About Chiang Mai

Located in a verdant valley on the banks of Ping River 700 km north of Bangkok, Chiang Mai is a land of misty mountains and colourful hill tribes. Translated as “New City” (Chiang means city in northern Thai dialect while mai is new), it was founded in 1296 as the capital of the ancient Lanna Kingdom. In the olden days, it could only be reached by river journey or an elephant trek until the 1920s, which helped kept Chiang Mai’s distinctive charm intact.

Day 5 (10/10/2017) : Joke Sompet – Tiger Kingdom – Moncham – Ice Love You – Chiang Mai Night Safari – Wat Doi Suthep - Rustic & Blue – Chiang Mai Street – Another night market – Mona Boutique Hotel

<<< continued from our first day adventure in Chiang Mai

Joke Sompet

After experiencing a rather tight schedule the day earlier, we decided to leave the hotel earlier in the morning to ensure a full productive day ahead. Breakfast was settled at Joke Sompet, a restaurant famous for congee. Apart from their congee, we also ordered roasted fish with rice and roasted chicken leg with rice. The total bill costs us 255 Baht (64 Baht per person / SGD 2.61 / RM 8.11) for 3 items.

Day 3 (8/10/2017) : Chiang Mai Arcade Bus Terminal – Hotel Arch 39 – Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street Night Market – Fong Fei Fei Pig Trotter Rice

<<< continued from our 3 days adventure in Pai

Arrival in Chiang Mai

After another 3 hours ride on the same winding mountain road, we reached Chiang Mai Arcade Terminal at 5pm. There were plenty of tuk tuk drivers approaching us at the station, offering to take us to our hotel, but after checking to uber rate, we decided to go for the latter one which is much cheaper. Our uber ride to hotel costs only 70 Baht (18 Baht per person / SGD 0.72 / RM 2.23) wheres a tuk tuk quoted us for around 200 Baht (if my memory served me right).

<<< continued from our 2 days adventure in Pai

Breakfast at Pai Panalee Resort

Once again, the room we booked comes with breakfast, and so we had our buffet breakfast before heading out to complete our unfinished business in Pai. In comparison to Yododo Inn, Pai Panalee has more interesting spread of cuisines. Yum yum!

Day 1 (6/10/2017) : KLIA2 – Chiang Mai International Airport – Chiang Mai Arcade Bus Terminal – Pai Bus Station – Yododo Inn – Wat Phra That Mae Yen – Pai Walking Street

Minivan from Chiang Mai to Pai

We took morning flight to Chiang Mai, and by the time we arrived at the airport, the first thing in mind is to get a local sim card. We don’t normally have the habit of getting a sim card when we backpack, but for this trip, we figured it’d come in handy since we needed to navigate our way as we would be riding and driving around Pai and Chiang Mai on our own. However, all the sim card sold doesn’t allow tethering (sharing of mobile hotspot), and therefore we could not share the data usage. We bought AIS sim card for its 7 days unlimited data which costs us 249 Baht (sharing 4 pax = 62 Baht / SGD 2.55 / RM 7.92)

What is iLight Marina Bay?

Blink, blink! And there goes Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. Time sure flies for the last couple of months, as we are finally entered the last month of the first quarter of 2018. And as March kicks in, it’s time for one of the most anticipated annual event in Singapore --- iLight Marina Bay 2018.

Day 3 (Part 1) : Dimsum Breakfast

We checked out after our complimentary breakfast and the songthaew driver was already waiting for us in front of our bungalow. We hopped onto the songthaew with all our luggage, and bid farewell to the beautiful Thale Noi. The songthaew driver then dropped us in front of Phatthalung train station. The ride costs us 450 Baht or 50 Baht per person (SGD2.06 / RM6.50). We then enquired about the earliest available train tickets to Hatyai and Khao Chai Son, bought the next train (10.30am).

Day 2 (Part 3) : Sight Seeing Day

... Continued from [Day 2 – Thale Noi]

As we finished our breakfast, the songthaew driver arrived to pick us up for our temple tour. The usual pick up rate to town costs 450 Baht, so we negotiated with the driver to take us to 4 different temples for a total of 740 Baht (82 Baht per person / SGD3.38 / RM10.69) which he agreed. We visited the following temples in order: Wat Wang > Khao Ok Thalu > Wat Khuha Sawan > Tham Malai.

Day 2 (Part 1) : Thale Noi

The Thai name ‘Thale Noi’ translates to ‘little sea’ in English language (thale means sea while noi means little). It is the northernmost of the bodies of water that make up Thale Sap , also known as Songkhla Lake. 

Supporting more than 180 species of local and migratory waterbirds and protected under the international Ramsar wetlands preservation treaty, Thale Noi is Thailand’s largest waterfowl reserve. Birdwatchers are joined by flora enthusiasts looking to glide through pink waterlilies that bloom by the thousands. Locals weave grass mats and fish off stilted platforms, adding splashes of culture to this increasingly popular natural attraction.