Started late, arrived in Chom Thong after noon. While having a break at the petrol station, it began to rain heavily. Change of plans - Decided to visit Wat Chom Thong and moved Doi Inthanon to tomorrow. This way, we will have an entire day at the mountain instead of having to pay for the ticket for 2 days. Had lunch at the petrol station while waiting for the rain to stop. Checked into a hotel, took a shower and went to Wat Chom Thong. Some of the pictures of the temple are taken yesterday on a day Bumped into some Mae Chee who guided me at the temple kitchen previously. Visited the temporary kitchen and dining hall. The old one is being rebuilt. Had dinner at the street side opposite the temple. Highly recommended by a fellow meditator. I concur with his findings. It is worth the cardiac arrest risk from the bah eu pok. change engine oil and pretrip check. breakfast near the bike service center while the bike is being serviced. rak nah with additional spicy veg and glass noodle
CHIANG MAI - FANG - MAE AI - CHIANG DAO -PAI - MAE HONG SON - CHIANG MAIPart 4/4 Slept to hearts content. Muscles worse than yesterday Decided to cut short the trip and made the dash back to Chiang Mai for recuperation of muscles. Reached apartment just before sunset. The approximately 350km ride back through highway 108 was wonderful though. Raincoat tattered just before reaching. Observing the Thais, the trick is to sit on the raincoat while riding so that it will Not tear itself apart. CHIANG MAI - FANG - MAE AI - CHIANG DAO -PAI - MAE HONG SON - CHIANG MAIPart 3/4 That interesting FOOD place is indeed very interesting. Passed by Mork Fa Waterfall. Went in and took a short stroll. From the signboard, it says Doi Suthep Pui National Park. Hmmm... isn't Doi Suthep and Doi Pui just next to my apartment? Ah~ this is NOT puny sg. so des. Passed by another Hot Spring, went in and take a look. No soak. Stopped at a scenic spot for some photos Saw a sign further down that says Coffin Caves - interesting Saw another sign that says Nam Bor Pee - more interesting Turned in to Nam Bor Pee, straight downhill Bottom is a village with friendly people and interesting kids directing me to the attraction. Further up, a lady spoke with me, found out my intentions and volunteered her reluctant husband as a tour guide. For 200baht, he agreed. It was a 3hour walk, straight up, steep. I became more aware of my lack of fitness. the place is so quiet that villages can speak to one another at normal volumes across great distances. Amazing. The attraction was errr more of the trek and the views along the way for me :-P Pressed on to Mae Hon Son Found a hotel, checked in. Asked for a good place for food and the friendly Police directed me to a nice place. Caught a rainbow. Had a meal and rest. Muscles in bad condition. CHIANG MAI - FANG - MAE AI - CHIANG DAO -PAI - MAE HONG SON - CHIANG MAIPart 2/4 Cuise around, can see the temple at a distance in Fang but didn't find the way there. Chang of plans and decided to go on to Mae Ai to see what is there. Saw a temple on the hills and Whoa~!!! Went further up and Whoa~!!! Whoa~!!! Found out that it is called Wat Thaton Passed by some english speaking South East Asians - probably from sg - walking very quickly like time is running out @-@ in the pagoda... Passed by Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park and decided to go for a hot soak. Reached Chiang Dao and popped into the caves for a look. "Hi" from the spider there. Completed my cave tour just before closing time. Found a hotel, not suitable. Found another one. Just perfect. Had dinner and asked what is the opening hours for that interesting food place near by.... chiang mai - FANG - MAE AI - CHIANG DAO -pai - MAE HONG SON - Chiang maiPart 1/4 Heard about Fang from a friend. Decided to make a trip there. Heard about Mae Hon Son from another biker friend many years ago and decided to do that too. Decided NOT to do any research and just go with the flow. Pitstop, interesting urinal at petrol station BBQ Food along the way Coffee - inquired what is available at Fang and was disappointed. Asked for hotel info and was directed to a newly built one a few steps away. There are some interesting temples nearby but there is left to tomorrow. It was getting late, checked in and had a good rest. Decided to do a day trip to Doi Inthanon. Rode up the mountain, enjoyed a hot tea with spicy instant noodles (air temp 10degC). Visited the Princess Sirindhorn Neutron Monitor (opened during the winter months when the skies are clear). Played hide and seek with the clouds covering the Pagoda. Ate lunch at the Pagoda grounds Detour to ObLuang National Park and had a nice hot soak to end the day Last picture of vortex. No rubber ducky supplied. Pai is half a day's journey from Chiang Mai city. Rented an automatic Toyota Vios with a friend. Made a few stops along the way. It is a nice drive. Strawberry place = good for photos Macadamia nuts = freshly harvested by the hotel staff. Very hard to crack open using a hammer.Big Buddha = same place the other side is the temple with a great view.Pai Canyon = more walkingCoffee Place = one of the many aroundHot springs = f My favorite coffee place, half way between BhuBing Palace and Hmong Village. Rode further up and did a few minutes trek to the summit of Doi Pui Passed by and popped in to take a look. Was actually attracted by the Outlet store next door. Friendly staff introduced me to their products. They sell the farming equipment. Doi Pui is futher up Doi Suthep which is only a few kilometers from Chiang Mai city. The trucks you see in the picture bikes the mountain bikes up and you can have fun going down (mainly). It is 1 of the many organised tours that you can sign up all over the city. Went up to the temple at the top of Doi Suthep. It offers a great view from the top on a clear day. Many shopping along the way up. The steps are not too strenous if you were to take your time shopping and looking at the little stalls as you climb up. There was a traditional dance performance while I was there. It adds to the atmosphere of the temple. Shopping, food and drinks are readily available at before the stairs. Snacks and drinks along the way. There is a ticket counter at the top, by the side. Don't forget to contribute to the maintanence *wink Friend bought me to this temple. This temple have a meditation place at the top. Don't remember exactly where it was but somewhere in the Mae Rim area. Temple of the 5 foot prints i think. Attended a cooking class for tourists. The day starting with pickup from hotel. A tour of the market for a study on common ingredients used in Thai cooking. Thereafter, it is to the cooking school. We were allowed to choose an item from each category. Instructions and demonstrations were given and a little help here and there. We cook and eat our own masterpieces. Sent back to hotel after class. Duration = 1 day (daylight hours) Night is free for other activities. Went to Vientiane in Laos to do my Visa. That is the nearest Thai Embassy from Chiang Mai. 12 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Vientiane. For those who want to visit Chiang Mai, you may want to add Vientiane or Luang Prabang (additional 12 hours bus journey i heard)(Laos) in your itinerary. To save time, it may be better to fly to Luang Prabang or Vientiane and go back from Chiang Mai. 1 friend heard of this cave temple that has a beuatiful setting and he had contacted them in advance. He will be meditating there for a while. Another friend and myself decided to join him in the journey there but we will make our way back by ourselves. We went on 2 motorcycles. Making coffee ouor first stop, as usual. Stopping by an old police outpostfor some pictures. The top of the outpost offers a good view of the surroundings. With stomachs growling, we chanced upon this place by the river and ordered some food. Spotted a narrow stairway leading to the riverside after ordering, we promptly informed them we will like to dine by the river. Some tourists floated by on bamboo rafts - one of those packages available from the agents in the city, no doublt. We communicated with some of them and I tooked the opportunity to tease them if they have had lunch and if they will like to join us... We had a good laugh. :-D That cat doesn't like rice. No issues with chicken though. Found our way to the temple. It is a beautiful place in a beautiful setting. Very quiet, very peaceful. Rice terraces are opposite the temple. After we had toured the temple, we went a little further to the waterfall. Leaving our friend at the temple, we made our way back to the city. My pillion felt a bit queezy. Pitstop at the petrol station Back in the city for a good meal to end the day. Supposed to meet a friend somewhere sometime. He had somehow ended up at a temple when I messaged him. Found him there. Walked around the temple a little bit. Decided to take a cruise from that temple. Had lunch while waiting for the next launch. The cruise stopped midway at a herbal place with herbal drinks. Saw some people letting fishes into the river with a little chanting. Pleasant day. The White Temple is an artistic interpretation of a temple by an artist. It is in Chiang Rai. The recent earthquake has damaged part of it. This visit was made prior to that earthquake. 121 photos in total. Photo Dump - 164 photos. (this site no auto rotate by EXIF during bulk upload - twist your head - i lazy :-p ) |