Blogs from Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 4

We took the 12 hour sweaty overnight bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai – not good. Arrived there 6am and couldn’t check in till 2pm – nightmare! We went for a little walk around to find somewhere to get brekkie then found a lovely park to read our books then eventually 2pm came to check in. About bloody time too! lol Chiang Mai is a lovely little place – well the old part anyway – with a crumbling walled fortress around it. So pretty! We had a little cat nap then rented bikes to do some sightseeing – push bikes not motorbikes this time. We went to see two temples then decided we hated using push bikes and after an hour and a half we left them back – too much effort! Lol Next day we ... read more

Chiang Mai Five days in Chiang Mai and we saw the sun maybe a total of 5 hours. But, the rain gods were with us and ceased for the times that we wanted to be outdoors exploring. Thank heavens for umbrellas! Chiang Mai is the second largest city, after Bangkok, in Thailand, but somehow it seems much smaller. Being inland, nestled between mountains, it is flat which makes it lovely for walking. It is an ancient walled city, older than Bangkok by about 1000 years. So, there is much deterioration of buildings, temples, roads etc. The wall that once surrounded the city has now disappeared in all but a few places, leaving the wide moat to encircle central Chiang Mai. We interacted with the local people here...our hotel (Rachamanka Flora House which provided a very clean, ... read more

I left Luang Prabang for Chiang Mai at 6pm after my cooking class. The bus was only supposed to take 20 hours which was an improvement from my 30 hr Hanoi bus trip. When I got on the bus I was not impressed as it was more a minibus than the nice sleeping bus I had my Hanoi trip on. But I did have a whole bench to myself which allowed me to sleep with my legs twisted up against the window. This bus made an adequate amount of bathroom and food breaks which I appreciated. I slept most of the night, but around 4:30am the bus stopped and everyone clamoring out of the bus for what I assumed was a rest stop woke me up. I went back to sleep for about half an hour, ... read more

After one day in Bangkok I was ready to escape (after purchasing a few things from the market of course!) I took the overnight train to Chang Mai and got a tuk tuk to my hotel not expecting much after paying seven pounds a night for it. But soon arrived in paradise! Okay, well this is a slight exaggeration but it really was gorgeous.. beautiful gardens and a huge pool. I had a private room which was not only spacious but with clean white sheets, and after three and a half weeks of staying in dorms this felt like bliss! I spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool although you can't sunbathe for long as the weather is baking hot, and even the pool water is warm not that I should complain! The ... read more

GETTING TO CHIANG MAI INVOLVED a bit more than the usual prescribed hassles. We flew out of Hanoi at 8am and arrived in Bangkok a couple hours later, still tired from another early morning. Not wanting to waste an extra day sitting around Bangkok we went straight to the train station hoping to catch the noon train for Chiang Mai. Upon arriving at the station we learned that the train was fully booked and the next one didn’t leave until late that evening. Worse yet, there were only sitting seats left, not recliners, which was important since it was a twelve hour overnight ride. While I sat on the bench and sulked (I was having a – ‘I’m sick of traveling’ - moment) Travis arranged alternate transportation on a double decker V.I.P. bus for that evening. ... read more