Month: October 2013

Woke up this morning to rain, the first we have had. Irene’s tum still a little dodgy so decided to travel to Chiang Khong on the border of Laos by private car arranged by the hotel. More comfortable than the local bus and a good hour quicker. Nice cheery driver who appeared to be a devout Buddhist as he made a praying sign whenever we passed a temple along the road. Every town has one and they are also scattered along the road between towns.

The hotel pool in Chiang Rai

Beautiful gardens around the hotel, the rooms were all single storey bungalows

Arrived at our hotel in Chiang Khong at about 2.40. Nice hotel right beside the Mekong, again single storey bungalows, very nicely decorated, all facilities, nice little balcony overlooking the river, all for a mere £ 25.00

Had a of a rough night! I (Irene) was up on and off getting rid of any food from the last two day! The bed was like a rock. We’ve never slept ( or not) on such a hard bed, I think it was a board hidden in a sort of mattress! weird! We had no curtains at one of the bedroom windows. Breakfast came without knives or plates, all a bit odd, but the chap, Rico, was very friendly. We hung around until 11am to check the stomach out, then left on an in between quality of bus. Air conditioned, but pretty old. After another couple of hours we arrived saddle sore at Chiangrai. Now in a ‘proper hotel’ so enjoying the luxury of hair dryer, tea in room etc. Off tonight to see what Chiangrai has to offer. The night market first and then something to eat if the gut stands up to it!
Tomorrow is another bus, the old rickety one again for a mere three hours! Yippee. We did look at getting chauffeur driven car, but it was outside our budget. I can hear you all groaning from here!

Caught bus at 9am for our two and half hour bus ride to Phayao . VIP bus with wide comfy reclining seats and of course AC. £5.00 each for VIP bus. Crazy.
Arrived Phayao and asked how to get to our hotel ( we got the T – shirt now and have all our hotel addresses in local language)
They pointed to a charabang red bus not a tuk tuk or taxi . Strange we thought, perhaps it goes past our hotel. On we get and show address to where we want to go and get a bit of a nod. Bus fills up and off we go. Electric fans in the roof and all doors left open, old school AC. Nice lady money collector for ticket asked for 50 baht which seemed a lot for a short trip !! Well we soon found out that we had truly f—-d up this nights stay. Our hotel was in a place called Chiang Kham in the Province of Phayao and another two hours from Phayao town. Too late now. Arrived Chiang Kham still with smiles on our faces looking forward to a nice relax at the hotel. Crap hotel, called the Rico Resort. Not what we expected and not what the web photos showed. A lot of the fots were of the owners own house and swimming pool and those of another complex which he owns nearby. Rico the owner was a nice chap from the states but had no idea how to run a hotel. The experience to complicated to describe in full here. Not awful but dissapointing. Had to work out how to get to our next nights stop in Chiang Rai without going all the way back to Phayao. Luckily there is a bus direct. Had a nice meal with the owner, Rico at his house and two other Dutch guests.
The following photos look better than the actual place. It was very peaceful and great views over the paddy fields. It is nice getting out into the country and see Thai life for real which is what this sort of holiday is all about. So looking back we will not really regret our stupidity and put it down as all part of the adventure.

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Today was Chiangmai cookery class, called ‘A lot of Thai’. We were picked up by Yui, and she was to be our chef/teacher for the day. We met our fellow students, two from Macau, two from Singapore, two from Florida and a chef from St Croix in the Carribean. Our first part of the day was spent at the local market, looking at and asking questions about food and local produce. It was Yui’s local market and many of the stall holders were her close friends. It was really informative and we were there until nearly 12noon. When we got to the ‘school’, actually Yui and Ywan’s home, we were straight into cooking. Yui was very infectious, excited and informative about her work. She’s a really great character to teach anything.
We started with a demo and then off to do it ourselves. Then the great bit, we ate our food. We cooked six dishes, so we ate six dishes. We were all stuffed when we’d finished. There was a lot of laughing and oh damming going on when we left something out, but on the whole we all made a good fist of it. We made stir fried noodles with tofu and chicken, green thai curry, chicken and cashew nut stir fry, spring rolls, Tom yum soup, and sticky rice with mango and coconut cream. All were delicious. A great day, back to the hotel at 6pm for a shower. A walk for an hour and then back to the hotel for a beer and to pack. Off to Phayao tomorrow on the local bus. Very organised, our hotel receptionist got our bus tickets today and has organised a taxi for 8am

7.00am pick up by minibus this morning for the long return trip up north to what is known as the Golden Triangle, the small area where the three countries of Thailand, Mirima(Burma) and Laos meet. Laos is actually the other side of the Mekong river. This is the area where opium was sold for gold, hence the name.
On the way stopped at some Hot Springs which was a waste of time, just a shopping area with a fountain in the middle and a hot pool that you could boil eggs in.

Next stop and the main reason for the trip was at the “White Temple” It is nothing grand on the inside but the outside is quite special. It is not old and was actually built in the last 20 years.

Before one goes over the bridge you are in Hell and then in Heaven so must not return the same way.

The site prides itself on the “Golden Toilets”

Onward to the Golden Triangle itself which again a bit of a disappointment. Not a lot to see apart from the Mekong and the shores of the three countries. We did have boat trip across the river to Laos but it was just another shopping event. Bloody tours are all the same but sometimes you have to do them.

Buffet lunch followed and then returning back via an ethnic Burmese “tribe” that have settled in Thailand. Long day with some good points.
Cooking tomorrow.

We decided that today we would visit the Saturday walking street! Yes, we were confused. There is also a Sunday one, walking street that is! Anyway we ambled off, too hot to do anything other than amble. We found the said street and started walking, it was just the same as any other street. So, we gave up and decided to go somewhere else. We found out later that a walking street is when they close the street to traffic and stalls set up across the street. The reason we had drawn a blank, was that it didn’t start until 5pm! We walked around the centre of the old town, visited a couple of Wats, had the obligatory beer, then came back to the hotel for a swim and relax, knowing that the next two days would be full on.
In the evening we went to the same Thai restaurant as we had the previous evening. Tasted some of their other dishes and had a couple of beers.

Left Bangkok for Chiangmai at 12.50pm. Air Asia, great value,very regular and good efficient service. We did have the standard Bangkok Starbucks breakfast – a croissant for one and yogurt for ‘er. Taxi to the airport cost £10 for 30 min drive including costs for road tolls. Paul was about to start asking for the meter to go on, but has mellowed since last time and just accepted the price. No fights with taxi drivers, so far!
Arrived in Chiangmai, and by the time I’d visited the loo, Paul had sussed the taxi situation. Cost us £2.40 to the hotel. Met with the customary drink of mango, and the Thai smiles. Hotel lovely, no restaurant, only 11 rooms, but beautifully Thai. Walked the old city from 3 to 6. Visited several temples, some very beautiful. We were even able to listen to some saffron clad Buddhist Monks doing their evening chanting.
Hotel has recommended a Thai restaurant nearby for dinner, so we shall see what Chiangmai Thai is like. Booked a trip to the Golden Triangle on Sunday, 7am until 8.30pm, it’s going to be a long day

Stopped for a roadside cuppa

Look out for ELF Duck on our travels!!

Very nice authentic interior of our recommended restaurant tonight . Great Thai food with mainly Thai’s eating.

After coffee and croissant at the Starbucks next door to our hotel we went off to a couple of temples we hadn’t seen before. The Lucky ( for some) Temple and Wat Arun.
We had heard about the Ladyboy show where men dress up as girls and do a sort of variety show. So we booked up and went off to the Asiatique centre( lots of shops and restaurants in modern streetscape development) for the 8.15 show. Had dinner before we went.

Ladyboy Show was an experience! Amazing costumes, amazing looking men in heels and skimpy outfits with all the accoutrements needed for their work! Bit weird for us Europeans, but as a one off experience worth it.
Took the free ferry back to the hotel, good day out.

The following fots

The Junk Temple and some of the Ladyboys( they really are all male)

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Arrived in Bangkok after 26 hours on planes and airports. Bangkok is hot and humid 31degrees. Feel a bit spaced out, not helped by the 2am breakfast UK time we had between Dubai and Bangkok. Bit stupid really, I chose spicy noodles, for breakfast! And then suffered with indigestion all day!!!! Unlike ‘butt’ travels usual experience, we were picked up by a chauffeur driven car at the airport and whisked away to our hotel on the Chao Phraya river, instead of the stand up fight Paul had with two tuk tuk drivers on our first day of our last trip. So, so far all is well, except we’ve had the engineer in three times to mend our safe. He’s just telling us it’s now OK for you!!!!
Had dinner on the terrace, glass noodle and seafood salad; stir fry soft shell crabs; and stir fry vegetables with chicken and cashew nuts, served with two huge helpings of rice and three Chang beers. All for £28, and in a 5star hotel. So far so good. Bon Nuit!