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TONY T's 4th THAILAND TRAVELS
CHIANG MAI (cont'd)
Page 10
Sunday 2nd April:
Opted for a trip to Chiang Mai Zoo. I'm not normally one for looking at captive animals, but the Chiang Mai Zoo offered pandas and tigers.
Got a songthaew (The songthaew takes its name from the two bench seats fixed along either side of the back of the truck) to the zoo and here's where my new Thai I.D. card came in as I was charged about half the admission entry fee and the same discount when wishing to vie the panda.
We bought a bus ticket which was one of those jump on/jump off anywhere ones which was a good idea as the zoo is built into a very steep hillside. Did all the usual zoo stuff, aquarium, etc., but as usual and typical most of the animals were kipping.
A couple of zoo pics below; top showing the panda munching at a carrot and bamboo.
Back at the hotel we decided we'd have dinner there. We got the impression that the food would be good here but I'm afraid it turned out not to be the case.
One of my favourite Thai dishes is Massaman Curry which is a dish from southern Thailand. This is where I first ate a Massaman and, I have to say, I've become an expert at this dish, so I am well qualified to comment.
The so called Massaman served to me was clearly prepared by a chef that hadn't a clue how to make it. It was the worst Thai dish I have ever been presented with. It consisted of 2 chicken legs (it's supposed to be chicken breast chunks), one tiny chunk of potato (it's supposed to be equal chunks as chicken) no peanuts (it's supposed to be cooked with them) with a whole onion (the onion is supposed to be diced), all floating about in a thin semi transparent watery bland liquid (it's supposed to be a fairly thick spicy sauce); and to make matters even more worse, the food was lukewarm and near to cold. Very disappointing.
Went out later and Aom bought some tasty street food to take back to our room.
TOP: Chiang Mai songthaews.
CENTRE: Chiang Mai tuk-tuks.
BOTTOM LEFT: Other means of Chiang Mai transport.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Downtown Chiang Mai street-scene.
Monday 3rd:
Last full day in Chiang Mai.; To be honest tge two of us have had enough of the city.; We've been travelling around Thailand for 5 weeks now and are both keen to get back to Surin and our young son, Jack, wh is just stating to ask where Mummy and Daddy are.; To be honest, downtown Chiang Mai is much the same as many Thai cities with its predictable bars and bar girls.; The markets in Chiang Mai are full of T-shirt shops and tourist crap and it's all got a bit tedious, so it's back to Phanom Dong Rak and relative normality with REAL Thai people tomorrow.
In the event, we opted to go visit Wat Doi Suthep temple high up in the mountains.
Got a songthaew to a drop off zone near to the zoo where we boarded a second one that took us up 2000 meters of switchback road to the temple site.
Wat Doi Suthep is the most-visited, most famous, and most highly revered temple in Chiang Mai. The journey up the winding mountain road is an experience in itself sitting in a songthaew. The final leg of the journey requires of 309-step walk up to reach the 600-year-old golden ‘chedi’ at the top that towers above the surrounding temple building and monks’ living quarters.
Read more at: http://www.chiangmai.bangkok.com/top10-best-temples.htm?cid=ch:OTH:001
The return journey in the songthaew was worse as it was packed solid with passengers. This didn't take us all the way back to the hotel but dropped us off at the edge of the old city. Yet another songthaew was boarded to take us 'home'.
Evening saw us downtown into an old market area; this time selling mainly foodstuff instead of the usual tourist tat. Aom bought some dried "stuff" that costs buttons here but costs an arm-and-a-leg in UK. That done it was off to a bar followed by dinner.
Tuesday 4th:
Time to pack our bags and go.
Chuck-out time from The Rim was 12-noon with our flight to Bangkok scheduled for 14:35.
Bangkok arrival on time at 16:00, we would normally now have to wait for 4 hours until our bus leaves Bangkok Bus Terminal at around 20:00. But as we were hanging around after baggage reclaim I recalled a guy who ran a taxi and lived around the Surin area. I suggested to Aom to give him a call and lo-and-behold he was in Bangkok and agreed to take us to Phanom Dong Rak for 4500Baht (same as 2 years ago) so we were quids-in. This means we'll get to Surin today instead of the wee small hours tomorrow. Excellent!!
CHIANG MAI (cont'd)
Page 10
Sunday 2nd April:
Back at the hotel we decided we'd have dinner there. We got the impression that the food would be good here but I'm afraid it turned out not to be the case. TOP: Chiang Mai songthaews. CENTRE: Chiang Mai tuk-tuks. BOTTOM LEFT: Other means of Chiang Mai transport. BOTTOM RIGHT: Downtown Chiang Mai street-scene.
Monday 3rd:
Tuesday 4th:
Opted for a trip to Chiang Mai Zoo. I'm not normally one for looking at captive animals, but the Chiang Mai Zoo offered pandas and tigers.
Got a songthaew (The songthaew takes its name from the two bench seats fixed along either side of the back of the truck) to the zoo and here's where my new Thai I.D. card came in as I was charged about half the admission entry fee and the same discount when wishing to vie the panda.
We bought a bus ticket which was one of those jump on/jump off anywhere ones which was a good idea as the zoo is built into a very steep hillside. Did all the usual zoo stuff, aquarium, etc., but as usual and typical most of the animals were kipping.
A couple of zoo pics below; top showing the panda munching at a carrot and bamboo.
One of my favourite Thai dishes is Massaman Curry which is a dish from southern Thailand. This is where I first ate a Massaman and, I have to say, I've become an expert at this dish, so I am well qualified to comment.
The so called Massaman served to me was clearly prepared by a chef that hadn't a clue how to make it. It was the worst Thai dish I have ever been presented with. It consisted of 2 chicken legs (it's supposed to be chicken breast chunks), one tiny chunk of potato (it's supposed to be equal chunks as chicken) no peanuts (it's supposed to be cooked with them) with a whole onion (the onion is supposed to be diced), all floating about in a thin semi transparent watery bland liquid (it's supposed to be a fairly thick spicy sauce); and to make matters even more worse, the food was lukewarm and near to cold. Very disappointing.
Went out later and Aom bought some tasty street food to take back to our room.
Last full day in Chiang Mai.; To be honest tge two of us have had enough of the city.; We've been travelling around Thailand for 5 weeks now and are both keen to get back to Surin and our young son, Jack, wh is just stating to ask where Mummy and Daddy are.; To be honest, downtown Chiang Mai is much the same as many Thai cities with its predictable bars and bar girls.; The markets in Chiang Mai are full of T-shirt shops and tourist crap and it's all got a bit tedious, so it's back to Phanom Dong Rak and relative normality with REAL Thai people tomorrow.
In the event, we opted to go visit Wat Doi Suthep temple high up in the mountains.
Got a songthaew to a drop off zone near to the zoo where we boarded a second one that took us up 2000 meters of switchback road to the temple site.
Wat Doi Suthep is the most-visited, most famous, and most highly revered temple in Chiang Mai. The journey up the winding mountain road is an experience in itself sitting in a songthaew. The final leg of the journey requires of 309-step walk up to reach the 600-year-old golden ‘chedi’ at the top that towers above the surrounding temple building and monks’ living quarters.
Read more at: http://www.chiangmai.bangkok.com/top10-best-temples.htm?cid=ch:OTH:001
The return journey in the songthaew was worse as it was packed solid with passengers. This didn't take us all the way back to the hotel but dropped us off at the edge of the old city. Yet another songthaew was boarded to take us 'home'.
Evening saw us downtown into an old market area; this time selling mainly foodstuff instead of the usual tourist tat. Aom bought some dried "stuff" that costs buttons here but costs an arm-and-a-leg in UK. That done it was off to a bar followed by dinner.
Time to pack our bags and go.
Chuck-out time from The Rim was 12-noon with our flight to Bangkok scheduled for 14:35.
Bangkok arrival on time at 16:00, we would normally now have to wait for 4 hours until our bus leaves Bangkok Bus Terminal at around 20:00. But as we were hanging around after baggage reclaim I recalled a guy who ran a taxi and lived around the Surin area. I suggested to Aom to give him a call and lo-and-behold he was in Bangkok and agreed to take us to Phanom Dong Rak for 4500Baht (same as 2 years ago) so we were quids-in. This means we'll get to Surin today instead of the wee small hours tomorrow. Excellent!!