Chiang Mai June 2024

Day 1 at Chiang Mai

Nannie picked us up from Le Meridien in Chiang Rai to transfer us to  Shangri-la in Chiang Mai. We stopped at a few attractions on the way. Our first stop was San Khampeng Hot spring, a very instagrammable place.  I tried the water that is 50 degree Celsius first which was too hot, another the more comfortable 45 degree Celsius water. Nannie said the place will be very crowded in winter.

Letting the steam out. 

We bought a basket of eggs to cook at the hotspring. We left it in for 7 mins.

Cooked the egg in the hot spring for 7 mins.

It's so good soaking our feet in the 45 degree Celsius hot spring water. 

Tham Muang On ถ้ำเมืองออน We had to climb up a flight of very steep steps and were out of breath when we reached to top.

The cave is so narrow and deep that I didn't dare to go down.

A lot of this red bugs on the steps.

Khaomao-Khaofang Imaginary Jungle

ข้าวเม่า-ข้าวฟ่าง ป่าในจินตนาการ

Delicious Michellin restaurant. Nice sweet and sour fried snapper, steamed squid, fried pea and pineapple rice. Ordered long island and screwdriver cocktail. Nannie ordered passionfruit mango. Love my banana fritters within cream. The place is so instagrammable and even the toilet design is so close to nature. Indeed a jungle cafe.

Even the toilet is so nicely decorated.

Very good ambience for dining. Highly recommended for the delicious food too.

Steamed squid.

Simply love this snapper. The best fish so far! So crisp exterior and soft flesh.

Stir fried peas.

Very nice pineapple rice.

Hubby ordered long island and I ordered Mai thai

Love the banana fritters with ice cream

One my favourite restaurants with really good food.

Royal Park.

Took a shuttles bus around the park to see the different garden.

Wat Phra That Doi Kham

วัดพระธาตุดอยคำ

The Big Buddha which has many local worshippers.

I put 20 baht in this machine. A prayer will be done briefly before a divine lot is given.

I was given the lot with tĥe number 92.  Business is good and profitable. Whatever you hope for, you will get what you want. Honor and fame will spread. Make your predictions come true. Make merit.

Wat Sri Suphan

วัดศรีสุพรรณ(พระอุโบสถเงิน)

Only man can enter this silver temple. Woman can only take pictures outside the temple.

Photos taken by hubby inside the Silver temple.

Checked into our hotel, Shangri-la Chiang Mai. Love the terrace garden though the room is smaller then Le Meridien. James from the concierge was so warm and speaks English well. The hotel's location is near the night markets and many restaurants. The spa in the hotel is awesome too.

There is a drying rack in the garden.

Dried mango and strawberry from the hotel.

Two bottles of water are replenished daily. Hubby accidentally drank the Evian water thinking it is complimentary and the charge was high.

There is a foot massage parlour  just opposite the hotel. Very convenient.  The foot massage is reasonable at 599 baht for 2 hours. Sent our jeans which were dirtied from the visit to the long neck tribe village to the laundry next door for washing. Picked up the following night.

Anusarn night market is a five-minutes walk from the hotel.

The dancers from the cabaret show in the market came out to take photos and attract customers to watch the shows.

The fried spring rolls are so yummy with vermicelli and vegetables inside.

The cocktails were diluted and sweet.

Hubby loved the Phad Thai

The oysters are so big and fresh.

The spring roll was so good that I wanted another one but too full. There is vermicelli and vegetables inside.

Chiang Mai Day 2

Nice hotel. Hubby just don't like to pass through security check.

Sapa Coffee 786 สภากาแฟ 786 

Nannie brought us to Sapa Coffee 786 สภากาแฟ 786 for a local breakfast. First Halal restaurant we encountered so far. Orded egg roti but it came with condensed milk. Reordered and told then not to put condensed milk and ordered a separate chicken curry. The eatery is opened only from 5.30am to 11am.

Wat Sri Sodaวัดศรีโสดา พระอารามหลวง

Memorial hall for one of the masters who passed away in 1938.

Many worshippers are offering eggs to thank for the blessings or good fortunes received. 

Chaloem Phra Kiat Pavilion Viewpoint

จุดชมวิวศาลาเฉลิมพระเกียรติ

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

วัดพระธาตุดอยสุเทพราชวรวิหารDoi Suthep 

At the golden stupa built in the reign of King Kue Na in 1384, restored in 1538. Bought two bells at 1000 baht for blessings. We had to walk around the stupa 3 rounds with the lotus flower for blessings.

We took a 2 min tram up but decided to climb down the stairs. 

Inside the tram

Instructions on the ritual to receive blessings. 

Jackfruit tree.

Awed by the carvings on the pillars.

Wat Pha Lat

วัดผาลาด (สกิทาคามี)

Scooped some water from the very deep well and poured over the sculptures at the side.

Dantewada Angel's waterfall เเดนเทวดา

Artificial mist

Love the coconut pancakes from this stall.

Cute deco

Simply loved these coconut pancakes!

The place was so comfortable that hubby wanted to take a nap.

Dantewada Angel's waterfall เเดนเทวดา

I ordered crab fried rice, hubby omelette rice with basil pork, Nannie omelette rice with cauliflower and prawns. Shared the spring roll. Yummy. Though I do prefer the basil pork rice at Pha Hee.

Long Neck Tribe Village with admission fee of 500 baht per pax entry. Saw the different tribes of Leesaw, Kayor, Karen, Hmong , Akha, Palong.  This village is relatively newer at 10 years old. The one we visited at Chiang Rai was older at 25 years old. The oldest I saw here was 60 years old and the one at Chiang Rai was 72 years old. They can only move around in the compound designated for their communities.

A dog loved hubby and followed him.

The lady from the Leesaw tribe applied something on our face.

Kayor tribe with big ear loops.

The Karon long neck tribe. The little girl is so cute.

She told us she is 6 years old. 

This lady is 60 years old. She cannot speak the Thai language.

Hmong tribe

I think she is from the Palong tribe.

Akha tribe

A compilation of long neck tribe villagers in chiang Rai and Chiang Mai.

Wat Densaleesrimuangkaen (Wat Ban Den)

วัดเด่นสะหลีศรีเมืองแกน (วัดบ้านเด่น)​

Wow the place is so huge and the carvings on the temples and mythical creatures are so impressive. It is still undergoing restoration so many buildings are still undergoing construction. 

The temple is still undergoing restoration and new building. 

Namtok Bua Tong-Nam Phu Chet Si National Park Sticky Waterfall

อุทยานแห่งชาติน้ำตกบัวตอง-น้ำพุเจ็ดสี

It rained suddenly and we were all drenched.

A group of tourists braved the rain up the waterfall.

Went for a 2 hour body massage at the massage parlour as our body were aching after all the climbing and walking. After that we went to the night market for dinner.

Bought 3 cocktails: fool bastard, sex on the beach and blue Kamikaze. A bit low on the alcohol.

The fried Kale was tasty with wok hei.

Love the Tom yum gong. The fish balls were so tiny and the prawns, squid and mushroom were good too. 

Pineapple rice for hubby

Fried basil pork was too spicy and nice.

The grilled crab was not fresh.

A lovely postcard from Tracy, HK. Mentioned to James we loved our stay in Shangri-la Kowloon last year.

Bought these souvenirs today. The sleeping puppy for my sis. Brass necklace and dolls from the long neck tribe.

Day 3

Love our garden terrace room. This is the backyard garden.

Took a grab car to Jing Jai market which is only opened during the weekends.

The local snacks section.

Hubby finally got to eat his blood curd but the soup was too too spicy. The dumplings with coconut fillings were just average.

There is a section selling vegetables and fruits.

There was an event promoting tourism. Gotten some brochures.

Grabbed to Jing Jai market at 105 baht. It was super crowded. Hubby took the blood curd vermicelli and I took the local cake with coconut filling. The vermicelli was too spicy so hubby took a bit of the blood curd which he missed and we want to a nearby restaurant Sryth Bodi for chicken rice and prawn roll.

Planting of clothing which are more expensive here.

It was so hot and crowded we went to this restaurant which sells chicken rice.

The prawn rolls are nice too.

No wonder it was so crowded. The prime minister was here.

Took a Grab car to Art in Paradise. Grab transport made our transfer convenient.  Average of 5 dollars per trip.

There is a 2D cafe inside Art in Paradise. 2D cafe hot pink milk is nice. So is the rainbow soda. Rainbow and chocolate crepe average. You need to pay to enter the Art in paradise museum before you can eat here so we had the whole place to ourselves again.

We went for a swim in the hotel. The pool was crowded but very safe as there are 2 life guards on both sides of the pool. 

Hubby tried the slide after the security guard encouraged him to.There are 2 security guards on duty and one of them stood at the side of the pool to ensure his safety.

There was a wedding reception in the hotel. Beautifully decorated.

Awesome spa in the hotel. Body scrub plus body massage 2 hr.

Dinner at Jia Tong Heng near our hotel. Peking duck, fried Chinese spinach and roasted pork.

Phaploen market, further away from our hotel

Big C supermarket, KFC, McDonald's,  many restaurants and massage patlours near our market. Such a long stretch of stalls along the road and inside the 3 markets.

Chiang Mai Day 4

Took a Grab car to Versailles de Flore for breakfast. The car sent was a 12 seater!

There is an ancient city wall opposite Versailles de Flore.

Hubby ordered English breakfast and I ordered the tea set. The make-a-wish drink is blue pea, orange and pineapple. Love their blueberry cheese cake on the tea set. The tarts are pretty but don't taste as good.

Walked 7mins to the Mars cafe. The coffee here is very good!

Lov this photo captured by hubby.

We took a grab car to Tha Phae Gate.

We decided to rent the traditional costume and engage a phototograher to take our photographs at the Tha Phae Gate. We found one rental shop just opposite the Tha Phae Gate, next to McDonald's. 

We took some photos in the costume shop and a temple which is next to Mcdonald opposite Tha Phae. Total cost for the 1 hour photography with costumes, makeup and hairdo is 2480 baht. The photographer sent us the photographs the following day.

The photographer sent me a link to the Google drive for the 153 photos.

Grab transport back to the hotel for lunch and saw the Brunch buffet. I was hesitant to try after the bad experience at Shangrila Kowloon but this was surprisingly good. 

We took a grab car to the Chiang Mai Arts and cultural museum. 

Some stalls were setting up for the nightmarket outside the museum.

Took their local taxi which is like a tuk tuk but bigger to the Chiang Mai gate.

At the Chiang Mai Gate ประตูเชียงใหม่

Engaged a smaller tuk tuk to bring us to a massage parlour.

Hubby loved this Thai message so much he regretted not asking for Thai massage previously. He felt so energised! Brought here by a tuk tuk driver from Chiang Mai gate. Refresh Thai Massage next to Kat's kitchen. 

Took a grab car to Le Coq d'Or Restaurant for dinner. Nannie said she brought a group of guests attending APEC for dinner here before.

I liked the warm soft bread with slight crisp and unsalted butter. 

The foie gras here is awesome. Slight crisp and melt in the mouth.

I love my asparagus soup with scallops.

I didn't quite like the escargot though hubby liked it it

The Kobe steak is awesome. Melt in the mouth.

Romantic ambience with live piano performance.

We took the grab transport to the Sunday Market. It is so big that we could only finish one third of the market and took a tuk tuk back to the hotel.

Last night in the hotel. Took the durian which I bought from the night market in the garden as the smell was strong. Love the garden as we could dry our swimming costumes and also our wet clothes here. 

Really love the terrace garden room in Shangri-la Chiang Mai. 

We ordered one sandwich, one mango sticky rice and one cup of coffee but in-room dining sent such a spread! The coffee came in a jar for 4 cups!

Chiang Mai day 5

Nannie picked us up and brought us to breakfast at Kwan's kitchen. The pan cakes with bacon are very good. Not so for the spring rolls which paled against the one I had at the night market near Shangri-la hotel.

At Phachor (Mae Wang National Park) We felt very safe here as there are rangers with real guns around. Also learned from Nannie she has a tour guide passport which she can stamp when she visit a national park. Took some photos at view point carpark 1 before we go to the trail at carpark 3. Due to the tectonic movements we are actually walking up an uplifted river. We could see the sedimentary rocks and conglomerates. The colours of the rock differ due to varying degrees of oxidation from the iron oxide in the rocks. Definitely the highlight of this trip.

Due to tectonic movements, the Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian plate resulting in the formation of the mountain range.  The Pha Chor canyon is located on the western edge of the Chiang Mai basin, in Doi Lo District, Chiang Mai Province. The uplifting and basin formation occurred approximately 30 million years ago.

Various sediments, including gravel, sand, silt, and clay, have been transported by water of Ping River and its tributaries and deposited within the basin. This deposition results in sediment layers with different grain sizes. It has been depositing continuously for approximately 3 million years ago.

Stong current, gravel sediments deposited.

Subsequently, around 1-2 million years ago, the sediment in the basin experienced gradual uplift due to the process of tectonic compression, resulting in the formation of sedimentary layers, with gravel, sand, silt, and clay found at higher elevations.

The sediment layers are eroded by water and wind, with vertical erosion being more prominent than horizontal. Different types of sedimentary layers have varying resistance to erosion, creating a distinctive and steep cliff face The alternating layers of gravel, sand, and sandy clay contribute to the formation of the current "Pha Chor" features.

The process of tectonics caused sediment layer around this area to be lifted up. In the present day, the natural processes such as rain and wind help to erode the top and the side of sediment layer surface which cause a natural decomposition. Gravel layer that covers only the specific point and is more resistant to erosion than nearby areas makes the collapse remained in the shape of a beautiful sludge pole such as Roman Pillar.

"Pha Chor" is a high cliff composed of layers of sediments including gravel, sand, silt and clay with vary in resistance to erosion and weathering. This results in a naturally beautiful and distinctive landscape, characterized by unique and fascinating features. 

 

"Pha Chor" is a natural phenomenon which transformed from the accu- mulation of sediment around the edge of river basin. Later, there were tectonics happened which caused this area to be lifted up and become steep slope and the sediment was also pushed up. Afterwards, the natural factors such as rain and wind erode and washed the sediment layer vertically resulting in the beautiful and quaint patterns Tertiary Period sediment since 5 million years ago. Nowadays, the Ping River has relocated its water path about 10 kilometers from Pha-Chor accompanying with the fact that Pha-Chor has rounded sediment gravels which look like Ping River rocks. According to these reasons, the geologists have assumed that this area used to be Ping River path before.

Thai Silk Village Co.,LTD.

บริษัท ไทยซิลค์วิลเลจ จำกัด

We went to the Carp Cafe for lunch. The food was good too. The prawns are so sweet in the Tom yum soup and the omelette with shrimps were awesome. The fish and vegetables are good too. I find the pork a bit tough.

Even the toilet is surrounded by koi. Invasion of privacy.

Visited Umong Temple on the way to the airport. There are Buddha statues in the the tunnels.

Saying goodbye to Nannie. We had very good private tours with her 2 days in Chiang Rai and 3 days in Chiang Mai. Gratitude 🙏 

Flight was delayed by 20 minutes.  Bought coffee and a apple pie from Burger King while waiting. 

I need to remind myself that I need not pay for Board me first if on first row.

Our private tour driver cum guide, Nannie, is awesome. Very warm and jovial nature. She had brought us from Chiang Mai Airport to Chiang Rai and then from Chiang Rai back to Chiang Mai. 

My blog post on Chiang Rai:

https://mrslilylee.blogspot.com/2024/06/chiang-rai-june-2024.html