Day 4: Moto Madness in Chiang Mai

Today was a first for us on our trips to Thailand. We were going to hire a moto for the day. I suppose the streets of Chiang Mai were less dangerous than Bangkok. Renting a moto is easy. Possible too easy. No driving licence required. They only ask for a copy of your passport as a deposit. It’s ridiculously cheap too. Only 150 Baht for the day. That’s about 3 quid. What about Insurance? An extra 50 baht. Although what kind of insurance it was is debatable. The Thais didn’t seem all that fussed about it and the insurance document provided looked like it had been copied and pasted from a standard word document.

A little daunted by the busy traffic we slowly set-off the short distance to the petrol station to fill up. 35p a litre, bargain! Now we had to navigate the roads and head up the hill towards Doi Suthep. The moat that surrounds the city is a great circular road. Inside the moat the traffic goes anti-clockwise. The outer road goes clockwise. The quickest route on paper is to take the Inner moat road and go around to the North-West corner. However, we were on the outer road and I wanted a few miles under my belt before trying to cut through the traffic, not once but twice. It was far easy to go with the flow and stay on the outer road.


Our mean machine.

The flow of traffic on the ring road was phenomenal. Nobody seems to give way to anyone. There is no right of way. Drivers think nothing of cutting through three lanes of traffic to make their left turn at the latest possible moment. Motos that wanted to head anti-clockwise on the one-way clockwise outer road simply hugged the kerb. It’s real law of the jungle stuff. Learn fast or die. Great fun!


Buddha up the mountain.

Not long after leaving the ring road to head up the mountain, the traffic
seemed to melt away. You pretty much have the road to yourself. The adrenalin began to fade and another problem became noticeable. The moto was the most uncomfortable ride in the world. We stopped a few kilometres up the mountain at a construction site to take a break. There are building a temple and looks nearly complete. A huge Buddha image is already in place although I’m not sure that they have finished decorating it yet. We made a few more stops on the way up the mountain. A mixture of getting a little rest bite from the saddle and admiring the views of Chiang Mai below. Unfortunately, the views were obscured by a mist that hung over the city.


Looking down at Chiang Mai.

Day 3: A bit of R&R

The heat was taking its toll, so we decided on taking a coffee break at a nice looking place, Mokador. After ordering our cafe latte the waiter appeared with a refreshing lemon scented towel that was ice cold. Just what you need to combat the 38 degree heat. The coffee was served along with an ice cold glass of water. Nice coffee but we felt a little guilty ruining the pretty pattern on top.


Mokador.

Monica announced that more relaxation was the order of the day. The next stop would be for our first Thai massage of the trip. So when we stopped outside the women’s prison I was a little surprised. A change of plan? No, apparently the massage was going to be delivered by the prisoners. I wanted to see their rap sheet first!

An hour later and visions of being garrotted by a con had completely dissipated. In fact the poor girl looked like she spent an afternoon in a hard labour camp, much to the amusement of her colleague who had the easier job of looking after Monica.

Evening time and we headed for the night bazaar. All the stalls seemed to repeat themselves every 3 or 4 pitches. And there were hundreds of them. Still, the Thai from Bangkok had told us not to bother with the night bazaar for shopping. It’s for tourists. Better heading to the local market a few blocks away for the real bargains. Our target was the food and drink area at the back.

The space set aside for the food was a bit of a disappointment. It’s nothing like the one in Bangkok. The entertainment was provided by a few women performing a traditional dance. They were being largely ignored by the vast majority of the people there eating. The food was a bit ropy too. I wanted duck but was told 20 minutes later that they had run out. Monica’s king prawn rice arrived minus the prawns. We were contemplating staying for a beer at the bar nearest the stage. Not for the entertainment, but more in hope that someone would want a game of darts. The dart board was precariously placed on one of the supports. Anyone visiting the toilets would be in serious danger of being struck by a stray dart. Alas, darts isn’t a popular sport in Thailand.


Don't stand here too long.

We ended up going to the river to find a place that had some life music. There were a few places there that seemed to cater for the younger locals and travellers. We found a place further up the river that had a live band on. It looked a bit posh. Where else can you go and get your bottles of beer served in a champagne bucket complete with crushed ice? The views over the river where fantastic. The service was excellent. That probably had more to do with the fact that there were more staff than customers. A real shame.


Part of the city walls.

The trek back to our hotel was a long one. Too long for Monica to hold out without a toilet break. A good excuse as any to enter another bar on route. This one, “Live Wood” was just outside the moat and featured its very own house band. They were not bad either. Again it was a shame that there were only three other people in the bar. We decided to stay for an extra drink as the other patrons headed home. Monica said that we had gone over budget. Whoops!

Day 3 – Monica’s Walking tour of Chiang Mai

The first stop was at the oldest temple in Chiang Mai, Wat Chiang Man (Or Chieng Mun). Walking towards the temple is a quick reminder of what Thailand is all about for me. The beautiful level of detail in the architecture of the buildings. The vivid colours shimmering in the sun, giving the illusion that the temples are encrusted with gems and precious metals. The Tuk-Tuk drivers touting for business inside the Wat gates, always with a smile on their faces. The smell of incense in the air. If you have never been to Thailand you simply must go and experience it for yourselves.


Wat Chiang Man.

Inside the Wat there is another stunning Buddha image, surrounded by smaller figures, flowers and candles. The bare-footed worshippers knelt down in front with their offerings. The walls of the wat are decorated with gold leaf stencils on a red background. The mural depicts the life of Phaya Mengrai, the founder of Chiang Mai over 700 years ago.


Multi-coloured lanterns.

In a smaller Wat to the right is where two famous Buddha images are kept. Behind the large Buddha is a glass display cabinet protected with iron bars that disappointingly obscure the view. Inside is the Phra Sila, in marble which is over 2000 years old and brought over from India, and Phra Satany Man, the Crystal Buddha, a 10-cm high figure that was moved between temples between Laos and Thailand.


One of the many Buddha Images.

Then it was a walk to the next temple, Wat Phan Tao, passing by the monument to the three Lanna kings outside the Arts and Cultural centre. Here was another reminder of life in Thailand. The dangers of crossing the roads and the Thai’s ignorance of what a pedestrian crossing signifies.

Wat Phan Tao is the famed Teak temple and one of the unsung treasures of Chiang Mai. Entrance is through a terracotta stone gate with a nice decorative lintel featuring a Rahu, an iconic demon image that is hugely popular amongst Thais. Inside the temple we met Don, a Thai school teacher that taught history to the young monks. He explained what the seven Buddha images were that lined the side of the temple. Each signified a day of the week. You were supposed to make an offering to the Buddha that represented your date of birth. Monica plumbed for Thursday (Actual birthday Saturday but hey ho!).

The temple is set in the grounds of Wat Chedi Luang. This is now a ruin which has been partially restored. The Chedi will not be fully restored as nobody knows what the original structure looked like. The manor of its near complete destruction is shrouded in mystery too. It is thought that it was caused by an earthquake in the 16th century. Or was it cannon fire? The Chedi was home to the famed Emerald Buddha in 1475 that now is housed at the Grand Palace, Bangkok. A replica now stands at the top of the steps at the eastern entrance. The kindness exhibited by the Thai people clearly rubs off on the tourists. We met a friendly Japanese man who was visiting the temples and the markets of Chiang Mai to buy fabrics for his clothing business. A Thai from Bangkok was also here for the markets.
“Three times cheaper than Bangkok” he enthusiastically explained before telling us that we simply had to visit the temple at Doi Suthep, situated on the hill that dominates the landscape at Chiang Mai.


The ruins at Wat Chedi Luang

Wat Phra Singh, the most visited temple in Chiang Mai, was the last temple on our list. Established in the late 14th century this Wat is the best example of Lanna style architecture that Chiang Mai is famous for. It is also home to the most revered Buddha image in the city. The Phra Singh or more commonly known as the Lion Buddha.


Buddha at Wat Phra Singh

Day 3 – Tri Gong Residence

After over twenty four hours of travelling we didn’t fancy scrambling around Chiang Mai looking for a guest house. So we had pre-booked at the Tri Gong Residence located in the North East corner of the old town, within the moat.

We had arrived at Midnight, a couple of hours later than expected. We had managed to email ahead to let them know we were on the way. Adam, the owner, was asleep on the swing chair waiting for us. He sleepily led us to our room before saying we could check-in tomorrow. I wasn’t sure if it were us or him that needed the sleep more.

The room was large enough and clean, if a little on the basic side. The hotel has Wifi access throughout. The next morning we checked –in with Adam, who seems to be a lovely, chilled out man. Monica asked if we should pay for the room in advance.
“Pay when you leave. If no like no pay!”.

He recommended the “Blue Diamond” for breakfast. This was around the corner and set in beautiful, tropical gardens complete with pond stocked with various big exotic fish. The coffee was good as was the breakfast. A nice setting for Monica to outline the Itinerary for the day. A walking tour around Chiang Mai.



The Blue Diamond.

Day 2 – Bangkok to Chiang Mai

We had decided that the best thing to do after nearly 24 hours of travel was not to book into a hotel in Bangkok and crash. It was to carry on and catch a flight to Chiang Mai. This provided another worry to me. Would we make the connection in time? We were booked on the Air Asia flight at 8:40pm. Our Qatar Airlines flight was due to land at 6:30pm. Just over two hours. However, we needed to clear immigration, reclaim our bags and then check-in. The last time we landed at Bangkok it took over 40 minutes to clear Immigration. I didn’t fancy kipping in an airport lounge for the second night running.

The flight from Doha landed on time. Then it was a race to the Immigration point. Suvarnabhumi Airport is a sprawling giant and the distance from the gate to Immigration must be at least 1 Km. Luckily when we arrived the queues were not too big. We cleared Immigration in 10 minutes. Miraculously, our backpacks were already waiting for us on the carousel. It was 7:15pm. Now all we had to do was get to the Air Asia check-in on the fifth floor. No problem. What was all the fuss about? Air Asia even made things easier for us. They delayed the flight for 2 hours!

Day 2 – Doha International Airport.

This was the bit of the trip I was dreading . An 8-hour wait at Doha International Airport. Qatar Airlines knew it. They called me a few days before the trip to point out the horror of the ordeal awaiting me, especially during the witching hours. Why not splash out an extra £23 to gain entrance to the “Oryx” executive lounge? Yes please! I’ll have some of that.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I was hoping for comfy chairs and sofas so we could crash for the night. Free beer goes without saying. Maybe a couple of sandwiches. Throw in peace and quiet, ambient lighting and it will be £23 well spent. The reality of the Oryx lounge was completely different.

No comfy sofas to sleep on. In fact I’m convinced that the chairs were ergonomically designed to ensure sleep was impossible. Trying to put two chairs together to make a bed would be OK if you happened to be four foot two. Free beer didn’t look promising either. The fridges were crammed with soft drinks and water. Not a sign of beer, wine or spirits. They kept all that under lock and key. You had to beg the staff for beer, who made it clear that it was a major inconvenience for them to walk all of twenty meters to their inner sanctum to get it.


Monica less than impressed with the lounge.

Sandwiches were available. Help yourself, fill your plate or should I say saucer. Peace and quiet would prove to be elusive too. England had just finished their friendly in Doha with Brazil. Half of the people in the lounge were sporting England shirts. They didn’t seem to have the same problems obtaining beer than me. However the major source of noise disturbance came from a more sinister group. Plane Spotters! They were enthusiastically discussing plane specs, tail wings and registration numbers. I think they were on a mission to convert us all. There were no corners in the lounge that were out of range of the riveting discussion of the latest Boeing jet plane. All night long.

After 6 long hours I had managed to doze off for a maximum of 20 minutes. It was time to ditch the lounge and go to the gate. We must have been first in the queue. A brief walk around the terminal and we found a “Quiet lounge”. Comfy looking chairs in a darkened room. Save yourself £23 and head for there if you are unlucky enough to find yourself stuck in Doha Airport overnight.