Chiang Mai in a nutshell

I simply love love loved Chiang Mai.


I've heard from people that 3-4 days suffice whereas others have said 3 weeks should be spent here.
If you love sitting in cafes with or without company Chiang Mai has an abundance of options.
The street food is divine and you can splurge on beautiful paintings to souvenirs to great food on walking street on the weekends.
Had I not planned on quite a few diving expeditions, and kitesurfing course as well as wake boarding I'd have done some hiking, elephant trekking, downhill mountain biking and rafting in Chiang Mai as well as visiting more temples but as time is limited I need to restrain myself.


So here a summary of Chiang Mai in pictures and video.



Food video :)



P.S. I miss Khao Soi...

A typical lil cozy cafe

White temple at Chiang Rai

Deep frying noodles or pork for Khao Soi :)

Heaven...

Khao Soi - my love!!!

Sunday night market in Chiang Mai

Thailand to Laos

So every guest house in Chiang Mai offers a package of bus and slow boat to Laos. I paid 1700 baht at Junior guest house.
This includes bus ride to Chiang Khong, overnight stay/dinner & breakfast and a very tiny lunch on the slow boat the first day.
It's recommended you have more food, water and toilet paper with you on the boat as food and drinks are overpriced. It's a long but enjoyable ride but not everyone with a ticket gets a seat!
We did hear that if one complains they will be forced to use another ferry though...




Watch the video if you plan doing this trip. Last part is our guide on the Laos side of the border and he's the first person who didn't bullshit us :)



Night 1 - Chiang Kong
The first house at Chiang Kong tried to charge us 30USD to check us out at immigration but left us under the impression this was for our visas in Laos.
Had we paid her, we'd have to pay another 30USD at immigration in Laos :P


Day 2 - Crossing the border


One of the many things our tour lady said was that there is a lot of people queuing at the Thai border and that the boat leaves at 10 do it was risky if we wanted to check out ourselves. BS. Boat leaves between 11:30-12:00


The meals we had in the tour package are small so it's recommended to hunt for some street BBQs.
Once in Laos there were great street stalls to stock up on sandwiches etc so don't do it in Chiang Kong. The guide in Laos was probably the only person who did not bullshit us despite his hangover, so check it out before crossing to Laos.


We were somewhat unlucky that we got to the boat so late, so we ended up sitting in the engine room
Pros: it's warm so if the sun isn't out, you can lie down and sleep, play cards etc.


Cons: it's loud. Check the video ;)




Night 2 - Pak Beng
To our surprise the rooms were really nice, clean and comfy.


It's a lovely atmosphere and there's a Thai bar further up the main road if you wanna sing karaoke with the Thai girl in the bar or request songs :)


Day 2 - Pak Beng to Luang Prabang


Pros: we got seats in the front so no engine room!!


Cons: it was overcast so we were freezing our asses off. Wrapped my head in a cardigan cause I already got semi sick in Chiang Mai and lost my voice twice within 4 days of being out at night in skimpy clothing :P
Had one of those annoying Asian toilet holes. What a curse for women!


When you arrive in Luang Prabang you literally hit a plethora of guesthouse s so no need to book one in advance.


We stayed at Spicy hostel but it's very low budget and not the best location!

Boarding our ferry

Looking happy huh?

6hrs on this ;)

We came to terms with our situation ;)

Second day we got seats but it was pretty cold for 6hrs. bring warm clothes peeps!

Zip lining in Chiang Mai

I initially wanted to do the Gibbon Experience in Laos but haven't really managed to book anything so I was delighted that two options exist here in Chiang Mai.
I didn't do www.treetopasia.com costing 3390 baht but opted for the cheaper www.jungle-flight.com for 2490 baht (ask for a group discount and they knock off 200, so 2290 baht)
unfortunately the extreme package wasn't available yet but it's all very smooth as they pick everyone up from their hotels and lunch is included after zip lining :)


The guides we had were so much fun and kept us entertained so I can only recommend it.
Might do the Gibbon experience as well but would love to hear the verdict from anyone who's done more than one of these three alternatives.


After zip lining I had 5min at the hotel to change and head out for a 2hr Muay Thai session.
Always fun training at different places and of course sparring with Thai boys :)


Ended the evening with a stroll through the night market, some "rotee" as they spell it here and bought some brass knuckles before heading back to the reggae bars close by Ratvithi for some Changs.


Prepping



Ziplining

Chiang Mai Tiger Temple

Kyle & Damon got bikes and I was too chicken to get one so I got to be the backseat passenger.
We drove out to the Tiger temple and it was lovely getting out of the city.


Gotta say that being on the same side of the fence is a very different experience!


I have some lovely pictures but they're on a CD rom so this will have to do for now :)





PS: Price was cheapest for the biggest tiger, tiger cubs most expensive. What does that say? ;)


More information at www.tigerkingdom.com/

Phuket to Chiang Mai

24hrs yet again.


My bus from Phuket to BKK was 3hrs late but once on it I slept like a baby.
Bus fare 487Bht (Indra tours)
Duration: 12hrs


Word of advice: When the aircon drops bus temperatures to lower than 15C (and it baffles me they don't get that everyone freezes) make sure you have socks, a scarf to wrap your face in and warm clothes and a towel or blanket or you're doomed to a sleepless trip..


BKK to Chiang Mai
Bus fare 450bht (VIP bus)
Duration: 9hrs


One backpacker I met told me they have proper lockers and showers and beds at the terminal even. Had I known this before, I would have stayed in BKK and taken another night bus.
Oh well, better luck next time!







Arrived around 23:00 in Chiang Mai, knackered but went out for a bite and met some nice people at one if the bars..and made plans to meet up, get bikes and do stuff :)

Waiting for my bus at Phuket bus terminal. It was 3hrs late :(

After 24hrs on 2 busses to Chaing Mai I met these cool dudes :)

Love the subliminal marketing :D

Phuket in a nutshell

Not much I want to write about Phuket. Not because there aren't nice beaches and great restaurants but I went like many other for the quick fix:
NYE party on the beach and a couple of days at the beach.
I was rather content staying at my nice hotel room in Phuket town and avoiding Bangla road every other night :)


Food was harder to find in Phuket town if not eating at a Western friendly cafe with French fries and steaks.
I settled for Roti with egg, these deep fried meat sticks or the local place next to Lub Sbuy Guest House apart from night at Raya which Conde Nast and many others have praised..




No food poisoning. The end :)

Kuala Lumpur to Phuket by bus

Well, I've done 24hrs on a bus!
Crossing borders on a night bus is less enjoyable as you can't just sleep through it all.
Can't remember what the ticket from KL to Hat Yai cost me (maybe 150MYR) but the ticket I purchased at Hat Yai to Phuket was 450BHT.


Anyway, quick summary of the 24 hrs:

Reasons I love Asia

Food and weather.
Just had dinner consisting of papaya shake, fried sea bass in black bean sauce and some fried noodles with seafood.
Total cost 160 baht.


My new years dinner was a pad Thai for 40 baht at my "local restaurant"


Considering my friends hotel dinner was nearly 3000 baht and she said it wasn't good, I cut the better deal; though I was worried about food poisoning 3hrs before NYE ;)

New Years eve in Thailand

Happy New Year Everyone!!!


Despite my scepticism, yesterday was a blast. Being in Patong with drunk tourists and a mix of either very young people or very old men was overshadowed by a fantastic DJ set (no idea who he was!) and for most people tons of buckets :)


Alina, Aurora and I kept it pretty sober. I had 3 drinks...just enough to put a smile on my face and it was superb!!
Unfortunately all the guys started peeing in the ocean so the midnight swim didn't happen :P


Here a video from the countdown, wish my iPhone would have made those lanterns justice, was so beautiful to watch!
...and yet so bad for the environment :(





6am. Bed never felt so good!