(As promised, more updates on my Thailand trip. I shall post it in 3 parts. Check back again for further updates.)
Tour Recaps: 2N Bangkok --> 1N Van --> 2N Chiang Mai --> 4N Udon, Total 10D 9N
I shall blog about the Chiang Mai part first, cuz it should be the shortest (or maybe not). >_<
After sitting through 10 hours in the van, we finally arrived at our destination-- Sri Tokyo Hotel (sounds like India meets Japan)--in the wee hours of the morning. It was freezing cold and I was clad only in t-shirt and 3/4 jeans! When I stepped out of the van, I was shivering so badly that I had to put on 2 jackets.
The hotel's exterior looked more like an apartment. But one thing sets it apart from our apartments in Singapore. That is, you get to see mountains and more mountains from your window! It was beautiful.
After leaving our luggage in our rooms, we headed down for breakfast. It was a buffet breakfast at only 70Baht. Yes, you read that right. Only 70Bahts!!! It sucked though. =X There was mee goreng and some funny fried stuff. The eggs were badly done too. I think the best part of the breakfast is the bread. Yup, plain bread. I just toasted it and spread some butter over. They had some other weird looking jams (one of which is black in colour) too but I wasn't bold enough to try. Then, we got ourselves ready for another gruelling 4-5 hours on the van taking us to The Zoological Park Organisation (it's just a zoo) somewhere near Chiang Rai. We had a long day ahead of us.
About 4 hours into our journey, we stopped by a roadside stall to have lunch. Ahh, authentic Thai hawker food. Yum yum. (see Backpacker's Tales: Thailand on Food & Beverage and Scenery)
I must say I love the long journeys although it was tiring and bumpy. We get to watch DVDs on the van, with our snacks and pillows by our side. It felt quite cosy. Plus, we get to stop by 7-Eleven (every 1 or 2 hours for toilet breaks) and restock our supplies! Especially their cheesy hotdogs! Hah. All of us just had to get one.
Thai Laska (originated from Chiang Mai). Prefer my aunt's version though. (No pig's blood, and mince or bony pork instead of fatty pork.) =X
Okay now, about the Zoological Park Organisation... That's what it says on my ticket but I think it's also known as the Chiang Mai Zoo. Tourists have to pay much more than Thais to enter (was it 5x?). Anyway, we got in at the Thai rate. Us Singaporeans just kept quiet at the back of the van while my aunt and her relatives who were sitting in front of us started speaking in Thai. The guard assumed all 10 of us were Thai and let us in at the Thai rate. It was sooo cheap lah.
I never knew how good the Singapore Zoological Gardens was until I saw this zoo. It was so hilly. The attractions cannot be seen simply by driving pass or taking a tram, because they're all covered with trees! You have to walk in order to see it. Yet, the slopes are so steep. Who in the right mind would wanna walk? The zoo is HUGE you know.
I looked at the zoo map, and realised that they only have a few animals. Most of which are deer anyway. After much contemplation, we decided to just visit the pandas and leave. I was like,"Wow, pandas! I've never seen one before!" It would've been more fun if we didn't have to pay a separate entrance fee for it. This time, we had to pay the tourist rate because for obvious reasons, we couldn't speak Thai. I hate this Thai rule really. It's like you must know how to speak Thai in order to have the Thai rate. My mum was like,"Sawatdii kha!", and she still wasn't given the Thai rate. What nonsense is this man.
The zoo map. Look at the hand that points,"You are here!!" Yes I know you are excited but where exactly am I? And strangely, their Orang Utan looks more like a gorilla.
Female panda at the Chiang Mai Zoo. So cute and clean!!! =)
My youngest cousin. So cute haha.
Next stop... the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006. Yes, I only know how to spell it cause I still have the ticket with me. -_-" It's a "International Horticultural Exposition for His Majesty the King". Almost 90% of the Thais there (and also many throughout the country) were wearing yellow polo shirts with a Thai symbol on the pocket. It was to honor the King's birthday which is on the 5th of Dec, which also happened to be the day of our departure.
Basically, it's just a huge garden with many exhibitions from various countries. Here, I don't mean exhibitions like those white little booths you see at Suntec. One exhibit itself is HUGE. For example, an exhibit by Holland would include a mini windmill, and various types of flowers and statues surronding it. You gotta get down your tram and spend about 5-10 mins exploring it. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to spare. Hence, we only toured the whole place by tram once.
The exhibits are all very very pretty. I remember so vividly about the time when I stepped into a mushroom house. I was looking at the different kinds of fungi when I suddenly noticed that everyone around me stopped talking and stood very still. Then, my Thai-Chinese cousin, Pei Shan, told me that I have to stand still too, because the national anthem was on air. When I thought the anthem was over, I walked out of the mushroom house, and I saw everyone outside standing still too! For a moment, it felt like time stopped. The sight was amazing. I've never seen anything like this before.
I was really really impressed by the Thais attitude towards their country and their king. It just goes to show how much respect they have for him. How different is Singapore from Thailand! Even during our national day parade, I still see Singaporeans talking and figeting when the national anthem is played. And you know, that day wasn't even their national day!
Last stop... the night safari! Aww.. it's a pity I can't remember the name of that place. It's very very nice! I would recommend everyone to go there if I do remember the name. The entrance is very very grand, and they have 2 tram tours on each end of the zoo for a different type of animal. It's situated on a mountain, it's mosquito-free and very cooling. We get to have a night view of the city too. Perfect. Most of the animals there get to roam free too.
Double coconut! One of the items on display at the night safari.
The next day, we set off early in the morning to the "Queen Mother Garden". It's another long journey up to Chiang Rai again.
The "Queen Mother Garden", as we like to call it, is exclusively for Thais, and friends of Thais to visit. No other tourists are allowed to enter. It's a huge privilege to be a Thai. No wonder Uncle Alan also got himself a Thai citizenship. -_-"
There are 3 "attractions" to the "Queen Mother Garden".
First, is the Doi Tung Royal Villa. It's the Queen's mother's villa. It's very very majestic. Hey, and she's not even the Queen you know. She's the Queen's mother! Woah, imagine the King's villa. Unbelievable.
We had to take our shoes off and put on clean socks to enter. Many of the rooms were out of bounds because the Royal family sometimes still come back to visit/stay in the villa. I remember that there were wood carvings of the 12 zodiac signs on the ceiling of the main hall (the whole villa is made of fine wood). The guide told us that the zodiac signs would light up when their respective constellations appear in the night sky. This is due to some special reflection that the windows create. Woah. Impressive.
The villa (front view). This is only about 1/4 of the actual size. That's my aunt's sis and cousin in the picture.
The Queen's mother's bedroom. No photography allowed in the rooms, so this is the best picture I could take from outside.
The view of the garden from the balcony. Not very clear on photo. Notice the statue in the middle. See next photo!
The second is the Mae Fah Luang Garden. It's HUGE. Really. Imagine having a garden ALL TO YOURSELF. There are waterfalls, fountains, river rapids, hot springs, ponds, and statues in the garden. WOAH. Can you imagine that? The best part is, the Queen's Mother has a balcony in her villa which oversees the central part of the garden. BEAUTIFUL!
The statue on the left is the one you saw in the previous picture!
Too busy admiring, didn't take many pictures of the nicer parts!
This garden is maintained this way ALL YEAR round. Not only for IMF!
The third is of course the Princess Mother Commemorative Hall. She's dead already by the way. It's a small museum featuring all her works and contributions to Thailand. No photography allowed so I couldn't get any pictures on that.
The driver wanted to bring us to the Golden Triangle to see the long-neck women. However, due to time constraints, we were not able to make that trip. We got to see the indigenous people though. Here's a short clip of their village.
a short video featuring the indigenous people....
Finally for the last stop for the day, and for Chiang Mai, the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar! Chiang Mai Night Bazaar is about the biggest tourist attraction there. You can tell by looking at the number of angmohs there. I even overheard one stall owner saying to an angmoh,"You have money to come for holiday, surely you have money to buy," when he refused to let her scam him of her exorbitant prices.
There wasn't anything else to see in Central Chiang Mai itself. That's why we always travel north to Chiang Rai. We had seafood dinner at one of the restaurants in the night bazaar. It wasn't particularly nice. I'd say Singapore's seafood is the best.
There was so much shopping to do, that Kh and I told my mum that they should go back first. We would make our way back to the hotel via tuk tuk ourselves! Yes, we had a lot of good bargains. The best buy I got was 180Baht for 2 sequin t-shirts. That's about S$8! They were of good quality, and we bought it at the cheapest price! We walked the whole of the night bazaar and noted that this particular store sells the cheapest at 99Baht each. The other stalls sell it at 120Baht or so. As it was near midnight and the stores were closing, we bargained for 2 t-shirts @ 180Baht and the owner accepted! Woah. Best buy ever. I never knew Kh was so good at bargaining until then.
Check back again for:
Backpacker's Tales: Thailand, Bangkok
Backpacker's Tales: Thailand, Udon Thanni
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