10 January 2008/1 Muharram 1429 Hijrah
We left KUL for The Land of Smiles quite early in the morning. After a three-hour flight, we landed at Chiang Mai International Airport at 1030 local time (Thailand is one hour behind or GMT+7), 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. Clearing immigration was a breeze and we were reunited with our bags before long. We also parted with some Thai Baht here (yes, already!) by signing up for airport transfers and tours with The Travel Team Co. Ltd., a local tour company.
The airport was only 3-4 km south-west of the city and before we knew it, we were already in the city. A bit on Chiang Mai: it is 711 years old, having been founded in 1296 AD. It is definitely older than Bangkok and used to have its own kingdom and culture. Its isolation until the 1920s due to its location on a plain at an elevation of 316 metres above sea level and 700 km north of the capital has helped Chiang Mai retain its distinctive charm. Sections of the ancient city wall still remain (Chiang Mai means ‘New Walled City’) as do the moat encircling the old city.
We would see a lot of both Thai and yellow flags (the latter symbolise Buddhism, the natural religion, or the royal family) everywhere throughout the next few days. See, King Bhumibol celebrated his 60th year on the throne in June 2006 and celebrated his 80th birthday on 5 December 2007 and the Thai people still fly their flags with pride. There were also shrines at some buildings paying tribute to the late elder sister to the revered king, Princess Galyani Vadhana, who passed away on 2 January 2008. Most TV stations that we tuned in to had short documentaries of her and the TV presenters were all clad in black as they observed a 15-day mourning period. The Thai people clearly love and respect the royal family.
We managed to check in early despite it being only 11 something in the morning. After freshening up, we wet down to the hotel lobby for our welcome drink while waiting for our guide to pick us up for our ‘home industries’ tour to the following:
- Jolie Femme silk factory and showroom, where we were given a brief guide by a teenage boy who spoke good English complete with an American accent
- Laitong Lacquer Ware showroom (there was a mosque, Masjid Darulbin, located just across the street from the showroom). I prefer Vietnamese lacquer ware though
- Gems Gallery where we spent time admiring the exquisite jewelleries
- N.B.K. leather showroom where accessories from ostrich, stingray, elephant, camel and crocodile leather and sheep skin were sold
- Sa paper showroom where beautiful hand-painted silk, cotton and sa paper umbrellas and hand-held fans were sold
- An shop selling an ethnic table and bed linen
- and last but not least, P Collections Silverware showroom.
We returned to the hotel and went in search for food as we were famished. As luck would have it, there was a halal resto nearby selling Punjabi food, some 200 metres from our hotel.
That evening, we ventured out to Kalare Night Bazaar and Pavilion Night Bazaar. We also managed to locate Ban Haw mosque on Charoen Prathet Soi 1, very near to the Night Bazaar and some halal Yunnanese Muslim stalls along the same soi (lane) but the dishes were pre-prepared and didn’t look warm. The cook kindly advised us to search for halal food three lanes down so we retraced our steps and finally found Roummit Restaurant, a Yunnanese Muslim restaurant, next to Arabia restaurant (also halal) in Anusarn Market. Turned out there were at least five halal restaurants at Anusarn market alone (but only Roummit was a Yunnanese Muslim restaurant; the others were Pakistani/Indian restaurants).
A bit on the Yunnanese Muslims: unlike the Muslims in the south of Thailand who are mainly dark, the Muslims in Chiang Mai are very fair as they are descendants of Yunnanese Muslims from the Yunnan province in China. As early as the 15th century, they had been using Chiang Mai as a ‘back door’ entry and exit for commodities transported between China and a port in Myanmar. The main means of transportation for these Yunnanese caravan people were mules and ponies which contrasted with the usual South-East Asian preference for oxen, water buffaloes and elephants. The Chinese Muslims who dominated the caravan traffic owed their preferred mode of conveyance, as well as religious orientation, to mass conversions during the Mongol invasion of Yunnan in the 13th century. The equestrian nature of these caravan traders led the Thais to call the Yunnanese ‘jin haw’ or galloping Chinese. We met a family of Yunnanese Muslim customers and as in other parts of Thailand and China, the ladies were all covered.
11 January 2008
It would be a long day today as today’s tour was to the north, to the Thailand-Laos and Thailand-Myanmar borders. Our guide, Maya, and driver, Shin, finally showed up after we waited 40 minutes in the lobby. After picking up a few others, we were finally ready to set off. It was a Beautiful Day today with azure sky and not a cloud in sight.
Our first stop was the hot spring area. It comprised of a few wells of hot spring water. No swimming was allowed but visitors could boil eggs in the wells. We left after half an hour for our next destination, Chiang Saen, passing through the city of Chiang Rai.
It was a bumpy, winding two-hour ride to Chiang Rai and Chiang Saen. A bit of history: Chiang Rai was the first capital city of the Lanna kingdom. ‘Lan’ means million and ‘na’ means rice farms, hence the name means a million rice farms. And indeed, we drove past many paddy fields. We drove through Chiang Rai to Chiang Saen, a city bordering Laos and Myanmar. This is where the notorious Golden Triangle is. First, we stopped at Wat Chedi Luang, an old ruined Buddhist temple, it was ruined when the Burmese attacked the city and has never been rebuilt. It was here where I sighted teak trees (for teak furniture) for the first time.
Then we drove along the mighty Mekong River and stopped at a jetty (for lack of a better name). Mekong River is the third longest river in Asia after the Yangtze and Ganges Rivers and forms a natural border between Thailand and Myanmar, Myanmar and Laos, and Laos and Thailand. I managed to persuade Mummy to take the boat ride so we paid the ticket and boarded the boat up the river and that was the day when we saw three countries - Thailand, Myanmar and Laos - in an instant. We cruised up along the Myanmar side before turning back and stopping at Don Sao village on the Laotian side. No passport needed here though we did have to pay a 20-Baht tax (Thai Baht accepted here). We spent half an hour at the village and apart from the usual souvenirs of silk shawls, t-shirts, postcards and bookmarks, there were also bottles of snake, tiger penis, scorpion and gecko whisky on sale.
As we know, the Golden Triangle was notorious for its opium trade. There is a sandbar along the mighty Mekong and free trading of opium was conducted here. This sandbar is ‘free land’ and traders could carry out transactions freely – until they returned to shore. And the payment for opium was its weight in gold. So if you bought a kg of opium, you must pay 1 kg of 100% gold (not 916 or 750 gold) and if you bought only 100 grams of opium, you must pay 100 gram worth of gold and so on, hence the name Golden Triangle.
We went for lunch shortly after returning to the Thai side at Golden Iyara Resort. Then we drove to Mae Sai, the north most city of Thailand at the border with Myanmar. We were not allowed to cross over to the Myanmar side as Maya explained her tourists were once detained for five hours there. We spent about 45 minutes there. It was a small border city, with hawkers selling fruits, vegetables, dried mushrooms etc and the shops selling gems and occasionally we saw some monks and some Myanmar people: the men were dark and wore sarong while the women had some face paste on their faces.
Then we drove to Nana Pao (spelling?) village to visit the hill-tribe people. These people are migrants from Myanmar but now have certificates/papers saying they are Thai citizens. This village was built on Government land and the people are encouraged to farm and sell merchandises to tourists to prevent them from planting and selling opium. There were the Karen people whose long-necked women sport a brass ring coil around their neck. They started wearing these coils when they were five and have more added when they were 10. And the brass coils were heavy, mind you, about 5-8 kg apiece! There was a Karen woman who had 27 coils around her neck (the most number of coils)! According to Maya, Karen women wear the neck ring to protect themselves from being bitten by tigers in the forest and to protect them from spirits. They also believe that elongated necks are beautiful just as swans are beautiful birds with their long necks.
There were also the Balong people who have black teeth due to their past-time habit and fondness for chewing betel leaves. They believe black teeth symbolise beauty (black is beauty, y’all) and that chewing betel leaves would help strengthen their teeth. There were the Lahu people and the Lahu women we met had big earlobes to fit in their big earrings and had some paint on their faces. There were also the enterprising Akha people with their head gears and decorations. Akha people can also be found in Chiang Mai peddling their wares.
We also had a peek inside their houses and it was a simple life indeed. No refrigerator or oven in the kitchen of course, instead there was a coal stove. There was no mattress in the bedroom and only one light bulb to light up the house.
After about half an hour and some Kodak moments, we left for Chiang Mai. It was already getting dark then and we drove for more than three hours in the Starry Starry Night before reaching Chiang Mai.
12 January 2008
Another Beautiful Day and this morning, we set off slightly later at 8.30 am for our Elephant Safari trip at Maetaman Rafting and Elephant Camp, about 75 km north of Chiang Mai. We arrived just in time to see the elephants having their morning bath. After that, we were entertained by the intelligent animals: there was the elephant procession with a couple of them carrying a Welcome sign and the others walking in a single file behind holding on to the other’s tail with its trunk. Then they showed off their skills and tricks, played football and basketball, gave a trainer a massage with a foot and a trunk, and painted pictures (I dare say they paint better than I can!). It was all very fun and entertaining although I doubt a PETA activist would feel the same.
After the show, we went for bamboo rafting down the river. Our four-km trip lasted an hour. Mummy and I were fortunate to sit in front of the raft as the front seats were drier compared to the middle and back seats. Then we drove back to the camp for lunch before going for an elephant ride to the village of the Lisu hill-tribe. Mummy refused to go though so I went with Mario. Our elephant was a 32-year old female by the name of Anika. It was a bumpy ride to say the least and I was quite terrified that the bar that held us in place would give way or break.
The ride lasted for half an hour and we spent about 15 minutes at the village before returning to the camp, this time by ox-cart. We then bade farewell to the gentle and adorable giants.
We stopped at a snake farm en route to Chiang Mai. Mummy and I weren’t too keen on them slimy reptiles hence decided not to sit through the show. After the show, we went to an orchid and butterfly farm nearby before returning to Chiang Mai.
That evening, we went to Anusarn Market for dinner at Roummit Restaurant and after that, we spent some time at the Night Bazaar doing some shopping.
13 January 2008
I went for a short stroll to Anusarn market in the morning. It was quiet unlike the night before but at the end of the market, there were some stalls selling fruits, vegetables, meat and cooked food. There were also some halal stalls and a halal butcher.
Our driver came shortly after 9 and drove us to the airport. Check-in process was slow and painful but at least it deterred us from spending too long at the duty-free shops. We arrived at the airport at 2.40 pm but we had to wait a while before getting our bags. Anyway, all in all, it was a very enjoyable trip.
We left KUL for The Land of Smiles quite early in the morning. After a three-hour flight, we landed at Chiang Mai International Airport at 1030 local time (Thailand is one hour behind or GMT+7), 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. Clearing immigration was a breeze and we were reunited with our bags before long. We also parted with some Thai Baht here (yes, already!) by signing up for airport transfers and tours with The Travel Team Co. Ltd., a local tour company.
The airport was only 3-4 km south-west of the city and before we knew it, we were already in the city. A bit on Chiang Mai: it is 711 years old, having been founded in 1296 AD. It is definitely older than Bangkok and used to have its own kingdom and culture. Its isolation until the 1920s due to its location on a plain at an elevation of 316 metres above sea level and 700 km north of the capital has helped Chiang Mai retain its distinctive charm. Sections of the ancient city wall still remain (Chiang Mai means ‘New Walled City’) as do the moat encircling the old city.
We would see a lot of both Thai and yellow flags (the latter symbolise Buddhism, the natural religion, or the royal family) everywhere throughout the next few days. See, King Bhumibol celebrated his 60th year on the throne in June 2006 and celebrated his 80th birthday on 5 December 2007 and the Thai people still fly their flags with pride. There were also shrines at some buildings paying tribute to the late elder sister to the revered king, Princess Galyani Vadhana, who passed away on 2 January 2008. Most TV stations that we tuned in to had short documentaries of her and the TV presenters were all clad in black as they observed a 15-day mourning period. The Thai people clearly love and respect the royal family.
We managed to check in early despite it being only 11 something in the morning. After freshening up, we wet down to the hotel lobby for our welcome drink while waiting for our guide to pick us up for our ‘home industries’ tour to the following:
- Jolie Femme silk factory and showroom, where we were given a brief guide by a teenage boy who spoke good English complete with an American accent
- Laitong Lacquer Ware showroom (there was a mosque, Masjid Darulbin, located just across the street from the showroom). I prefer Vietnamese lacquer ware though
- Gems Gallery where we spent time admiring the exquisite jewelleries
- N.B.K. leather showroom where accessories from ostrich, stingray, elephant, camel and crocodile leather and sheep skin were sold
- Sa paper showroom where beautiful hand-painted silk, cotton and sa paper umbrellas and hand-held fans were sold
- An shop selling an ethnic table and bed linen
- and last but not least, P Collections Silverware showroom.
We returned to the hotel and went in search for food as we were famished. As luck would have it, there was a halal resto nearby selling Punjabi food, some 200 metres from our hotel.
That evening, we ventured out to Kalare Night Bazaar and Pavilion Night Bazaar. We also managed to locate Ban Haw mosque on Charoen Prathet Soi 1, very near to the Night Bazaar and some halal Yunnanese Muslim stalls along the same soi (lane) but the dishes were pre-prepared and didn’t look warm. The cook kindly advised us to search for halal food three lanes down so we retraced our steps and finally found Roummit Restaurant, a Yunnanese Muslim restaurant, next to Arabia restaurant (also halal) in Anusarn Market. Turned out there were at least five halal restaurants at Anusarn market alone (but only Roummit was a Yunnanese Muslim restaurant; the others were Pakistani/Indian restaurants).
A bit on the Yunnanese Muslims: unlike the Muslims in the south of Thailand who are mainly dark, the Muslims in Chiang Mai are very fair as they are descendants of Yunnanese Muslims from the Yunnan province in China. As early as the 15th century, they had been using Chiang Mai as a ‘back door’ entry and exit for commodities transported between China and a port in Myanmar. The main means of transportation for these Yunnanese caravan people were mules and ponies which contrasted with the usual South-East Asian preference for oxen, water buffaloes and elephants. The Chinese Muslims who dominated the caravan traffic owed their preferred mode of conveyance, as well as religious orientation, to mass conversions during the Mongol invasion of Yunnan in the 13th century. The equestrian nature of these caravan traders led the Thais to call the Yunnanese ‘jin haw’ or galloping Chinese. We met a family of Yunnanese Muslim customers and as in other parts of Thailand and China, the ladies were all covered.
11 January 2008
It would be a long day today as today’s tour was to the north, to the Thailand-Laos and Thailand-Myanmar borders. Our guide, Maya, and driver, Shin, finally showed up after we waited 40 minutes in the lobby. After picking up a few others, we were finally ready to set off. It was a Beautiful Day today with azure sky and not a cloud in sight.
Our first stop was the hot spring area. It comprised of a few wells of hot spring water. No swimming was allowed but visitors could boil eggs in the wells. We left after half an hour for our next destination, Chiang Saen, passing through the city of Chiang Rai.
It was a bumpy, winding two-hour ride to Chiang Rai and Chiang Saen. A bit of history: Chiang Rai was the first capital city of the Lanna kingdom. ‘Lan’ means million and ‘na’ means rice farms, hence the name means a million rice farms. And indeed, we drove past many paddy fields. We drove through Chiang Rai to Chiang Saen, a city bordering Laos and Myanmar. This is where the notorious Golden Triangle is. First, we stopped at Wat Chedi Luang, an old ruined Buddhist temple, it was ruined when the Burmese attacked the city and has never been rebuilt. It was here where I sighted teak trees (for teak furniture) for the first time.
Then we drove along the mighty Mekong River and stopped at a jetty (for lack of a better name). Mekong River is the third longest river in Asia after the Yangtze and Ganges Rivers and forms a natural border between Thailand and Myanmar, Myanmar and Laos, and Laos and Thailand. I managed to persuade Mummy to take the boat ride so we paid the ticket and boarded the boat up the river and that was the day when we saw three countries - Thailand, Myanmar and Laos - in an instant. We cruised up along the Myanmar side before turning back and stopping at Don Sao village on the Laotian side. No passport needed here though we did have to pay a 20-Baht tax (Thai Baht accepted here). We spent half an hour at the village and apart from the usual souvenirs of silk shawls, t-shirts, postcards and bookmarks, there were also bottles of snake, tiger penis, scorpion and gecko whisky on sale.
As we know, the Golden Triangle was notorious for its opium trade. There is a sandbar along the mighty Mekong and free trading of opium was conducted here. This sandbar is ‘free land’ and traders could carry out transactions freely – until they returned to shore. And the payment for opium was its weight in gold. So if you bought a kg of opium, you must pay 1 kg of 100% gold (not 916 or 750 gold) and if you bought only 100 grams of opium, you must pay 100 gram worth of gold and so on, hence the name Golden Triangle.
We went for lunch shortly after returning to the Thai side at Golden Iyara Resort. Then we drove to Mae Sai, the north most city of Thailand at the border with Myanmar. We were not allowed to cross over to the Myanmar side as Maya explained her tourists were once detained for five hours there. We spent about 45 minutes there. It was a small border city, with hawkers selling fruits, vegetables, dried mushrooms etc and the shops selling gems and occasionally we saw some monks and some Myanmar people: the men were dark and wore sarong while the women had some face paste on their faces.
Then we drove to Nana Pao (spelling?) village to visit the hill-tribe people. These people are migrants from Myanmar but now have certificates/papers saying they are Thai citizens. This village was built on Government land and the people are encouraged to farm and sell merchandises to tourists to prevent them from planting and selling opium. There were the Karen people whose long-necked women sport a brass ring coil around their neck. They started wearing these coils when they were five and have more added when they were 10. And the brass coils were heavy, mind you, about 5-8 kg apiece! There was a Karen woman who had 27 coils around her neck (the most number of coils)! According to Maya, Karen women wear the neck ring to protect themselves from being bitten by tigers in the forest and to protect them from spirits. They also believe that elongated necks are beautiful just as swans are beautiful birds with their long necks.
There were also the Balong people who have black teeth due to their past-time habit and fondness for chewing betel leaves. They believe black teeth symbolise beauty (black is beauty, y’all) and that chewing betel leaves would help strengthen their teeth. There were the Lahu people and the Lahu women we met had big earlobes to fit in their big earrings and had some paint on their faces. There were also the enterprising Akha people with their head gears and decorations. Akha people can also be found in Chiang Mai peddling their wares.
We also had a peek inside their houses and it was a simple life indeed. No refrigerator or oven in the kitchen of course, instead there was a coal stove. There was no mattress in the bedroom and only one light bulb to light up the house.
After about half an hour and some Kodak moments, we left for Chiang Mai. It was already getting dark then and we drove for more than three hours in the Starry Starry Night before reaching Chiang Mai.
12 January 2008
Another Beautiful Day and this morning, we set off slightly later at 8.30 am for our Elephant Safari trip at Maetaman Rafting and Elephant Camp, about 75 km north of Chiang Mai. We arrived just in time to see the elephants having their morning bath. After that, we were entertained by the intelligent animals: there was the elephant procession with a couple of them carrying a Welcome sign and the others walking in a single file behind holding on to the other’s tail with its trunk. Then they showed off their skills and tricks, played football and basketball, gave a trainer a massage with a foot and a trunk, and painted pictures (I dare say they paint better than I can!). It was all very fun and entertaining although I doubt a PETA activist would feel the same.
After the show, we went for bamboo rafting down the river. Our four-km trip lasted an hour. Mummy and I were fortunate to sit in front of the raft as the front seats were drier compared to the middle and back seats. Then we drove back to the camp for lunch before going for an elephant ride to the village of the Lisu hill-tribe. Mummy refused to go though so I went with Mario. Our elephant was a 32-year old female by the name of Anika. It was a bumpy ride to say the least and I was quite terrified that the bar that held us in place would give way or break.
The ride lasted for half an hour and we spent about 15 minutes at the village before returning to the camp, this time by ox-cart. We then bade farewell to the gentle and adorable giants.
We stopped at a snake farm en route to Chiang Mai. Mummy and I weren’t too keen on them slimy reptiles hence decided not to sit through the show. After the show, we went to an orchid and butterfly farm nearby before returning to Chiang Mai.
That evening, we went to Anusarn Market for dinner at Roummit Restaurant and after that, we spent some time at the Night Bazaar doing some shopping.
13 January 2008
I went for a short stroll to Anusarn market in the morning. It was quiet unlike the night before but at the end of the market, there were some stalls selling fruits, vegetables, meat and cooked food. There were also some halal stalls and a halal butcher.
Our driver came shortly after 9 and drove us to the airport. Check-in process was slow and painful but at least it deterred us from spending too long at the duty-free shops. We arrived at the airport at 2.40 pm but we had to wait a while before getting our bags. Anyway, all in all, it was a very enjoyable trip.
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