You don’t have to consume Thai food all the time in Thailand, no matter how delicious they may be.  There is a vast varieties of western or at least the fusion version of it easily available.  I mean even Asians or Thai people don’t eat Asian food everyday!

The most common form of western food in Thailand is of course the breakfast.  Scramble eggs, toast with butter & marmalade, pathetic vegetables to pass as salad and of course a good cuppa coffee.  They are either complimentary to your room or cost around 800 - 150 bath.

Classic example below from the River House Restaurant in Mae Sariang 

Rather than pathetic salad I really much prefer a local fruit platter such as the breakfast at the Seven Elephants Cafe, Soppong River Inn.  Fresh bananas, mangoes and watermelon.

Freshly ground coffee.

The usual western breakfast suspect.  To be honest its much heartier than a bowl of noodles (shhhh…)

Was kinda bored with scramble eggs, so I ordered this waffle with fruits and yogurt at Charcoa Restaurant, Chiang Mai.  This comes with a cup of orange juice and a great cup of coffee, of course.  You gotta eat healthy while you’re traveling (well as often as you can). 

Charcoa Restaurant also serves western lunch and dinner such as this fish & chips which sadly does not taste that good. Still a great cafe restaurant though.

This fusion food below I really like! Grilled chicken in tamarind sauce with chips and vegetables.  TipTop Restaurant, Chiang Mai.

A fusion gone wrong would come next in the form of fusilli pasta in tom yam kung soup.  Two strong cusisine that didn’t mix too well for me at the Black Canyon Cafe, Chiang Mai.

Italian cuisine should be “pure” like this Hawaiian Pizza LOL.  This was from a really nice French owned pizza place Da Mamma Restaurant, Soi Kasem San 1, Bangkok. 

Of course Thailand can make a mean cup of mocha anytime! @ Chacoa Cafe

Whether you are home sick or sick of Thai food or just a pizza eating traveller, Thailand can surely accommodate your taste buds.

In Chiang Mai, I stayed at the Trigong Residence in the old city.  A really superb place to stay however not many songthaew or tuk-tuk drivers know where it is.  So I just got off the van from Pai at the Arcade Bus Station, head towards a songthaew driver and asked whether he knows the place.  I tried to pronounce the street name as best I could, I showed him the street name in Thai writings, I opened up my Lonely Planet to show him the map and guess what he still doesn’t know where it is!!!

Now this not a scam, it just a fact that Thai addresses are usually useless.  The solution to this is to tell your driver a point of reference ie. a Wat or Temple of reference.  So in my case the nearest temple to my hotel is Wat Chiang Man, when I told the driver that, he immediately knew where it is and problem solved!!!

In Chiang Mai it’s all about the beautiful Wats, here are the Top 4 temples in Chiang Mai as recommended by Lonely Planet Thailand.  Let’s start off with Wat Chiang Man, it’s not just the temple nearest to where I was staying but it is also the oldest Buddhist temples in the city.

Like many temples in Northern Thailand and neighboring Laos, you’ll notice the low sweeping roofs with ornate carvings and colored glass decorations on its facade. 

The main draw to this Wat is of course the Elephant Chedi.  They are so lifelike as if real elephants are actually supporting the gilded top of the pagoda!

Here’s the Elephant Chedi bathe in the sunset glow.

The grandest of all temples in Chiang Mai goes to Wat Phra Singh.

Now a Wat is actually a temple compound and every Wat will usually contain a Wihan: the big prayer hall, a Chedi or pagoda and an Ubosoth: the holy ordination room.

A prestigious Wat like this would also contain a Tripitaka: special library building for holy scriptures.

Apsara figure decorations also adorn many parts of the buildings. 

Wat Phra Singh was especially spectacular at twilight.

I especially like this pic I took of the Ubosoth with the Chedis behind.

If you have the time do try to see this temple in daylight and at sunset.

The next temple is the Wat Chedi Luang.  This is not just a Wat but also includes a temple to the City Pillar. 

It is a must see because it has the ruins of the original temple built in the 14th century, at that time the largest building ever constructed in Lanna Kingdom.

Sadly it was damaged by wars and finally left in ruins after an earthquake.

Wat Chiang Man, Wat Phra Singh and Wat Chedi Luang are all located within the moats of the old city.  The last temple is the Wat Doi Suthep located on top of a mountain outside the city.  You can reach the top by using a cable car but what’s the fun in that, best to do it by climbing more than 300 steps with two giant nagas next to you.

This is probably one of the most beautiful Wats I’ve ever seen in Thailand.

x

The Chedi just glows and pulls you attention towards it.

Bells are also another symbol of this Wat.  You can buy them at the stores at the base of the mountain.  Hang them for good luck or as wind-chimes. 

You can also get a panoramic view of the city from here but the Wat is still the best feature.

Legend has it that a Lanna King sent a sacred white elephant to locate a site to build this temple.  The elephant stopped here, trumpeted 3 times and died here.  Sad but it was taken as an auspicious sign.   

I also like the ornate bell towers located at all corners of the Wihan.

See I told you bells are the in thing here.  I had a cuppa at this cafe while many people just rang the rows of bells over and over again, needless to say I didn’t stay long…

Although these temple are not the megalithic temples in Bangkok nevertheless I am still impressed by the ones here in Chinag Mai.  They are very charming, ornately decorated and has an intimate feel to them.  There is a 5th temple recommended, ie. them Bamboo Monastery but I was all wat-out….. Definitely saving it for my next visit.

Entrance fees : Free!

Artistic and architectural delight, combined with the invocation of spiritual calm: Priceless

From Soppong I made my way to Pai.  This (once) one main street town is a major tourist trap.  It had started out as a hippy heaven and is today a hippy wannabe heaven, retaining its druggy charm with suspicious looking herbs and mushrooms offered.  An overzealous crack down on these items by the Thai authorities have made the sale underground but still quite easily available to tourist.

Originally I did not want to stop here but my accommodation at Soppong was fully booked.  Nevertheless I found Pai to have a few activities for those clean-living, say-no-to-drugs boring people as well.

Pai is surrounded by beautiful mountains thus making it a great place to walk and hike.  From Pai I took a motorbike taxi (130 Baht return) to my last and final KMT (Chinese Nationalist) village call Santicorn.       

From the village center I made my way up to the lookout point.

Crossing farms and tea plantations.

With beautiful views of the mountain range.

It was an easy walk with tared and cement roads with the occasional farm dirt paths.

At the lookout point there is a tea house with an entrance fee.

I came back down to enjoy the fanfare of the village center which includes a manual ferris wheel.

This KMT village seems a bit more dolled-up compare to the others I have visited.

It has mud houses,canals and even a man-made lake with a little pavilion.

Very pretty even though its not that authentic.

You can even get a pony ride around the ‘lake’.

Yunanese food and Chinese tea are also sold here. 

I found a back exit from the village center to the real Chinese village

Mostly residential houses with pretty gardens and lanterns hanging everywhere.

At the end of the day, I ended up liking Pai.  Minus the hippy wannabes, suspicious herbs and tourist learning to ride bikes….. Yeah it’s a typical pretty little town among the mountains in Northern Thailand.

The night market is one of the liveliest next to Chiang Mai’s.

Other than that it’s just a nice town to sit back and relax sipping coffee in a cafe watching the world go by.

The bus station is very near Wat Klang and buses and vans leave for both Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai directions (which is my next destination).  

And yes bring plastic bags or pills or ginger whatever, the ride is very twisty going back to Chiang Mai.  I also found that riding shot-gun (next to driver) reduces the impact. Nevertheless be prepared, this includes hearing and smelling your fellow passenger vomiting.   

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of posting, still trying to recover from my PTD (post travel depression) and of course filing my taxes.  Hope to be posting by this weekend.

In the meantime hope you guys are having a great start to the spring season.

Pic:  My snap-shot of the cherry blossom at the active volcano of Sakurajima, near the city of Kagoshima, Kyushu.

Day 21 - Kansai International Airport. Sunset at KIX. Good bye Japan!

Day 20 - Osaka. Castle-run 6. This was once a mighty castle built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a warrior & one of the unifiers of the Japanese nation. This is a reconstruction as Osaka-jo was destroyed many times. It is now a pretty good museum shaped like the original castle.

Nearest station is the JR Osaka Loop Line - Osakajokoen Station.
Entrance fee - ¥ 600

Day 20 - Mino Park. Best time to visit in autumn but it was a nice walk in the forest nevertheless.

Hankyu Private Rail from Osaka Umeda, make a change at Ishibashi for Mino-O - cost ¥ 260 one way (bout an hour).

Day 19 - Osaka. Japanese homage to America and everything American - Amerikamura. Here you get to see how ridiculous (very sorry) they try to be Americans! Note the Statue of Liberty…

Nearest metro - Shinsaibashi

Day 18 - Mount Koya. Rock garden at the center of spirituality in Japan.

Day 17 - Okayama. Castle-run 5. Okayama-Jo is a reconstructed castle as it was destroyed during World War II. The reconstruction is one of the finest as it followed the original blueprint. Also know as the Crow Castle as it is mostly black in color as oppose to the normal white color Japanese castles.

Easy 30 mins’ from the train station or tram.
See this castle together with the Korakuen Japanese garden.