Blogs from North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 468

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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 14th 2006

Its only when leaving the grot and grime that is Bangkok that you realise how beautiful the thai countryside is, and how different it is to whats back at home. after waking up in the middle of the night to use the surprisingly clean toilet in the middle of the night (nowhere near as evil as the ones at Leeds festival!) i couldn't get back to sleep and lay there for 3-4 hours before we got into chiang mai at 7.30am this morning. although i'm knackered (and blaming it all on the jet lag!) it was really nice to see the countryside roll past in its full-moon illuminated splendor. gone was the concrete of bangkok, and now there was hills and jungles interspersed with surprisingly well-developed towns and villages - all of which have street lighting. ... read more
me and travelmates with a big bell

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 13th 2006

Stephanie and I flew into Chiang Rai after spending two days in Bangkok. Miraculously, it was a downpour in Bangkok. Nothing but sunshine in CR though. We rented bikes for the day and tour the city and some of the Wat's. Very beautiful. Looking forward to our cooking lessons and two day tribal trek.... read more
L'Arc de Triomphe
Another Wat Decor
Eifle Tower

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 11th 2006

Chaing Mai A quick look around the Museum of Art then it was time to leave Hong Kong for Bangkok. It was as well we had not booked the flight to Chang Mai as it took us so long to get through immigration, we would have missed it. Fortunately, got onto next flight - only 50 mins and finally arrived in Chang Mai at 8.30pm. Pleasantly surprised by guest house as was extremely cheap. Very much warmer here, although it will be a lot hotter by the time we have travelled down to the south. We thought we would have a leisurely day the first day but as we were poring over the map for the umpteenth time, a teacher from the local school came to help and before we knew it, he had planned our ... read more
Grand Palace in Bangkok

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 10th 2006

"Après un début de voyage marqué par la fatigue due au décalage horaire, nous voici maintenant rendu dans la ville artisanale de Chiang Mai au nord ouest de la Thaïlande." "On a commencé a expérimenter la vie de la Thaïlande en louant une des trois milliards de motos que l'on retrouve ici! En fait on a visité les alentours de Chiang mai par nous même en moto, Wow! D"autant plus, qu'il y a du « trafic » pas mal par ici, que l'on conduit à gauche de la route, la signalisation est presque inexistante et tout est écrit en « Thaï »!! On a eu un "fun" fou!!!" "On a marché une vingtaine de kilomètres, on a passé quelques autres kilomètres à dos d'éléphants et finalement, on a fait un dernier bout de chemin sur des ... read more
Bangkok, Thaïlande
Bangkok, Thaïlande
Bangkok, Thaïlande

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 8th 2006

We return to Chaing Mai Thai Cookery School for the final day in our course. Today Big Mama and Boom are taking class. This morning we start with some vegetable carving. It's not easy and making roses from tomato skins is very fiddly. We move onto the biggest carrot I've ever seen in my life and make leaves, returning to the tomato for a lotus flower. This is just the beginning but I don't have the patience or skill. We move onto pork soup with noodles, it's one of the only things to have no chilli but it's still delicious. We break for soup breakfast and return to make spring rolls. It's not too difficult and they are the nicest ones I've ever tasted, bye bye frozen variety I'll make my own from now on. Roast ... read more
Big Mama does soup
Boom
Our version

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 7th 2006

We meet Roong at the Wok for an 8.30 start. I still can't believe that I got up at 7am this morning, breakfast was a lively affair and getting to the toaster was a feat in itself. Our first stop is Wat Chedi Lung (I'm sorry if I've got this bit wrong, we saw a lot of Wats today and I can't find my map!) it's original structure was hit by lightning and the ruin still stands (see pic), we move onto Wat Prah Singh, there is a large monastry here and also a school for the novices. Lots of boys come here to be educated and most Thai men spend three months being monks. The buildings are very beautiful and decorated with lots and lots of gold leaf. We move on to another Wat where ... read more
Wat Prah Singh
Wat Prah Singh
Wat Umong

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 6th 2006

It's hot today. Very very hot. We get up later than expected and I don't feel like travelling much. After cofee (I'm actually dying for a cup of tea, but you can't get milk here and tea isn't the same with soya milk) we flag down a red truck, the local version of a taxi and head off to Airport Plaza. Six floors of air conditioned shopping paradise. I'm on the hunt for the MAC shop, which I'm sure I saw last time, but don't find it. We buy squeaking shoes for Joe and I pick up some blue nail varnish. Everything in the Nike shop is half the price and Converse are a tenner a pair. I know they're not the most comfortable thing in the world, but I think I might pick up a ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 5th 2006

Saa lakker det mod enden. 13 fantastiske dage i Thailand er ved at vaere slut. Dagen i gaar gik med afslapning og kiggen omkring i byen. Moedtes med vennerne fra trekkingturen paa Salsa Kitchen, hvor vi noed mexikansk middag og drak marguerita til. Uhm. Her til morgen er rejserygsaekken blevet pakket, jeg har netop nydt morgenmaden og vil nu gaa lidt rundt. Maaske en sidste gang fodmassage? Kl. 13.30 bliver jeg hentet, hvorefter eftermiddagen byder paa tempelbesoeg, som skulle vaere et must. Dernaest med fly til Bangkok, hvor jeg skal vente et par timer, foer jeg gaar ombord paa det til Sydney. Ja - - jeg ved godt, at I savner nogle bill. derhjemme. Maa kigge paa det, naar jeg kommer til Australien, for jeg har naturligvis taget en masse. Keep smiling derhjemme. Allerbedste hilsner Charlotte ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 5th 2006

With a raging hangover and an odd taste in our mouths, we stumble to the Black Canyon coffee house (there's now another Starbucks in town, right opposite Tha Pae Gate we're staying away). Over stupidly strong frozen coffee we decide that it's time to try the Zoo. Chiang Mai zoo had some publicity at home towards the end of last year, it seems that they've now decided to change their policy on what the restaurant here serves, so all animals are no longer fair game. The zoo is large and there's no guide books available, so we're left to our own devices, using just the faded signs that seem to point forever up hill. The Zoo is the equivilent of walking around an Escher drawing, often we seem to find ourselves back where we started but ... read more
Chimpanzee
Panda
Rhino

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 4th 2006

Well, what can we say to end our log for Thailand except ABSOLUTELY BLOODY MARVELLOUS, Ken's statement for most of the trip so far! Since we last spoke to you all we have visited an Elephant Conservation Park and seen much older temples and towns than ChiangMai and today we watched a flower parade celebrating the King's Jubilee and his 80th birthday. Photos to follow. We have also spent our evenings getting to know the local eateries and pubs. Eating very cheaply at a diverse rangeof pubs. From a Ying and Yang restaurant, via a reggae bar, to an Irish bar and even a roadside camper van selling cocktails! Our experience in Thailand and of the Thai people has been wonderful and enlightening, it is wonderful to know that people who hardly know you will go ... read more
CHIANG MAI
CHIANG MAI
CHIANG MAI




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