night, the biggest thing to do is to go to the night market to offload some cash from my wallet. It's a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours as there is something for adults and children. Adults-shopping or sitting outside to have a drink. Children - having banana pancake for dessert and buying kitschy things from the stores.

The night market in Pai.

On the day we were supposed to leave Pai, the men and the children decided they wanted a last ATV ride. I had to pillion Sean as he isn't big enough to handle the ATV. I wasn't big enough to handle it either! The first half hour had me go into the ditch twice. I was pretty scared when we went off-road as the ATV kept veering to the left and Sean was trying to help me steer. Problem was solved when TH changed ATVs with me as mine had a slight fault in the steering. We all came back coated with a layer of brown dust. I looked like I had heavy handedly applied tinted powder on my face!

As I was leaving Pai, I wondered what changes would bring when we visit it again next year. I love the peace and serenity of the place. That is why when we arrived in Chiang Mai, it felt noisy and crowded.

Traditionally, the 'yipeng' lanterns are released during Loy Krathong. They were selling them in the night market and we decided to buy a few and release them for luck (hey, I'm Chinese, anything that hints at bringing me luck, I'll do it...within reason of course.)

Aahhhh... Chiang Mai, it has to be my favourite holiday destination in Thailand. I see the changes in CM compared to when I first visited it eight years ago. We have made it a point to go there every year and this is our eighth visit. I love the food there (foodie that I am), the shopping (many of the factories that produce saa paper products, silver, ceramic etc come from CM) and the many quaint hotels and eateries that sprout up.
I love the colour of this shop. I wasn't the only one who
stopped just to take a pic.


Once again we managed to have a trip that catered to the interests of the adults and children. We all had a great time and hope to do it again next year (crossing our fingers that we will still be in Thailand and not leave !)


Note: This blog is a bit belated as I got sidetracked with the Christmas feasting that has been going on since I returned from Chiang Mai.

Day trip....

The weather has been cooling down. It's been playing havoc on everyone's systems and people are falling sick (Sean is recovering and I'm going to be ill). When the cool season comes, people head for the hills - most popular is up North (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae hong Son). Nearer to Bangkok and easily accessible by car is Khao Yai.

We decided to take a day trip to Khao Yai. Located about an hour and a half (by car) from BKK, Khao Yai is a favourite with many Bangkokians for a day trip or a weekend away. It helps that it is cooler than BKK and has quite a few golf courses there. Many rich Thais have weekend houses (or should I say mansions) there.

There are quite a bit of things to see and do aside from golf. Along the way is the Chokchai Farm which is Thailand's answer to Bonanza (not kidding, the theme song is used for the video). The farm offers tours and as it is a working farm, city folk like us get to see a real black and white cow up close (if lucky, you get to milk it), how ice-cream is made etc. Chokchai Farm has one of the best burgers I've eaten (guess the proximity to the source of patties does help). We skipped the farm tour as we had been on it before but stopped by for the children to ride the ATV. The circuit was short but the kids loved it.

ATV ride. The children love it but at 180 bht per round (which lasts less than 5 minutes), we didn't allow them too many times.

Khao Yai is also know for, beleive it or not, it's vineyards. I've never visited a vineyard in Thailand and didn't really expect much. I mean, wine is not exactly a main Thai export, is it? I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised that it looked like any vineyard that I had visited overseas. I wouldn't know about the wine (I don't drink) but the vines, tasting room etc. was a surprise. There were tour groups visiting the vineyards and buying everything in sight. OK, have to admit that since I don't drink, I end up buying food stuff.

We had a great day that was away from the city and everyone got to experience another aspect of Thailand. Amazing Thailand, wouldn't you say?

Visit to the middle kingdom

I have to admit that even though I am Chinese, I was in no great hurry to see the country of my ancestors. I used to 'pooh pooh' the idea of China and thought it had nothing much to offer.

My first experience in China was Shanghai. I was very disappointed as it looked a lot like Singapore with the high rise buildings and condos. The traffic was worse than Bangkok (if that was possible) with drivers honking like their lives depended on it. On top of that, the people were aggressive and loud. In my 5 days there, I saw 3 arguments (ie they just started yelling at each other). All in all, I didn't like it.

Lijiang

My brother-in-law has been extolling the beauty and serenity of Lijiang (situated in the Yunnan province). We decided to see what the fuss was about. When we arrived, I felt like I had walked onto a set for Chinese period drama with it's cobbled walk ways, old fashioned houses (they are built without a single nail) and clear stream with salmon swimming lazily.

We went in winter and it was cold (about 0 - 5 degrees). I was worried that Sean would not be able to withstand the cold but he loved it! I was the one who had one 5 layers oof pants and was still shivering.

The main attraction there is the ancient city. It is a huge place where houses there have been converted to hotels, shops and restaurants. You do have some locals living in the ancient city but not many. A clear water stream (can't call it a drain as it's too clean) runs through the entire city and locals use it to wash their clothes, vegetables etc. You can also find fish (mainly salmon) swimming in it.

If you are going there in the hopes of adreneline pumping adventure, forget it. I found it a place to relax. People don't rush, because there isn't anywhere to rush to. The locals are friendly and willing to chat. I find it hard to understand them because their Yunnan accent is very strong. That, coupled with my Secondary school Mandarin, makes it hard to hold long conversations.

Street in the ancient city. No cars allowed. Only horses!

I

On a cold winter's night, nothing beats a hot pot. We have had donkey meat hot pot. I didn't eat it but was told the meat was like lamb. This particular hot pot just had a whole bowl of live fish (still wriggling and bits of gut hanging out) poured into the boiling soup. The whole hot pot trembled as the fish flopped around before being boiled. If like me you are not adventurous, there is always vegetables which are wonderfully fresh and crisp. The soup is fantastic! Rich, flavourful and warms you to your toes.

Food is not a problem as there are many shops selling noodles and western food. If you still feel the need for fast food, outside the ancient city is a KFC.

The other attraction is the Snow Mountain. It is 4,500 m above sea level which means you could get altitude sickness. Our guide carried a small cannister of oxygen. It came in handy when Sean felt sick after he was running and sliding around the snow.

Lijiang is a wonderful place to relax and just enjoy the surroundings. We spent our days explooring the ancient city, drinking copious cups of hot chocolate/coffee/tea and just 'chilling'. We've been back twice already and would like to go again for the third time.

Road trip to Chiang Mai

We travelled 1,714 km (it's like from BKK to Sin, return) in 6 days. Route took us from BKK-Chiang Mai-Pai-Chiang Mai-BKK.

Surprisingly, it was an pleasant though long (6 hrs from BKK to CM) drive. This was our first time driving to CM tough we have been going there annually for the past 7 years.

Before we left, I had many friends telling me how cold CM and Pai were going to be (7C at night). Since we were driving it made things easier as we could just dump everything in the car and not worry about excess luggage. Knowing how fickle weather here can be, decided to pack mainly hot weather stuff with 1 sweater.

We spent 2 nights in CM. There, I introduced my friend's son to one of my favourite Thai desserts banana pancake or banana roti. It's actually prata with banana (or whatever topping, but banana seems to be the best) inside and topped with loads and loads of sugar and condensed milk. It sounds very sweet but in reality, it's a wonderful mix of sweetness of sugar and banana mixed with the slight buttery/salty flavour of the roti.

Yummy banana pancake

We also visited the Night Safari which is as good as the one in Singapore but way cheaper, if you paid the local (ie Thais pay 1 price and foreigners a higher price) price. It was S$10 for adults and S$6 for children.

The trams here stop at every animal enclosure and spotlight the animals for people to see. This was my second time at the Night Safari but I still enjoyed it. It was really nice and cool too (about 17C).

Pai is only 100+km from Chiang Mai but because of the 700+curves in the road, it took us 3 hrs to get there. Had to stop along the way as the children felt a little quesy.

Pai is a small town (about 5,000 people) in the valley. Starbucks or MacDonald's hasn't made an appearance yet so it's relatively less commercial. There are many artists and hippies (leftover from the '70s) who live there.

Hotel called The Quarter in Pai. New and very nice

We went bamboo rafting. The children had a great time helping to row the raft and on one occasion almost capsizing it. Along the way we say beautiful bright blue and green dragonflies which I've never seen before.

After Pai, we headed back to CM. Had to visit my favourite furniture street (Hang Dong) to buy some furniture. I always love going to Hang Dong as there are many little shops along the way to stop and browse. The big market for teak furniture there is Baan Tawai. Over the years it has become very touristy and sells more knic knacks than furniture. But we had a really cheap and good lunch there. 360 baht (S$15) for 8 of us! That included 2nd helpings for adults and drinks!

No holiday of mine is complete without food. I must say that we had really good and inexpensive meals on our trip. I had my fill of Kao soy (which is the Thai version of noddles in curry) and I must say the best fried chicken in a small coffee shop in Pai. I was introduced to 'nam prick ong' which is a northern Thai dip. It's a little bit like salsa and eaten with vegetables and fried pork rind (totally unhealthy but sooo good).

Considering we were travelling with 4 children and 4 adults, I think everyone managed to have a good time .

Would we do it again? Yes. Already planning to drive up to Mae Hong Son next year.

Krisaradoi a small hotel that has a beautiful garden Went there for lunch

At the mae Sa elephant camp feeding the elephant

The Royal Rachapruek flora and fauna garden.




Go-karting is an activity that the kids enjoyed.