Blogs from Chiang Mai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 7th 2023

You can do some really great day trips from Chiang Mai if, like me, a scooter isn’t an option. 1200baht seems to be the going rate and the standard is impressive. I asked in a travel agent near my hotel (more of a homestay). I said nothing to do with elephants or trekking, for different reasons, and I wanted to visit some hill tribes. I read some very negative reviews about the long-neck tribes and the experiences were mostly uncomfortable and made people feel voyeuristic, but I thought I could make up my own mind and hopefully find a way of interacting positively and maybe not taking any photos. The agent definitely said they were on the agenda. The rest of the day consisted of 2 waterfalls (look only), a village to see weaving and try ... read more
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Karen village

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 5th 2023

Arriving and getting through the airport on a domestic flight took no time at all. Landed at 17.10 and was in my accommodation 40 minutes later, which is a record. As you go outside there are 2 choices of taxi, metered and a flat rate of 150bt to anywhere in the city. I chose this one and showed the guy where my sort of home stay was, as it’s down a little back street . He found it easily. It’s called Pissamorn House, after the very well presented lady who owns it and lives next door. Her English is brilliant. As she is 70 she couldn’t help me carry my case up the 2 flights of stairs, which was a pity since my back is wrecked after going headlong in someone’s garden on Koh Mook. I’d ... read more
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 16th 2022

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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 29th 2021

Prologue As you may recall from my New York blogfrom July, I decided to resume limited and cautious travel when I came to realize that Covid was here to stay. Up until mid-October, I was dithering on whether and where to go. My first preference was Singapore because I hadn't seen my family in almost two years, and so I monitored whether Singapore would waive quarantine for vaccinated travelers. My backup plan was to go to Canada or Europe. In September, Singapore opened up Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) with Germany and Brunei. I wasn't holding out hope that they would add a VTL from the United States in the near future because the Covid situation in the US was awful, and vaccination rates had stalled. But, rather unexpectedly, Singapore announced a VTL with the United States. ... read more
Test and Go in Bangkok
Test and Go in Bangkok
Khao Soi

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 21st 2021

So today is our final day in the north of Thailand. This evening we take the night bus to Bangkok for the next part of our trip. But more on that in the next blogs. What to do on our last day here? We rented a car and went to market. Warorot Market (also known as Kad Luang) to be precise. This is a huge local indoor market covering three floors, and all the streets around it are lined with stalls as well. There are lots of clothing stores, and loads and loads of groceries. You can get every variety of vegetable used in Thai cooking, as well as meat, fish & seafood, and we even saw live eel, fish, pigeons, turtles, and roasted crickets and other bugs. Lots and lots of dried fruit (we got ... read more
Chet Si Spring
Bua Tong waterfalls
At the falls

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 20th 2021

Today was another exciting day. We're off to an elephant excursion! We're going to visit an elephant sanctuary for animals rescued from unhealthy work environments. Our ride picked us up at the hotel right on time, and after picking up another family of four we were off to the mountains! It's quite a long ride, about an hour and a half in a songthaew (basically a pickup truck with a bench on either side of the bed and a roof over it). Not the most comfortable ride I've ever been on! At a rest stop along the way another truck joined us with four more girls for our group. Then we were off, and finally made it to the camp. And there were our elephants! Three beautiful beasts, all females. Our guide, Ken, was very enthusiastic ... read more
But soon turned into this
Grazing in the forest
Elephants can be stubborn!

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 19th 2021

As you probably guessed from the title, we went cooking today. The van from Thai Farm Cooking picked us up at 8:30 and we joined a young group of Germans who would attend the 'class' with us. The van took us to a local market and our instructor, Wass, took us on a short walk by the stalls, explaining some of the ingredients we'll be using today. Then we had about 20 minutes to wander and explore. Gilat and I tried some fresh jackfruit (yum!) and I tried a roasted caterpillar (less yum. Maybe as a crunchy addition to something else). We saw a few stalls preparing small floats for the festival of lights this evening and lots of stalls selling candles in little clay cups. We got back on the van and drove to the ... read more
Candles at the market
A crunchy caterpillar
Cutting jackfruit

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 14th 2021

First thing this morning was to find a bank and exchange money, at a reasonable rate. We set out to the banks (there are three nearby) only to find them all closed! Turns out that banks are closed here on Sundays! Now we're in a bind - lots of money but none we can use! We asked at the hotel, and the clerk checked and found that banks open in the airport mall at 11:00. Ok, relief! Our rental car arrives here at 10:00. Precisely on time our car arrived with the rental rep, a sweet girl named Peng. She let us pay in dollars too. So off we went to the mall. Let me tell you, learning to drive on the wrong side of the road is a challenge! Good thing I have Gilat next ... read more
Egg basket at Doi Saket Hot Spring
Rice
At Doi Saket Hot Spring

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai March 9th 2020

One of the things I really love about living in Chiang Mai is having friends stay over. I get to show them the sights and sounds of the city, which helps me rediscover them as well. Recently I hosted my friend from Australia. She had come over to Thailand to take a TESOL course at Seu TESOL and needed a place to stay for a few days while finding an apartment. Of course, I thought this was a great opportunity to do a little exploring and to show off my city. Finding A Place To Stay As always when searching for an apartment, we had to look at a few before finding something that was just right. I have to admit, I got a little concerned as the first few places we looked at weren't really ... read more
Chiang Mai Grand Canyon
Saturday Night Out at The Hard Rock Cafe
Northern Food

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 24th 2020

It's a Monday morning in Chiangmai ...... and my last Monday here for this trip. The sands of time are visibly running out now and each day is precious. How shall I fill it? Well, Monday morning was filled with finishing off my last blog and downloading photos. I sat under the old house and had good company from the dogs. Nui was watering her garden and Kong was tidying up the empty rooms. The only guests this week are me, Ronda ( who leaves on Wednesday) and Richard who is a long term resident. The water on one side of the house (where Ronda and I are staying) has been turned off as a crack developed in a pipe last night, and a water feature was created behind the building! So the sisters are waiting ... read more
Frankie. Baan SongJum
BamBam relaxing on his Chinese daybed
Dear Frankie




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