Blogs from Chiang Mai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 16

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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 9th 2017

So. On to Pai! And to learn how to drive a powerful scooter in the hectic Chiang Mai traffic. On a route which is described as 'long, adventurous, scenic'. Oh and that lots of foreign tourists would crash there. The streets are supposedly filled with people in bandages. .. On my way to Aya (45m-1h walk) I saw two police funnels, where people got tickets. I decided on another route, but had some trouble following. Decided against moving lanes to get my right turn and kept moving straight. Switched to the other side of the street when traffic was lighter and took the left turn. Did some more of that at first and ended up taking the outside of the inner city ring in the longer direction, because traffic was easier and a warned man should ... read more
Stopped at a local food place.
Monument description
Monument closeup

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 9th 2017

Today was all about the elephant. The Indian elephant to be exact. We were heading to the elephant sanctuary where nearly 100 elephants are trained, cared for and bred. There are only about 3000 wild elephants in Thailand and this sanctuary is trying to protect the few they have. There are a total of 1500 elephants in sanctuaries throughout Thailand so at least half are protected. We drove north for 90 minutes further up into the mountains where the elephants live in the wild. Elephants were a domesticated work horse through Thai history. Their massive strength, easy of domestication and real love for humans make them the perfect beast of burden. Elephants were used to move heavy logs during the early Thai history, allowing for construction of the country. They were also a mode of transportation. ... read more
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 9th 2017

Slept until 6:00, planned, slept some more, planned and slept until 14:00. went out for food and planned until the bakery closed. Skipped my original intention to hire a mountainbike and go up doi suthep, the mountain with the temple. Might do it later. Instead, finished exploring Chiang Mai and visited the night bazaar and got myself some new leather sandals, pants and shirt. ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 7th 2017

This next section is not going to win me any friends, but I hope it will influence people. We are all adults here and sometime we forget who and where we are. Your not in Kansas anymore. We arrived in Chiang Mai a little tired and way too hot, making most people irratable, so that did set the stage for what happened next. The hotel is a resort type set up with many buildings and a very confusing layout. The reception is in building one, while our rooms were in building three. Not too bad until you consider we had no idea where building three was, let along how to get there. To further compound the problem the rooms were not numbered in a normal convention. For example room 3205, my room, is usually on the ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 7th 2017

Found my way to Big & O's house 2 on Chiang Mai. Nice place, friendly owner. But ooh, so much jetlag can't hardly see this text.. Still trying.. Highlights of flight: * first flight was delayed. Not sure why. Despite reassurances from the captain, we could not make up the lost time :/ * which shortened the time to transfer from 1h to 30m.. Stress! I used all the resources at my disposal in the plane, to get a feeling for the layout, got the arriving gate (35) and the number of the gate to leave from. The luggage check point and the route to take. I was pumped and ready to run! * that didn't prove necessary. a lady from Cathey airways stood at our arrival gate, to guide us trough the airport. Did an ... read more
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 7th 2017

Some pics from my walk from the airport to the hostel. Aparently, this part of Chiang Mai is a bit like a village, relatively big houses with a yard or fence. A lot of green. A lot of concrete though. If not for the strange script and plant sorts, you'd think you were in a small southern European village. ... read more
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 7th 2017

This morning we had a bit of an early morning, for no other reason than I couldn't sleep. I was up at 5:00 am well rested and ready to go. Today we were going to the King's Residence and Temple area, but first a canal cruise on a small river skiff. After breakfast, another buffet feast, we headed to the hotel lobby to meet the crew and off we went out the back door to the pier. When we arrived for boarding, there was a very well appointed river boat at the dock. It looked clean, comfortable and the crew was in unifirm. We were looking good. As we prepared to board, the captain hit the throttle and pulled away leaving us all staring as right behind pulled in a long rickety boat with a huge ... read more
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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai November 4th 2017

Krabi was wonderful. I went to Railay to kayak twice and enjoyed some beach time. Transportation has been less than smooth during this trip and I'm not quite sure why. It seems like our timing is always a little bit off. ... read more
Phranang Cave
Princess Goddess shrine
Railay Beach

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 27th 2017

After more than 6 hours in a far too air-conditioned bus, we finally make it to Chiang Mai. As soon as we get off the bus, tuk-tuk drivers start shouting at us and I kindly ignore them until Shaun joins me outside. There are quite a few backpackers around and a kind tourist (or expat?) arranges a cheap 'bus' to the centre of Chiang Mai for us (a bus is more of a truck here!). We have lunch with Silvio and a young German couple and then start to try finding an accommodation as we haven't booked anything. Our stomachs feel a bit unsettled after our lunch so it is not fun! We visit a few accommodations but everything is full or far too expensive. We go to a McDonald's to get WiFi and find the ... read more
Our white water rafting team!
Shaun sliding off a waterfall!

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai September 3rd 2017

D. 03/08-09/08 2017 Efter elefantlejeren vendte jeg tilbage til chiang mai til det samme Hostel, som jeg boede på første gang jeg ankom med Stray og efter pai så, da jeg ankom, blev jeg taget imod med smil og vink, samt de kunne huske mit navn, ikke udtale det ordentligt, men idet mindste kunne de huske det (er blevet vant til, at mange udtaler mit navn som "fire"). Så jeg fik ellers et 4 mands dorm. Den første aften mødtes jeg med nogle tyske piger fra elefantlejeren, som jeg var blevet ret gode veninder med. Vi tog ellers på aftenmarkedet, hvor vi mødte adskillige fra elefantlejeren, så det var ret sjovt. Senere tog vi på bar, hvor jeg blev budt mit første insekt, og pga gruppepres gik jeg med til at spise det mindste insekt, som ... read more
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