Blogs from North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 488

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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 15th 2005

So, Samstag mittag bin ich also heil und munter, nur leicht müde, in Chiang Mai angekommen. Die Bahnfahrt nach und das Einchecken in Frankfurt ging erwartungsgemäß schnell und unkompliziert, beim Boarden des Flugzeuges stellte sich wieder mal heraus, dass (wie immer :-$) in einem Abstand von max. 3 Sitzen, (nach vorne einer, vorne rechts 2, hinten rechts 3) jeweils ein kleines Kind (vom Säugling bis ca. 3 Jahre) saß, welche aber, erstaunlicherweise, den ganzen Flug über bis auf wenige Minuten recht ruhig waren. Also konnte ich entspannt meine 4 Filme über Movie-on-demand in der Vorderlehne sehen, schlafen habe ich versucht, ging aber nicht. Die Thaifrau neben mir bat mir zwar Schlaftabletten an (nehme niemals Pillen von fremden Leuten!!!), meinte dann noch, ob ich sie kurz vor der Landung wecken könne, und schlief dann bis auf die ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Mae Hong Son October 14th 2005

If I could have crossed the border near Mae Hong Son, I would have left this country with a tempered view and an admiration for its aesthetical attributes as well as its friendly locals, but alas - frosting and sprinkles alone aren’t enough to make a bland cake into an award-winning recipe. My first stop after Sukhothai was the border town of Mae Sot, which turned out to have little to see other than gem dealers and buckets of wriggling eels at the market, but was interesting for the mix of people. Burmese men in their longgyi (long skirts tied at the top into a knot), Muslim girls in their headscarves, Shan women riding side-saddle on the back of a bicycle, and a handful of foreign volunteers working for area NGOs provided a unique multicultural kaleidoscope. ... read more
Sunset in Mae Sariang
Village boy in Doi Leam
Cabbages and Mountains

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 14th 2005

Got up and ready for our day of Temple spotting with Mr Narong..a full day out for just under a fiver! Was a really good day, got to see most of them which we wouldn't of by foot as they were so far apart. Went to a Thai Boxing match with Helen & James and another english couple..Simon & Elle..which was 'interesting' shall i say..but glad we were sat close to the back as there was blood flying everywhere! The people fighting ranged from teenagers to full adults all depending on there weight, the main fight of the night being against a guy from new zealand who had no chance against his ass-kicking bruce lee oppenent! They were small but don't be fooled..these guys were tough! ... read more
pre fight dance

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 10th 2005

DAY 1: Got picked up about 9:30am to start our 3 day Jungle Trek. Met the rest of the people in our group..2 Germans, 2 Danes and another English couple-Helen & James-not actually a couple just friends! Left Chang Mai and travelled by truck to the local markets. Then drove up to a drop off point where we hiked for about 2 hrs to the waterfall, went for a swim then hiked for 3hrs to the Karen village where we spent the night! Got to know the other English couple abit better and they were both really nice! Everyone went to bed fairly early as we were all so tired from the walking and me & sean hadn't quite recovered from the train journey either. DAY 2: Got up at 8am, we didn't too well on ... read more
White water rafting-Thai style!

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 9th 2005

With very mixed feelings, we are into our last full day here in Chang Mai. Yes we have spent most of it cooking but our love of food our love of hot sticky weather. As before, we spend today at ChangMai Thai Cookery school in the company of Boom and Gaan. Won't bore you with the details of every dish, suffice to say they are equally as lovely as the previous days (piccies to follow, no USB port here) Sunday in Chang Mai is a revelation. Just after midday, every local with something to sell (it seems) pitches up a stall at Tae Phae Gate and a massive open market is created. So we arrive after a hard days cooking and have a look around. Much cheaper than the night bazaar and the atmosphere is ... read more

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 8th 2005

I'm not talking about spending cash, I'm talking about the lovely pestle and mortar. Today we learn the delights of pounding curry paste, forget about Sharwoods and Blue Dragon, this is the real thing. Roong talks us through the ingredients and we get to it with our pestle and mortar. Dry stuff first, followed by fresh. We pound for a good 15-20 minutes and make the tastiest curry this side of Bangkok. Kev's naturally has more chilli than everyone else so takes the longest! His wrist action doesn't seem that good either ?!? We progress to more curry, a salad some fantastic sweet & sour vegetables (I'm never buying another sauce in a jar!) and sticky black rice pudding, which is nicer than it sounds. Today when we arrive, Roong invites us out for Big Mama's ... read more
Beautiful Roong
Crispy Fish
Big Mama's Birthday

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 8th 2005

08.10.05 Got up, showered and packed our bags ready to check out of our lovely hotel. Had loads of time to kill as our train wasn't until 6pm, so we looked around the shops the best we could with our huge rucksacks on! Both looking forward to Chang Mai tomorrow just need to get through the 12hr train journey first tonight :o/ 09.10.05 Well we're at Chang Mai after the worst train journey ever!!! It was all going well at first, got on the train and were both impressed as we had loads of room and even a bed each! 2hrs later the train guard made up the beds so we could try and get some sleep-thats when it all started-the train creaked so much, swayed from side to side nearly chucking us out of bed, ... read more
Father & Son!

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 7th 2005

Today brings more cooking lessons, like I need them! Well actually there are some of you that will be glad I did, Phad Thai was on todays schedule, along with fish cakes, tom yam soup (hot and sour with prawns), green curry, chicken salad and a water chestnut desert which is much nicer than it sounds. We switched cooking stations today and Kev got a decent burner, I however nearly set alight to my hands twice, thank god for asbestos fingers! We started out with a tour of thai ingredients, which herbs are the best to use and what to use as alternatives. We started out with the Tom Yam, Kev's favourite. It's blisteringly hot, uses a copious amount of birds eye chilli but it's fragrant and refreshing at the same time. The rest of the ... read more
Kev's tom yam soup
Kev's fish cakes
Kev's Pad Thai & Green Curry

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 6th 2005

Hi there, Having a "wanna be in air conditioning" day, so will spend most of the day emailing. Arrived in the nothern capital of Chiang Mai after 7 hours on a public bus, sans le air conditioning. However, it did only cost 2 pounds a piece so you can't really complain. Managed to make our way into town and find a room, and then headed for the Irish pub for a POTATO!! Have been hankering after this carb lovers favourite for some time now and couldn't pass up the opportunity. First stop after Bangkok, was a place called Ayuthaya, one of the many ancient capitals of the country. Stayed at great hostel called Tony's Place, where the staff are really friendly. Decided to go on a night tour of all the local Wats, run by the ... read more
Sunset over Ayuthaya
Rach and a monkey
A sign I didn't think I'd ever read

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai October 6th 2005

Today we went on a tour, just us a guide and a driver. We started early and visited a waterfall (one of many), in the Doi Sutep national park. After the waterfall we drove up the winding mountain road to a huge Wat (temple). The temple is built on the site where a white elephant who was carrying a relic of Lord Buddah died. The King of Thailand sent the elephant to wander and choose a site to build a temple. There are 306 steps to reach the temple, I pity the poor elephant! We cheated and got the cable car. The top looks more like a small village than a temple, with many smaller temples within the grounds. There is a fantastic view of Chang Mai, but as it's always misty it's impossible to see. ... read more
Doi Sutep
Naga Steps
pig tail monkey




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