Date of Travel: 25 - 29 Mar 2015
Accommodation: Swiss Lanna Lodge (25-27 Mar), Khum Jao Luang Boutique (28 Mar)
(We booked two hotels as initially we thought of doing a bike trip. When we arrived, the plan had changed.)
Places visited: Chiang Mai Old City, Doi Inthanon National Park, Pai
Mode of Transport: Bike
Trip Itineraries
Trip Itineraries
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Attire to take note:
I understand that the weather is hot and we like to dress light. Thailand is a Buddhism country. Hence, dressing appropriately when entering their temple building and royal palace is very important. It is to show our respect to their culture and religion.
My advise is:
- for females, grab a scarf and cardigan and put it in your bag.
If you are wearing shorts, the scarf can be worn as a sarong.
If you are wearing sleeveless top, put on your cardigan.
- for males, grab a light material t-shirt and light material long pants in your bag.
You can change at the toilet or what JP did was just wore on top of what he was wearing.
Like this, you will not be spending unnecessary money on buying scarves and clothes.
You will see signs at the temple buildings and royal palace telling you:
Male
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Female
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No Shorts
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No Sleeveless
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No Singlets
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No Short Skirts / Shorts
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No Sunglass
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No Sunglass
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No Hat
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No Hat
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Yes T-shirt
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Yes T-shirt
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Yes Bottom must be at least knee length
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Yes Bottom must be longer than knee length
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Now, I am going to begin writting about my trip in Chiang Mai.
Day 1 - 25 Mar 2015 (Check-in - Rent Bike - Evening Visit in Chiang Mai City)
Arrived in Chiang Mai around 1.45pm. And JP's father's friend came to pick us up and fetch us to our resort, Swiss Lanna Lodge. Hence, we do not know the price of the taxi fare from airport to our resort.
The resort is a 2-stories high house. As introduced by the lady of the resort, this house is 80 years old. It is made of wood and is very neat and clean. And the people there are friendly and helpful. You may ask them for information on your travel in Chiang Mai. :)
The room we booked was The Lotus Room for the first two nights. This room is air-conditioned and the toilet and shower is in the outdoor.
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| Using phone to take a panorama view |
And the Buddha's Room for our last nigh of stay in the resort. It is non-air-conditioned. But don't worry, it is cooling at night with the fan. You may checkout their website for the room pictures. What you see at their website is exactly what you get. :)
After checking in and taking pictures of the room, we went to get our bike via tuk-tuk. We paid 150 baht. (We find it a bit costly) Anyway, my boyfriend contacted Tony's Big Bike before arriving in Chiang Mai. They do organise bike tour as well. You may checkout at their website.
My boyfriend (JP) rented a Kawasaki Ninja 650CC at the price of 1500 baht a day. According to JP's explanation is that it is more comfortable for a long ride, more steady and faster. As I had read some blogs, they rent a scooter and it takes a 3-4 hours to reach their destination (eg. Pai, Doi Inthanon National Park). Thus, JP concluded renting a higher CC bike. The rental includes jackets and helmets.
BUT... this is not the place where we had our dinner.
Walk a little further and turn right to Rachapakinai Road. You will pass by an European shop and a few more steps, tata.. our beef noodle shop. It is next to Yummy E-San Food.
A dried beef noodle (L size - 60 baht) for JP and beef noodle soup (S size - 50 baht) for me! I would recommend the beef noodle soup. ^^ After a dinner, of course we had our mango sticky rice dessert (50 baht) at Yummy E-San Food which is just next door.
Coming down from Twin Chedis, we went to see Wachiratan Waterfall which is near to the entrance of the National Park where we entered earlier. It is less than 5 mins walk from the carpark to the waterfall.
After exiting the National Park, we went to a Chinese Temple which is just a short distance away. The time we arrived the temple was about 4.00pm. We stayed for 15 mins because it was really hot. And we hit back the road to go back to our resort.
After checking in and taking pictures of the room, we went to get our bike via tuk-tuk. We paid 150 baht. (We find it a bit costly) Anyway, my boyfriend contacted Tony's Big Bike before arriving in Chiang Mai. They do organise bike tour as well. You may checkout at their website.
My boyfriend (JP) rented a Kawasaki Ninja 650CC at the price of 1500 baht a day. According to JP's explanation is that it is more comfortable for a long ride, more steady and faster. As I had read some blogs, they rent a scooter and it takes a 3-4 hours to reach their destination (eg. Pai, Doi Inthanon National Park). Thus, JP concluded renting a higher CC bike. The rental includes jackets and helmets.
By the time we got the bike, it was already 6.30pm. As recommended by the lady in the bike shop, it is the best time to go to Doi Suthep to view the sunset. And off we go!!!
However, along the way we couldn't find any petrol station. Hence, we gave up the plan headed back to Chiang Mai City.
As usual, I did a lot of research, there is a temple which you must see in the evening and it is Wat Chedi Luang. It has a different view in the evening. And next to Wat Chedi Luang, there is a temple which also open in evening for tourists, Wat Pan Tao. We parked the bike near to Wat Pan Tao. We also walked around to see other small temples.
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| Wat Chedi Luang |
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| A small temple next to Three Kings Monument Square |
Is dinner time! Our first dinner in Thailand of the trip is beef soup noodle!!!! It is nice and cheap! Walking from the Three Kings Monument Square towards Wat Pan Tao, we turn left to Rachadamnoen Road. And you see a restaurant with many lanterns hanging at its entrance.
BUT... this is not the place where we had our dinner.
Walk a little further and turn right to Rachapakinai Road. You will pass by an European shop and a few more steps, tata.. our beef noodle shop. It is next to Yummy E-San Food.
A dried beef noodle (L size - 60 baht) for JP and beef noodle soup (S size - 50 baht) for me! I would recommend the beef noodle soup. ^^ After a dinner, of course we had our mango sticky rice dessert (50 baht) at Yummy E-San Food which is just next door.
And after a delicious dinner and dessert, we went back to our resort to rest and prepare for the next day.
Day 2 - 26 Mar 2015 (Doi Inthanon National Park)
- Mae Ya Waterfall, Twin Chedis, Wachiratan Waterfall & Chinese Temple
Prepare a Jacket / Pull
Bike Ride from Resort - Mae Ya Waterfall = 1 hr
Bike Ride from Mae Ya Waterfall - Twin Chedis = 1 hr
(Wachiratan Waterfall & Chinese Temple are along the way to Twin Chedis)
We had a nice breakfast at our resort before setting off on the road to our adventure...
Bike Ride from Resort - Mae Ya Waterfall = 1 hr
Bike Ride from Mae Ya Waterfall - Twin Chedis = 1 hr
(Wachiratan Waterfall & Chinese Temple are along the way to Twin Chedis)
We had a nice breakfast at our resort before setting off on the road to our adventure...
At 9.30am we were ready to set off on a long ride to Doi Inthanon National Park. But of course we topped up a full tank first. For the full ride, we topped up around 200 baht of petrol.
With the big bike that we had, it took us around 1 hour to reach Mae Ya Waterfall. Take Route 106 followed by Route 108. You will arrive in a small town. In the small town, there are directions showing you the way to Mae Ya Waterfall. This waterfall is within Doi Inthanon National Park, so you just have to pay once for the entrance fees for the whole Doi Inthanon National Park. The price of the entrance ticket of an adult is 300 baht. The distance from the entrance to the parking lot is very short. And from the parking lot to waterfall is around 600m distance (if I remember correctly).
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| Mae Ya Waterfall |
When we arrived to see the waterfall, I felt the waterfall is really beautiful and magnification. Maybe it is the time that we arrived, there weren't many people around. Not even a tourist bus. We could enjoy the quietness and the sound of the waterfall. Finally, we were back to the NATURE!!! We stayed for about 15 minutes and we set off to Twin Chedis, our next destination.
We rode back to Route 108 and turned left to Route 1009 and rode up the mountain road to Doi Inthanon. Along Route 1009, there is another entrance of the National Park. It uses the same ticket at Mae Ya Waterfall. After an hour bike ride up the mountain road, I started to feel chilling. As we rode further, we began to see fog. Not to worry. You are still able to ride/drive. Just that you have to be more careful. And finally we arrived to see many motorbikes and cars parking along the roadside. And we guessed that it may be the place to see Twin Chedis. Total timing from the waterfall to pagoda was around 1 hours.
After parking the bike and putting on our jackets, we were happily walking towards the entrance. And then we were stopped. We were told that we had to pay an entrance fee to Twin Chedis. This entrance is not included in the ticket we bought earlier. (-_-) The entrance fee costs 40 baht per adult.
Anyway, after we went in, I was disappointed because there were a lot of fog........ We couldn't take any nice pictures so we walked around to see the beautiful flowers blossom in vibrant colours. And we went inside the Pagodas. In each Pagoda, there is a Buddha. And around the Pagoda, there are tiled-pictures of Buddhism. It is really beautiful. We stayed for almost an hour as we were waiting for the fog to clear so that we could take pictures. The fog just comes and goes, so you have to always hold on to your camera to quickly snap a few nice pictures before the place got fogged again. Sounds like a competition. Lol.
If you are tired of climbing up the stairs to the Pagodas, there are escalators installed.
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| Twin Chedis |
Before heading down the mountain road, we went a little further up from Twin Chedis to walk up to the highest point of the mountain.
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| A short path that leads to the highest point of Doi Inthanon National Park |
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| Wachirathan Waterfall |
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| Chinese Temple |
Day 3 - 27 Mar 2015 (Pai & Doi Suthep National Park)
- Memorial Bridge, Pai Canyon, Chinatown & Doi Suthep National Park
Prepare a Jacket / Pull
Bike Ride from Resort - Memorial Bridge = 2.5 - 3 hrs
Bike Ride from Pai - Doi Suthep = 3 hrs
Here we go.... Preparing for a long ride to Pai. We set off around 9 am. This time 30 mins earlier than the day before as some blogs mentioned that it takes 4 hours to reach Pai. With the big bike we had, we aimed to reach Pai by 12pm-1pm.
We took Route 107 up north all the way and turned left to Route 1095 to Pai. Along the way on Route 107, there was a traffic jam due to road construction. I personally feel that it is better to ride a motorbike as it is faster and most importantly is to avoid getting stuck in the traffic. On the way to Pai, you may see directions leading you to Mae Hong Son. Follow that direction and it will lead you to Route 1095.
Route 1095 is a mountain road that has many sharp turns. So please drive carefully. My sister told me that she took a taxi to Pai and she felt giddy because of the number of turns on Route 1095. As we were riding a bike, hence it wasn't too bad for me. If you are not feeling well, you may take a break as there are many toilet break stops along Route 1095. Or you may even stop to visit a hot spring or for pictures at the viewpoints (which we never did all).
Route 1095 is like crossing a few mountains (for me). It goes up to the top of the mountain and then down again. During the ride at the top of the mountain, I felt cold. There was a little fog but the road was visible. Get a jacket/pull in case you can't withstand the cold like me.
After a straight 2.5 hours of ride, we finally reached our first destination of the day - WWII Memorial Bridge. Sitting in the same position for 2.5 hours ride, I finally could stretch my legs. The bridge that we see now is a reconstructed one. You may read more information at the panel nearby.
After taking some pictures, we decided to take a break at Jinko Cafe which is just after the bridge. It is a nice cafe that serves nice Ice Thai Tea (60 baht) and Ice Green Tea (70 baht?). With the price we paid for our drinks, we got Grande Size. It is definitely worth the price. They also do sell ice latte and other drinks too. But I would recommend you to try the drinks we ordered. ^^ If you want to buy some souvenirs, you may visit the shops opposite the cafe. There is a toilet on the left of the cafe and you need to pay 5/10 baht (don't really remember). Just prepare some change for the toilet.
We stayed at Pai Canyon for 10 mins and we continued our journey in Pai. Further down the road, you may find many nice cafes around. We stopped at "Coffee In Love" Cafe for some pictures. Although the weather was super hot, it was still a nice weather to take nice pictures. I took panorama view using my phone.
Continuing straight from "Coffee In Love" Cafe we reached Pai City Centre. It is a place where you can find many hostels, shops and eateries. You can plan to stay a night or two in Pai as there are many more to see in Pai such as Pai's White Buddha which we never did. We just ride around the city centre and then head back to Route 1095 (where we came from), at the big junction turn right and following the direction we went to visit Pai's Chinatown. If you are coming from "Coffee In Love" Cafe, turn left at the big junction to go to Pai's Chinatown.
No entrance fee is required at the Chinese Village. There are some shops selling souvenirs. snacks and drinks. We found the Chinese Village a little disappointment as we expected to see the real livelihood of the village. We felt that it is commercialised.
Lishu Village is on the right side from the Chinese Village. We missed the road and we headed straight to Mo Paeng Waterfall. On the way to the waterfall, we saw police checking on the motorists riding on scooter. Remember always bring along your driving licence and your passport just in case you got stopped by the police.
On some blogs, I read that you can swim at Mo Paeng Waterfall. But you have to climbed up the steep slope to the pool. I was not so adventurous. I stayed at the bottom of the waterfall and waited for JP to take some pictures. If you are climbing up, do be careful as the rocks are quite slippery.
We stayed for 20 mins, had our packed lunch and we headed back to Route 1095 to Doi Suthep National Park for sunset. It was 3.30pm when we hit the road. We rode back to Route 1095 back to Route 107 and then turn right to Route 121 and finally up to Route 1004. It took us 3 hours to reached Doi Suthep. You have to drive carefully on Route 1004 as there are many cyclist riding up the mountain road. You will be impressed by their perseverance in completing their cycling journey.
The road in the National Park is very very narrow with curves and no street lights. The width of the road is the same as a car. So only one car can drive at a time on the road. And you will see signs telling you to horn if necessary as there are many blind spots.
Try to reach the place to see the sunset around 6.30pm. The place to watch the sunset is really quiet and has a beautiful view. You may stay as long as you want but do be careful when you rode back as there are no street lights on the narrow road. Remember to sound your honk whenever you feel is necessary. This is to alert any oncoming motor vehicles even though you can't see them.
On the way back, still at Doi Suthep and is after Wat Prathat temple, we stopped at a viewpoint to see the overview of Chiang Mai City.
Is almost the end of our 3rd day in Chiang Mai. Before we could have our dinner, we were stuck in the traffic. This is because the traffic light near Maya Lifestyle Shopping Mall changes very slow. We were on staionary for almost 20 mins. Not only JP off the engine of the bike and some other motor vehicles did the same too.
Finally we were able to "move on", we went to have some street food for our dinner. Some advises for you. Do not be afraid to try the street food in Thailand. So long as the food is cooked in front of you, you can go ahead and eat the food. So.. what type of food should you try??? Very easy. Follow the queue of Thai people and you will never miss out good food. ^^
The place where we had our street food is at Chang Phueak Gate (North Gate). It is along Manee Nopparat Road. The place may not look nice. I really do recommend you to try. The list of food we had for dinner are stir-fried vegetables with beef and noodle (40 baht), stew pork shank (35 baht), fruit juice, BBQ pork ball (20 baht), dessert - sticky rice ball cooked in coconut milk with egg (25 baht) and mango sticky rice (60 baht)
Thank you for taking a tour in our blog. We hope that the details provided is enough for you to plan your trip in Chiang Mai. Bon Voyage!
Bike Ride from Resort - Memorial Bridge = 2.5 - 3 hrs
Bike Ride from Pai - Doi Suthep = 3 hrs
Here we go.... Preparing for a long ride to Pai. We set off around 9 am. This time 30 mins earlier than the day before as some blogs mentioned that it takes 4 hours to reach Pai. With the big bike we had, we aimed to reach Pai by 12pm-1pm.
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| A shot before getting on our bike |
Route 1095 is a mountain road that has many sharp turns. So please drive carefully. My sister told me that she took a taxi to Pai and she felt giddy because of the number of turns on Route 1095. As we were riding a bike, hence it wasn't too bad for me. If you are not feeling well, you may take a break as there are many toilet break stops along Route 1095. Or you may even stop to visit a hot spring or for pictures at the viewpoints (which we never did all).
Route 1095 is like crossing a few mountains (for me). It goes up to the top of the mountain and then down again. During the ride at the top of the mountain, I felt cold. There was a little fog but the road was visible. Get a jacket/pull in case you can't withstand the cold like me.
After a straight 2.5 hours of ride, we finally reached our first destination of the day - WWII Memorial Bridge. Sitting in the same position for 2.5 hours ride, I finally could stretch my legs. The bridge that we see now is a reconstructed one. You may read more information at the panel nearby.
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| Beginning of the WWII Memorial Bridge |
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| The other end of WWII Memorial Bridge |
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| Jinko Cafe |
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| Ice Thai Tea & Ice Green Tea @ Jinko Cafe |
Our next destination - Pai Canyon which is a short distance from Jinko Cafe. So do not ride/drive off too fast or else you will miss it. It is on your left hand side if you are coming from the Memorial Bridge. Walk up a flight of stairs and you will see Pai Canyon. That day was really an extremely HOT weather for us. At Pai Canyon, I felt like I was in a desert. (>.<) JP got sun burnt after the visit. So remember to put on more sun block, wear sunglasses & hat and drink lots of water.
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| Panorama View from Pai Canyon |
We stayed at Pai Canyon for 10 mins and we continued our journey in Pai. Further down the road, you may find many nice cafes around. We stopped at "Coffee In Love" Cafe for some pictures. Although the weather was super hot, it was still a nice weather to take nice pictures. I took panorama view using my phone.
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| Panorama View from "Coffee In Love" cafe |
Continuing straight from "Coffee In Love" Cafe we reached Pai City Centre. It is a place where you can find many hostels, shops and eateries. You can plan to stay a night or two in Pai as there are many more to see in Pai such as Pai's White Buddha which we never did. We just ride around the city centre and then head back to Route 1095 (where we came from), at the big junction turn right and following the direction we went to visit Pai's Chinatown. If you are coming from "Coffee In Love" Cafe, turn left at the big junction to go to Pai's Chinatown.
No entrance fee is required at the Chinese Village. There are some shops selling souvenirs. snacks and drinks. We found the Chinese Village a little disappointment as we expected to see the real livelihood of the village. We felt that it is commercialised.
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| Pai's Chinatown |
Lishu Village is on the right side from the Chinese Village. We missed the road and we headed straight to Mo Paeng Waterfall. On the way to the waterfall, we saw police checking on the motorists riding on scooter. Remember always bring along your driving licence and your passport just in case you got stopped by the police.
On some blogs, I read that you can swim at Mo Paeng Waterfall. But you have to climbed up the steep slope to the pool. I was not so adventurous. I stayed at the bottom of the waterfall and waited for JP to take some pictures. If you are climbing up, do be careful as the rocks are quite slippery.
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| The pool at Mo Paeng Waterfall |
The road in the National Park is very very narrow with curves and no street lights. The width of the road is the same as a car. So only one car can drive at a time on the road. And you will see signs telling you to horn if necessary as there are many blind spots.
Try to reach the place to see the sunset around 6.30pm. The place to watch the sunset is really quiet and has a beautiful view. You may stay as long as you want but do be careful when you rode back as there are no street lights on the narrow road. Remember to sound your honk whenever you feel is necessary. This is to alert any oncoming motor vehicles even though you can't see them.
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| Sunset at Doi Suthep National Park |
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| Sunset at Doi Suthep National Park |
On the way back, still at Doi Suthep and is after Wat Prathat temple, we stopped at a viewpoint to see the overview of Chiang Mai City.
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| An overview of Chiang Mai City |
Finally we were able to "move on", we went to have some street food for our dinner. Some advises for you. Do not be afraid to try the street food in Thailand. So long as the food is cooked in front of you, you can go ahead and eat the food. So.. what type of food should you try??? Very easy. Follow the queue of Thai people and you will never miss out good food. ^^
The place where we had our street food is at Chang Phueak Gate (North Gate). It is along Manee Nopparat Road. The place may not look nice. I really do recommend you to try. The list of food we had for dinner are stir-fried vegetables with beef and noodle (40 baht), stew pork shank (35 baht), fruit juice, BBQ pork ball (20 baht), dessert - sticky rice ball cooked in coconut milk with egg (25 baht) and mango sticky rice (60 baht)
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| The place where we bought stir-fried vegetables with beef and noodles |
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| Lady boss of Stew Pork Shank |
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| BBQ Pork Ball Store |
This dessert store is also recommended in Japanese magazine. That's the reason why I wanted to try.
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| Sticky rice ball cooked in coconut milk with egg |
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| Mango Sticky Rice |
Day 4 - 28 Mar 2015 (Chiang Mai City - Khantoke Dinner and Cultural Show)
At last our final one full day Chiang Mai. As mentioned earlier, we had a changed of plan upon arrival. We checked-out Swiss Lanna Lodge and checked-in at Khum Jao Luang Boutique Hotel. Not a bad hotel but I found the room was a bit dim and the door to our room is a bit small. Although there is no lift, the bell boy helps us to bring our bags to our room . Overall, the hotel is good and the people are very helpful and friendly.
We went to Nine's Kitchen, which is near to our hotel, for our lunch. We had pad thai, thai fish cake served with sweet and spicy sauce, beer and ice thai tea.
After a full lunch, it was time for "EXERCISE". We visited the temples and walked around Waroros Market. Warorot Market is also a Chinatown of Chiang Mai. If you like shopping, you can stay there for one day to shop as it is quite big. And at night, you can go to the Night Bazaar. Actually we didn't do any shopping at the market. We were busy searching for my mum's meditation cushion. When you are buying things in Warorot Market, remember to bargain for cheaper price in the market.
In Warorot Market, we found a noodle shop. It is a popular store and is recommended by the local newspaper. Too bad we had our lunch, if not we could have try the beef noodle soup. The shop is very clean. I don't remember where it is but keep a look out for it. We went it for a drink because the weather is toooooooo HOT. By the way we forgot the name of the street. We remembered is near the street where there are shops selling the tribe clothing.
We visited some of the temples in Chiang Mai.
- Wat Buppharam
- Wat Ou Sai Kham (Emerald Buddha)
In Chiang Mai, there are many massage shop. The price for leg massage mostly is about 200 baht. You can request for harder or softer massage. After a long day of walking, we returned our bike and walked back to our hotel to take a shower and had leg massage before going for the Khantoke Dinner.
There are two Khantoke Dinner in Chiang Mai. one is at the south of Chiang Mai which is the Cultural Center while the other is at the north east of Chiang Mai - Khum Khantoke. We went to the Cultural Center. The dinner is an introduction of the Northern Thai culinary. The food tastes good and it is refillable. We ate a lot. For vegans, you have the choice for vegetarian in the dinner. As for the cultural show, we would say just ok. You need to call to make reservation. The price for the Khantoke Dinner is 620 baht per person. (the price doesn't include drinks) And there will be a mini van to pick you up at your hotel and send you back too.
We had finally come to the end of our trip in Chiang Mai. We really enjoyed our bike trip to the places. We wish we could stay 2 more days as we wanted to visit Wat Rong Khun at Chiang Rai. From Chiang Mai, it is a 4 hours ride. Wat Rong Khun is famous for being a white colour temple and its design of the temple. I really would recommend you to visit this temple. And maybe you can tell me how beautiful it is. :) We went to Nine's Kitchen, which is near to our hotel, for our lunch. We had pad thai, thai fish cake served with sweet and spicy sauce, beer and ice thai tea.
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| Pad Thai |
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| Thai Fish Cake with Sweet and Spicy Sauce |
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| Beer and Ice Thai Tea |
In Warorot Market, we found a noodle shop. It is a popular store and is recommended by the local newspaper. Too bad we had our lunch, if not we could have try the beef noodle soup. The shop is very clean. I don't remember where it is but keep a look out for it. We went it for a drink because the weather is toooooooo HOT. By the way we forgot the name of the street. We remembered is near the street where there are shops selling the tribe clothing.
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| Thai newspaper article recommending about the Noodle shop |
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| Photos of Royal King & Queen hanging on the wall |
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| Menu on the wall |
- Wat Buppharam
- Wat Ou Sai Kham (Emerald Buddha)
There are two Khantoke Dinner in Chiang Mai. one is at the south of Chiang Mai which is the Cultural Center while the other is at the north east of Chiang Mai - Khum Khantoke. We went to the Cultural Center. The dinner is an introduction of the Northern Thai culinary. The food tastes good and it is refillable. We ate a lot. For vegans, you have the choice for vegetarian in the dinner. As for the cultural show, we would say just ok. You need to call to make reservation. The price for the Khantoke Dinner is 620 baht per person. (the price doesn't include drinks) And there will be a mini van to pick you up at your hotel and send you back too.
Thank you for taking a tour in our blog. We hope that the details provided is enough for you to plan your trip in Chiang Mai. Bon Voyage!
