Top North Hotel Chiang Mai

After a short flight of 45 minutes we arrived at Chiang Mai airport 13th. We found ourselves some accommodation at The Top North Hotel. We went for a wander again a mass of markets line every street still celebrations from the Queens Birthday, we got straight into it. The silver here is good quality and cheap so we were on a mission for a bargin...... Not before long the weather decided to change and greet us with the rain - only fine rain we continued to march the streets as we carried on it...

Today was Wat Day. The day to try out a bit of Thai religion. We went to Craig's Top North Guesthouse and he was still asleep so we had to wait for him to get dressed before going to Rose Guesthouse for breakfast. I ordered a pancake and lemon juice and when a Coke, Lime Fanta and Sprite came out to our table I assumed she hadn't understood me and started drinking the lime Fanta saying "Funny lemon juice". I obviously didn't hear Nicole and Craig saying that it was Craig's and was very embarr...

Sunday we had organised to go on another tour to see Doi Inthanon, the tallest mountain in Thailand, and the King and Queen's Pagodas. We got a discount of 10013 for having already booked a tour through our hotel. At 8:30am we met with Non who was to be our guide again. There was one other person on the tour, an Irish woman called Isabel who was on her way to see her daughter in Australia. The bus ride was almost two hours and as we made the ascent up the mountain you could feel the temperatu...

We arrived at the train station in Chiang Mai and took a tuk tuk to the Top North Hotel which had been recommended to us by a couple of English girls we met in Koh Pha-Ngan. We got a 400B per night room for 6 nights. The room was clean and had a proper bathroom with separate toilet and shower. The hotel also had a pool which our room looked onto and plenty of lounge chairs which were filled with gorgeous girls working on their tans. We arrived around 1 pm on Thursday and we decided to head ou...

Entry containing 64 photos titled: "I'm soaked", German beer at Thai-German pub -note girl behind-, Over-600-year-old stupa at Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Chedi Luang, A temple at Wat Chedi Luang, Elephant statues on Wat Chedi Luang walls, The sunset at Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Suan Dok, Door carvings at Wat Suan Dok, Buddhas at Wat Suan Dok, Golden stupa at Wat Suan Dok, New year offering, Tha Pae gate, Water war begins on Friday, Elephants heads spraying water from the moat, Teacher explaining rice types, Thai Cooking school premises, Dishes prepared by Ty -yum!, Proud student and teacher, Give me that coconut!, You wanna fight?, Ty's bodyguard, Ty attacks..., Need food to recharge after water fight, Oh, yes....we came to see the Buddhas..., The gold-leaf covered stupa at Doi Suthep, Buddhas at Doi Suthep, Stupa at Wat Phra That, Beautiful Wat Phra That, Glass Buddha, Carved doors, Happy dove at Doi Suthep, More stupas, You can ring my bell, ring my bell... ding-dong, 360 degree view at Doi Suthep, More humongus passion fruit, At the steps of Doi Suthep, Long flight of steps to Doi Suthep, Elephants welcoming us to the camp, They are stroooooong, Happy elephants, Una cascarita Savys?, Elephant art !!!, The tools, Tyding up after painting, Elephants art for sale, Teenage elephant, Oh yeah!, Give me those bananas!, Jumbo hug, Look at that trunk !!!, Mahout (trainer) house, Bamboo rafting, Cool !!!, VIP raft passing others by, Hola !, Did I mention I love coconut?, Maetaman Elephant Camp, Elephant riders, Elephant ride video, Elephants crossing river, Elephant downhill, Elephant pack, Say NO to elephants on the street

I shower, pack my stuff, call a Tuk-Tuk and head to the city. My Tuk-Tuk driver, Boon (as pronounced), and I became quick friends. He took me all the way to the elephants, about 30min up a hill! Tuk-Tuks do not go up hills. He patiently waited for me until I was finished. I only road for 30min (920B = approx $30USD). I thought that would be enough time and it was. My guide actully let me go over the time :). I wasn't interested in the elephant shows, etc. Boon then wanted to know what I wante...

Today was a relaxing day by the hotel pool. The weather has been perfect! It is hot, sunny and beautiful day and night. It is actually Monsoon Season right now and should be rainy...I lucked out! After my day at the pool I decided to venture out and go away from the main strip. It was nice to see different areas of the city and the different shops, restaurants and hotels along the back streets... found some well hidden nice, nice hotels.
I took a couple pictures of the sky (it looked pret...

Today was my last day in Chiang Mai... I'm not quite ready to leave yet. Chiang Mai, in comparison to Bangkok is much more laid-back, casual, at a much slower pace. Bangkok is more sophisticated, busier and crowded... cosmopolitan. Chiang Mai has so much to offer for travelers- great place to visit- I highly recommend Chaing Mai if you plan on visiting Thailand.

Today I reverted to my new-found favorite pass-time... exploring the streets and now alleys- basically getting lost! I found ...

These next two (this one and the next one) are in the wrong order - but anyway they are notes I made while travelling (driving my car) up to Chiang Rai and back to Bangkok. New thoughts on Chiang Mai. I have often been unhappy coming to Chiang Mai. The traffic is terrible, it is busy and people seem rushed and less patient and polite than much of Thailand. There is less smiling. The smog is sometimes quite bad. There is too much prostitution and bars here. It is loud. Today I started to chang...

Adding pics and stories soon...