Best Western Chiang Mai

... a million to Pauline & David and Mary and Fergus for the brilliant going away parties and to all our family and friends for the great send off. Gonna miss you all loads. We will do our best to keep in touch with you all and you lot do the same. XX

... ethics of infiltrating, uninvited, a people whose way of life and beliefs are, as yet, undiluted by western values and consumerism. A favorite pass time in Chiang Mai is shopping in its many street markets. There're a night bazaar and "walking markets" ...

... on their wooden frogs which make a sound remarkably close to the real thing. The next day we spent wandering around Chiang Mai, loosely following the walking tour from the Lonely Planet guide.  We made sure that we were appropriately dressed in ...

... brand new and complete with Free Wireless Internet Access in our room. As with the train I had an overly romanticized image of Chiang Mai. I, for some reason expected a city located in the lush jungle of northern Thailand. As it turns out, at least at ...

... ...plus it smells like rotten eggs cos of the ammonia/sulphur. Back to the guest house and I went for a wander around Chiang Mai scouting and marking more points of interest (mountain bike hire place...hmm...a Thai touty person told me this didn't ...

... , I will start with a bit of an update on The Branch Foundation. As you know I have based myself in Chiang Mai. This is a strategic move as here I am best placed to organise things, and still be not too far away from the camp and from MHS (Mae Hong Son). ...

... to come back to Chiang Mai for another night before moving on to other parts of Thailand was so we could catch the best part of the Chiang Mai's annual flower festival, which had started while we were out of the city. The next morning we joined quite a ...

... to rest) and report the outfits that do otherwise (i.e. there’s a hotline to report sightings of begging elephants on Bangkok and Chiang Mai’s city streets).  It all sounds so easy too, but in reality, I’m not sure how exactly to ...

... We rented them for equivilant of about 1 pound for the entire day, bargain!  I had found this place on the map called 'Chiang Mai Breakfast World' (sounds cool right?!) so we decided we would head there 1st.  Soooooo glad we did, we ended up ...

... into the 'backseat' of the cab. We drove a short distance to meet with Mr. Sumet and enjoy some "western" food at the local J&J's (I think Chiang Mai's equivalent to Corner Bakery, but with much better food!). Mr. Sumet explained a bit about Khun Chae ...

... tense - (I'm chopping and changing it because I'm not sure what I have and haven't covered) we went and did a walking tour around Chiang Mai, saw various temples and basic sights - was pretty crack up because one of the girls got her jandals stolen at the ...

Chiang Mai Made it from Phnom Penh to Bangkok to Chiang Mai - arriving about 3pm. Taxi to Roong Ruang Hotel where we had stayed before. Airport "taxi meter" is a rip-off - 122 baht for what should be ~60 baht. Best to walk out to airport entrance and ...

... and we went to a hotel pool to chill and sleep off the bus journey. Was it worth all that effort just to come to Chiang Mai for 3 days? You best believe it! I don't normally copy what I have wrote in my personal journal on this blog but I think on this ...

... included" backpacker fare that usually consists of fried/scrambled egg and toast/baguette. For the first time since being in Chiang Mai, we actually ate somewhere "local"...as in small plastic chairs and table outside.  It was absolutely delicious ...

... ass, and has been very frustrating. But enough of that, we're really enjoying ourselves here anyway. Most travellers come to Chiang Mai to organise a trek into the jungles of Northern Thailand, and that's exactly why we came. We returned last night ...

... some tasty Thai food, mine and Denis's favorite cuisine. It became apparent that tonight was not an ordinary night in Chiang Mai. Elaborate parade floats were assembling everywhere, the sounds of fire crackers were erupting all around and beautiful ornate ...

... show degenerated into a "monkey rides bicycle/monkey plays basketball" type of thing - pitiful. Another day we haggled with a songthaew driver in Chiang Mai to take us up to Doi Suthep. This is a mountian 16 kms out of town with a big temple complex ...

Well, where do I start with this one…? I spent a total of 17 days in Chiang Mai, including a 4 day motor biking trip to Pai and 4 days of Songkran madness. I was taking a sleeper train from Bangkok.  I had to go for an AC class ticket as it ...

... we were getting a room with a TV for super Tuesday. (It will be Super Wednesday over here when it happens for you). Chiang Mai has changed a lot since we were last here 25 years ago. The city is much bigger, with many more high rise buildings. ...

... , I didn't realise how much I missed it until I had the opportunity to eat healthily.  I just love the fact that 'Western food' in Chiang Mai means brown bread, salad and health shakes rather than burgers and pizza.  I could go on about this for ...