Blogs from Northern Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 4

Day 4-Saturday-January 16 Afternoon Having seen the sign for Tiger Kingdom this morning on our way to the Elephant Life Experience, we stopped on our way back. Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai was opened in 2008. The first one was opened in Ubon, Thailand in 2000. Tigers at Tiger Kingdom are hand raised by their trainers since young, bonding with it throughout the development process. The trainer employs a combination of repetition, trust and encouragement to train their big cats and over time the Big Cat are accustomed to humans and often see us as one of the family. In Tiger Kingdom, the well-trained and experienced staff will ensure your safety, but these Big Cats are still wild animals that need to treated with respect. Wow…what an experience! Upon entering, you have a choice of how ... read more

Thailand besteht nicht nur aus pulsierenden Metropolen, tropischen Inselparadiesen, traumhaften Stränden und Rotlichtmeilen. Es geht das Gerücht um, daß man abseits dieser touristischen Hotspots eine ganz andere Seite dieses Landes entdecken kann. Um dem auf den Grund zu gehen, machte ich mich in den hohen Norden Thailands auf, wo derzeit der Winter herrscht und es nachts so kalt wird, daß man tatsächlich auf eine Klimaanlage verzichten kann. Ich nahm wegen der schöneren Aussicht den Zug von Bangkok nach Chiang Mai. Dieser ungewöhnlich schnelle, saubere, moderne und pünktliche Zug (ich bin noch etwas durch indische Verhältnisse geschädigt) fuhr tatsächlich durch eine eindrucksvolle Landschaft weitläufiger Felder, Flüße und regenwaldüberzogener Berge. Chiang Mai, die mit überschaubaren 150.000 Einwohnern größte Stadt im Norden, empfing mich mit einer für Asien herrlich entspannten... read more

Wang Chin. To me, it sounds more like the name of a Chinese town, but in fact, it is in Thailand, and I never would have come here without a bicycle, This is the beauty of traveling on a bike: you go to places that few people get to see and sometimes, it's just these places that become the highlights of a trip. But first thing first. I left Chiang Mai a few days ago. My bike was finally in better shape and I was ready to go. It was almost hard to leave my guest house: after 4 days, it felt like home and I was enjoying the comfort of a 900 bhat room! The owner was watching me packing and she took photos, she could not believe that I was going to travel on ... read more

So I realize that I am a bit behind on blogging my daily rides, but the ride schedule has been a little more demanding than I thought it was going to be. Plus, it certainly doesn't help that every time we stop for the evening, our tour guide Noah rings the "Beer-thirty" bell. Anyway, stay tuned for more entries and thanks for reading. สวัสดี S̄wạs̄dī - Hello from Nan, Thailand! Today we left the Golden Triangle and rode along the scenic farming areas to Chiang Rai city. In Chiang Rai, we visited the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) one of the top 10 wonder temples in the world. Along with the main temple, there were several smaller temples. All of the temples in this area are colored white except for one, smaller golden temple. Any ideas ... read more

We had arrived in Bangkok at our estimated arrival time of 4-45pm yesterday afternoon and, whilst coming into land, the first thing we could see out the window of the plane were (literally) thousands of rice paddies spread out below us, stretching away to the horizon, as far as the eye could see. Disembarking from our flight, we headed straight towards baggage collection and immigration which took awhile, as the process wasn’t the quickest. Whilst waiting in the queue, I knew I must be in Thailand, by the amount of perspiration already running down my back and, I wasn’t even outside yet! AND, the airport was air conditioned to a degree! Getting through Customs and Immigration at Bangkok airport was a bit of a slow process after what felt like a walk of a mile and ... read more

Here are some pictures from our elephant day in Chiang Mai back around Christmas. Woody, the guy who runs the days there, has only just put them up on his photo gallery. (Have just uploaded every picture either of us is in....so bear with us if there is repetition )... read more