Monday 7th
The original plan was to go to Phitsanulok, about an hour from Sukhothai and on the main train line. When we arrived at Chiang Mai station we had missed the 9:30am train and the next one was at 3pm, arriving at 11pm, if it wasn't delayed. So we decided to change plans, go to the bus station (more money on tuk tuks) and stay in Sukhothai instead of Phitsanulok as we would be travelling to Sukhothai as a day trip.
We choose to go to Sukhothai for a few reasons. Firstly, it is halfway between Chiang Mai and Bangkok, saving us from a 12 hour bus ride or longer train ride. Secondly, we had two days to spare in a sense and lastly it is an old capital of Thailand and an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We arrived around 4pm and were approached by a hotel employee about his place. It ticked all the boxes so we decided to stay there. We put our stuff in our room and immediately went out for dinner as we were starving. It was quite hard to find a restaurant but we did. Dinner was disappointing and small so we both got more food from street stalls along the way back to the hotel. We planned on using the internet but the only net cafe we could find was full of school children.
The hotel room had a t.v with 136 channels but alas only two English channels, both of which were Christian channels. The entrance to the bathroom was ridiculously short, level with my nose. Eventhough i bowed my head each time i still managed to hit the top of my head twice.
Tuesday 8th
Since Sukhothai is a small town we decided that to rent a motorbike was the best option to see Old Sukhothai. Old Sukhothai is around 12km from New Sukhothai where we were staying. It was a kick start bike which i had never used so it wasn't always the easiest thing to start but i managed. On the way to the old city we stopped off at the bus station to see when the bus comes and to buy our tickets.
The old city was said to be similar to those of Angkor although i didn't notice too much similarity. The easy way to describe most of the ruins is that they were simply ruins. Some of the sites we didn't even bother to get off the bike and see in person. It was quite hot out in the sun but we managed to find one spot next to a pool of water which was so nice to sit next to.
At dusk we went to the small night food stalls and market, although we ate at a restaurant call 'Poo Restaurant'. However it had a picture of Winnie the Pooh but the signs had the unfortunate typo.
All in all Sukhothai isn't really worth visiting unless you have the time and want to have a break between Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Chiang Mai
Thursday 3rd
Before we left Chiang Rai we wanted to go to this Chinese-Thai place for cheap dumplings but as it was Chinese New Year they were closed. We settled for this other place near our hotel where i had lots of Chinese bread and a noodle dish which was alright but not what i wanted.
We then went to the bus station on foot only to find out that Chiang Mai buses leave from a different station. Luckily there was a shared tuk tuk for 10B each that we just filled up. We had to wait 30mins before we could leave but that was alright.
On the bus they played an Australian movie we had never heard of but it was dubbed in Thai so it was no good to us. After that they played Thai comedy, similar to the Cambodian style. The bus ride took four hours and was pretty smooth.
We had tried to book places but they were all full so we had to tuk tuk driver in Chiang Mai take us to places he knew, it was about four places before we found one which wasn't full and didn't involve me lugging our bags up four flights of stairs.
Friday 4th
We got up late and went out to eat. Today was all about booking a trek and going to the night bazaar. After eating it was way too hot to be out and about when we could do it later so we went back to our room and watched tv. Most places were offering the same two day one night trek for the same price (1200B), but we found one for 1000B, the travel agent asked us to tell the other trekkers that we paid 1300B as they were not the company running the trek and it could cause issues blah blah blah. Fine by us.
As it was the time of the 'flower festival' in Chiang Mai we got to see some floats and listen to some Thai singing. This part was outside the old main gate to the old city. We didn't have time to walk in the opposite direction from the night bazaar to see the actual parade.
The night bazaar was outside the old city and about 30mins walk for us. It was a whole lot of street stalls and a bunch of food inside a building. I got myself a wallet along the way. There were alot of things to see and buy but it was hard because it was on the footpath and there were people everywhere.
Saturday 5th
We were picked up at 9:30am and got all the others (10 others) along the way. On the way to the elephant camp to ride an elephant, we went to a butterfly and orchid farm which was really nice. We also stopped off at a market so our guide could buy food for our dinner. It was midday by the time we actually got to the elephant camp, we had a crappy tofu and fried rice lunch when we got there. After we ate we went down to see two elephants, one was in labour (elephant labour lasts 5 days) and the other had a two day old calf. It was so nice to see a baby elephant so young and up close, although not too close. The mahout (trainer/carer) was from Burma, although not Burmese (Kachin ethnic group) and was able to speak to Kay though.
We bought some sugarcane for our elephant who was ever so glad to have it, even when it was gone it would put it's trunk back for more. Our mahout was another Burmese ethinic group - Kayah or Red Karen. We basically just did a circle round the camp on the elephant but it was alright because riding an elephant isn't the most comfortable thing to do.
From the camp we started our 3 hour, 7km trek to the Lahu village we would be spending the night at. Unfortunately we didn't have a big enough backpack so we had to use Kay's sports bag, which you can only really have slung over one shoulder and is not the most comfortable bag to carry. The trek was easier than Sapa but as the route wasn't as difficult it was at a very fast pace with minimal breaks. I had fried rice for breakfast and only ate one small plate of it for lunch as i didn't really want it. As such by the 2 hour mark and most difficult part i was exhausted. I felt like throwing up, i felt faint and was trailing the group.
It was one of the worst feelings in the world, compounded more so by the fact you know there is no other option but to soldier on. It wasn't as though i was sore, i felt completely drained and it was like my legs weighed a tonne each. I reached the village without anything going wrong thankfully.
Our village had electricity but not in our house. We were all dying for a shower, no hot water. So everyone had to have a cold shower at sunset. Once the sun was down we had only candles and a large fire as light. The bedroom was for everyone, no privacy, eight double beds, rather thin mattresses on the floor with mossie nets next to each other.
We had yellow curry and a chicken stir fry for dinner, i made sure i ate properly so there would be no repeat tomorrow. At dinner time we got to know our fellow trekkers better.
Sunday 6th
We officially woke up at 8am but the roosters made sure we were awake much earlier. Breakfast consisted of toast with butter (the butter is terrible), scrambled eggs (i don't eat) and fruit. So i had dry toast and fruit for breakfast. Today was all downhill and about two hours of trekking before white water rafting and bamboo rafting. I felt much better and the walk was absolutely fine, hard but fine. The first hour downhill to a waterfall was quite hard. We were able to swim at the waterfall but the water was freezing cold eventhough it was a hot day.
We continued walking, went past some villages, stopped at one and fired some slingshots. Our guide was very good at it. We got to our base for white water rafting, i actually thought it would be quite gentle. Well i suppose it was but it wasn't at the same time. It was such a good experience, i can't wait to do it again. Straight after we got onto some bamboo rafts, the raft was just afloat with Kay and two other girls on it, once i got on it went under the water so we were slightly submerged.
After the bamboo rafting we had lunch, a noodle dish with bloody tofu. Straight after we got in our big tuk tuk, which barely got all 12 of us inside it. As it was the weekend in Chiang Mai there are a number of streets blocked off for what is called the 'walking market', this made it hard for some people to be dropped off and for us to pick up our bags from the travel agent.
We decided to have McDonalds for dinner. Surprising the servings were bigger than in Australia and of course cheaper. It was pretty much exactly the same as home. On the way back we went through the walking market which was absolutely packed. It was like every tourist in town and half of the locals were on these streets.
I would've liked to spent one more day in Chiang Mai eventhough we had done most things but we didn't have the time. We definitely come back though. Unfortunately Northern Thai food was very hard to find so we didn't get to try any here or in Chiang Rai.
Before we left Chiang Rai we wanted to go to this Chinese-Thai place for cheap dumplings but as it was Chinese New Year they were closed. We settled for this other place near our hotel where i had lots of Chinese bread and a noodle dish which was alright but not what i wanted.
We then went to the bus station on foot only to find out that Chiang Mai buses leave from a different station. Luckily there was a shared tuk tuk for 10B each that we just filled up. We had to wait 30mins before we could leave but that was alright.
On the bus they played an Australian movie we had never heard of but it was dubbed in Thai so it was no good to us. After that they played Thai comedy, similar to the Cambodian style. The bus ride took four hours and was pretty smooth.
We had tried to book places but they were all full so we had to tuk tuk driver in Chiang Mai take us to places he knew, it was about four places before we found one which wasn't full and didn't involve me lugging our bags up four flights of stairs.
Friday 4th
We got up late and went out to eat. Today was all about booking a trek and going to the night bazaar. After eating it was way too hot to be out and about when we could do it later so we went back to our room and watched tv. Most places were offering the same two day one night trek for the same price (1200B), but we found one for 1000B, the travel agent asked us to tell the other trekkers that we paid 1300B as they were not the company running the trek and it could cause issues blah blah blah. Fine by us.
As it was the time of the 'flower festival' in Chiang Mai we got to see some floats and listen to some Thai singing. This part was outside the old main gate to the old city. We didn't have time to walk in the opposite direction from the night bazaar to see the actual parade.
The night bazaar was outside the old city and about 30mins walk for us. It was a whole lot of street stalls and a bunch of food inside a building. I got myself a wallet along the way. There were alot of things to see and buy but it was hard because it was on the footpath and there were people everywhere.
Saturday 5th
We were picked up at 9:30am and got all the others (10 others) along the way. On the way to the elephant camp to ride an elephant, we went to a butterfly and orchid farm which was really nice. We also stopped off at a market so our guide could buy food for our dinner. It was midday by the time we actually got to the elephant camp, we had a crappy tofu and fried rice lunch when we got there. After we ate we went down to see two elephants, one was in labour (elephant labour lasts 5 days) and the other had a two day old calf. It was so nice to see a baby elephant so young and up close, although not too close. The mahout (trainer/carer) was from Burma, although not Burmese (Kachin ethnic group) and was able to speak to Kay though.
We bought some sugarcane for our elephant who was ever so glad to have it, even when it was gone it would put it's trunk back for more. Our mahout was another Burmese ethinic group - Kayah or Red Karen. We basically just did a circle round the camp on the elephant but it was alright because riding an elephant isn't the most comfortable thing to do.
From the camp we started our 3 hour, 7km trek to the Lahu village we would be spending the night at. Unfortunately we didn't have a big enough backpack so we had to use Kay's sports bag, which you can only really have slung over one shoulder and is not the most comfortable bag to carry. The trek was easier than Sapa but as the route wasn't as difficult it was at a very fast pace with minimal breaks. I had fried rice for breakfast and only ate one small plate of it for lunch as i didn't really want it. As such by the 2 hour mark and most difficult part i was exhausted. I felt like throwing up, i felt faint and was trailing the group.
It was one of the worst feelings in the world, compounded more so by the fact you know there is no other option but to soldier on. It wasn't as though i was sore, i felt completely drained and it was like my legs weighed a tonne each. I reached the village without anything going wrong thankfully.
Our village had electricity but not in our house. We were all dying for a shower, no hot water. So everyone had to have a cold shower at sunset. Once the sun was down we had only candles and a large fire as light. The bedroom was for everyone, no privacy, eight double beds, rather thin mattresses on the floor with mossie nets next to each other.
We had yellow curry and a chicken stir fry for dinner, i made sure i ate properly so there would be no repeat tomorrow. At dinner time we got to know our fellow trekkers better.
Sunday 6th
We officially woke up at 8am but the roosters made sure we were awake much earlier. Breakfast consisted of toast with butter (the butter is terrible), scrambled eggs (i don't eat) and fruit. So i had dry toast and fruit for breakfast. Today was all downhill and about two hours of trekking before white water rafting and bamboo rafting. I felt much better and the walk was absolutely fine, hard but fine. The first hour downhill to a waterfall was quite hard. We were able to swim at the waterfall but the water was freezing cold eventhough it was a hot day.
We continued walking, went past some villages, stopped at one and fired some slingshots. Our guide was very good at it. We got to our base for white water rafting, i actually thought it would be quite gentle. Well i suppose it was but it wasn't at the same time. It was such a good experience, i can't wait to do it again. Straight after we got onto some bamboo rafts, the raft was just afloat with Kay and two other girls on it, once i got on it went under the water so we were slightly submerged.
After the bamboo rafting we had lunch, a noodle dish with bloody tofu. Straight after we got in our big tuk tuk, which barely got all 12 of us inside it. As it was the weekend in Chiang Mai there are a number of streets blocked off for what is called the 'walking market', this made it hard for some people to be dropped off and for us to pick up our bags from the travel agent.
We decided to have McDonalds for dinner. Surprising the servings were bigger than in Australia and of course cheaper. It was pretty much exactly the same as home. On the way back we went through the walking market which was absolutely packed. It was like every tourist in town and half of the locals were on these streets.
I would've liked to spent one more day in Chiang Mai eventhough we had done most things but we didn't have the time. We definitely come back though. Unfortunately Northern Thai food was very hard to find so we didn't get to try any here or in Chiang Rai.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Huay Xai and Chiang Rai
Saturday night into Sunday 30th
When you cross into Thailand overland you are only allowed a 15 day visa, hence we had to stay in Huay Xai for one night, although it still means we will be overstaying our visas by one day. Lonely Planet seems to think that we won't get fined as they allow for an extra day, but worst case scenario we have to pay a ~$15 fine each.
As per normal we were left waiting at the bus station for some unknown reason, after thirty minutes we were off for our '12' hour overnight trip to the Thai-Lao border town of Huay Xai. Eventhough i had previously said that we would not do another overnight bus, we decided it was the better option over the two day one night slow boat ride up the Mekong. Big mistake.
The ride was so much worse than the one we had from Hoi An to Nha Trang. For one we didn't have a sleeper option so it was just the slight recline of your chair. The driver seemed to be driving slower than he should've at some parts of the trip. After our first stop at 10:30pm, it seemed like we were stopping every 15 minutes for some reason or another, be it dropping people off, province border crossing or smokos.
The entire night i felt i only got two hours sleep. I literally watched the sun rise. With all of the stopping and the like, we arrived two hours late in Huay Xai at 9:30am. We got in a larger tuk tuk to get into town with some of the other passengers. On arrival most of them headed for the border but we went to our guesthouse. We put our stuff in our room and went for breakfast. Then we had a little walk (not much to do in Huay Xai) and went back to the hotel room, watched 'red dragon' on tv and slept until dinner time.
Monday 31st
We got up, had breakfast and headed for the border crossing. Very easy to do, we filled out our departure forms, they stamped our passports and we were off on a boat to Chiang Khong in Thailand. Another easy process on the Thai side, as Australians are exempt from needing a visa per say, we didn't have to pay anything.
We then got a tuk tuk to the bus station for our trip to Chiang Rai. It was a local bus with all local people and no air con, although it wasn't really necessary since all the windows were open. It took about two hours, thankfully Thai roads are so much better than our previous countries.
Arrived in Chiang Rai at the bus station, thankfully it's in the middle of town. We didn't know how far to our guesthouse so we got a tuk tuk, we bargained it down to 30baht, as it turned out, we were 5 minutes walk away, so we got ripped hard. As it was afternoon we didn't do much but walk up the main streets and have dinner - our first Thai food. Thai food was readily available in Laos and Cambodia but we shunned it knowing we would be having it everyday in Thailand. It was very good, we would return to this restaurant the following night.
Tuesday 1st
We decided to leave our guesthouse for a number of reasons: one the bed was so incredibly hard we both woke up sore, two, there was broken glass in the shower, lucky we wear thongs and three the bathroom roof was leaking water.
Kay was very low on money so we had to find a bank. According to the map there was four banks on this one street, we figured we would kill two birds with one stone and get something to eat there. We found no food on the entire walk to the last bank on this street. There were some places but they had no English menus and no English speaking staff. We ended up walking back to our area to eat. We also had trouble at the banks before we left, very hard to get our query across.
After lunch the first bank we went to had an acceptable exchange rate and charged no commission on the cash advance. Unfortunately the Australian dollar has since shot up a few more cents.
The bank was near the market so we had a little look there, didn't get anything but some fruit and sticky rice. There were plenty of Wats in Chiang Rai so we only went to the main one - Wat Phra Kaew. It had very nice paintings on the inside and a large number of turtles in the pools before you got to it's stairs.
Our day was also made up of going to travel agents to get quotes for a golden triangle tour. For the most part they offered the same things at the same price - 1400b ($47) each. Very expensive, but we figured we didn't do any tours in Laos because they were too pricy for what they offered and we did want to do this.
At night we had a look at the Chiang Rai night market but didn't buy anything, we would return tomorrow night.
Wednesday 2nd
As it turned out no one else booked the tour so it was effectively a private tour for us, if two others had of then it would've been 1200b (~$40each). Our first stop was a hill tribe village with two different tribes living together, the main reason we were going was to see the Padong tribe (part of the Karen). This is the tribe with the long necks (brass rings around the girl's necks). They originally come from Burma but left because of the hardships at home.
Second stop was the monkey and fish caves. Basically it's on the edge of a mountain where there's alot of monkeys to feed and fish in a mini lake. We walked up to the buddha inside the mountain. I had to take a stick to fend of the monkeys, we were fine on the way up but i had to use it to scare an aggressive monkey on the way down. I gave my stick to some Thais who were being harassed and grabbed by the same monkey after we passed.
We next arrived at the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot, Thailand's most Northern point. First we went to a Jade factory, didn't get anything of course. The best Jade comes from Burma. They was a Burmese girl working there that Kay had a chat to, turns out a Burmese bloke owns the factory.
After the factory we went up to Scorpion Hill where we were able to look in Burma. There are no casinos in Thailand so there are alot in the Burmese side of the border to service Thailand's gambling needs. We also got to have a look through the market on the way down. There was an array of b.b guns for sale (pellet guns), very tempting. Throughout Kay picked up on many Burmese voices.
We had lunch at a mediocre buffet in town and then headed for the golden triangle - the point where Thailand, Burma and Laos all meet. The Lao side also has casinos, bankrolled by the Chinese we were told. After we saw the viewing point we went to the Opium museum, which gave some history on the drug and it's cultivation in the golden triangle region.
Our final stop was the old capital of Chiang Saen, from over 1000 years ago. As such it is not in the best of condition and was not cared for soon enough like Sukothai and Ayuthaya (old capitals). Then we journeyed home. A positive of having an effective private tour was that i was able to ask our guide many questions about Thailand and the Thai people.
When you cross into Thailand overland you are only allowed a 15 day visa, hence we had to stay in Huay Xai for one night, although it still means we will be overstaying our visas by one day. Lonely Planet seems to think that we won't get fined as they allow for an extra day, but worst case scenario we have to pay a ~$15 fine each.
As per normal we were left waiting at the bus station for some unknown reason, after thirty minutes we were off for our '12' hour overnight trip to the Thai-Lao border town of Huay Xai. Eventhough i had previously said that we would not do another overnight bus, we decided it was the better option over the two day one night slow boat ride up the Mekong. Big mistake.
The ride was so much worse than the one we had from Hoi An to Nha Trang. For one we didn't have a sleeper option so it was just the slight recline of your chair. The driver seemed to be driving slower than he should've at some parts of the trip. After our first stop at 10:30pm, it seemed like we were stopping every 15 minutes for some reason or another, be it dropping people off, province border crossing or smokos.
The entire night i felt i only got two hours sleep. I literally watched the sun rise. With all of the stopping and the like, we arrived two hours late in Huay Xai at 9:30am. We got in a larger tuk tuk to get into town with some of the other passengers. On arrival most of them headed for the border but we went to our guesthouse. We put our stuff in our room and went for breakfast. Then we had a little walk (not much to do in Huay Xai) and went back to the hotel room, watched 'red dragon' on tv and slept until dinner time.
Monday 31st
We got up, had breakfast and headed for the border crossing. Very easy to do, we filled out our departure forms, they stamped our passports and we were off on a boat to Chiang Khong in Thailand. Another easy process on the Thai side, as Australians are exempt from needing a visa per say, we didn't have to pay anything.
We then got a tuk tuk to the bus station for our trip to Chiang Rai. It was a local bus with all local people and no air con, although it wasn't really necessary since all the windows were open. It took about two hours, thankfully Thai roads are so much better than our previous countries.
Arrived in Chiang Rai at the bus station, thankfully it's in the middle of town. We didn't know how far to our guesthouse so we got a tuk tuk, we bargained it down to 30baht, as it turned out, we were 5 minutes walk away, so we got ripped hard. As it was afternoon we didn't do much but walk up the main streets and have dinner - our first Thai food. Thai food was readily available in Laos and Cambodia but we shunned it knowing we would be having it everyday in Thailand. It was very good, we would return to this restaurant the following night.
Tuesday 1st
We decided to leave our guesthouse for a number of reasons: one the bed was so incredibly hard we both woke up sore, two, there was broken glass in the shower, lucky we wear thongs and three the bathroom roof was leaking water.
Kay was very low on money so we had to find a bank. According to the map there was four banks on this one street, we figured we would kill two birds with one stone and get something to eat there. We found no food on the entire walk to the last bank on this street. There were some places but they had no English menus and no English speaking staff. We ended up walking back to our area to eat. We also had trouble at the banks before we left, very hard to get our query across.
After lunch the first bank we went to had an acceptable exchange rate and charged no commission on the cash advance. Unfortunately the Australian dollar has since shot up a few more cents.
The bank was near the market so we had a little look there, didn't get anything but some fruit and sticky rice. There were plenty of Wats in Chiang Rai so we only went to the main one - Wat Phra Kaew. It had very nice paintings on the inside and a large number of turtles in the pools before you got to it's stairs.
Our day was also made up of going to travel agents to get quotes for a golden triangle tour. For the most part they offered the same things at the same price - 1400b ($47) each. Very expensive, but we figured we didn't do any tours in Laos because they were too pricy for what they offered and we did want to do this.
At night we had a look at the Chiang Rai night market but didn't buy anything, we would return tomorrow night.
Wednesday 2nd
As it turned out no one else booked the tour so it was effectively a private tour for us, if two others had of then it would've been 1200b (~$40each). Our first stop was a hill tribe village with two different tribes living together, the main reason we were going was to see the Padong tribe (part of the Karen). This is the tribe with the long necks (brass rings around the girl's necks). They originally come from Burma but left because of the hardships at home.
Second stop was the monkey and fish caves. Basically it's on the edge of a mountain where there's alot of monkeys to feed and fish in a mini lake. We walked up to the buddha inside the mountain. I had to take a stick to fend of the monkeys, we were fine on the way up but i had to use it to scare an aggressive monkey on the way down. I gave my stick to some Thais who were being harassed and grabbed by the same monkey after we passed.
We next arrived at the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot, Thailand's most Northern point. First we went to a Jade factory, didn't get anything of course. The best Jade comes from Burma. They was a Burmese girl working there that Kay had a chat to, turns out a Burmese bloke owns the factory.
After the factory we went up to Scorpion Hill where we were able to look in Burma. There are no casinos in Thailand so there are alot in the Burmese side of the border to service Thailand's gambling needs. We also got to have a look through the market on the way down. There was an array of b.b guns for sale (pellet guns), very tempting. Throughout Kay picked up on many Burmese voices.
We had lunch at a mediocre buffet in town and then headed for the golden triangle - the point where Thailand, Burma and Laos all meet. The Lao side also has casinos, bankrolled by the Chinese we were told. After we saw the viewing point we went to the Opium museum, which gave some history on the drug and it's cultivation in the golden triangle region.
Our final stop was the old capital of Chiang Saen, from over 1000 years ago. As such it is not in the best of condition and was not cared for soon enough like Sukothai and Ayuthaya (old capitals). Then we journeyed home. A positive of having an effective private tour was that i was able to ask our guide many questions about Thailand and the Thai people.
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