Trip in Northern Thailand
This is the second time we are coming to Northern Thailand on a
couple trip,
I love Chang Mai and its surroundings!
You have to be there to understand. There’s a special atmosphere,
good weather, cheap shopping,
attractions of all kinds, good massages at the best prices,
amazing nature in its beauty and what not ?!
So let’s get started!
This is my third time in Thailand. I’m in love with this country!
and this time, unlike previous times, I purchased tickets without much
thought and planning, like that, ‘from the stomach’..
This time too, like all the times I flew to Thailand,
The tickets were purchased from my agent Eyal Nahum from ‘Fly and Joy’,
I recommend it to anyone interested in flying in general and to
Thailand in particular!
Our flight was a night flight with El-Al,
In the process of check-in at the airport, we were upgraded to a
tourist class plus, what fun!
There is more room for the legs and a nice set of
brush and toothpaste, eye cover, and earplugs. Nice!
The flight was pleasant, most of the time I slept (with respite).
I even pre-changed clothes for pajamas
When we arrived in Bangkok we continued on a domestic flight with
Bangkok Airways to Chang Mai,
There, a representative from Topper Tours / Topper Adventure awaited
us and she and the driver took us to the hotel.
Our hotel in Chiang Mai is called Dusit Princess Chiang Mai
and it’s located right in the center of the area near the night market,
just in a great place!
The rooms in the hotel are simple and clean, the service is great,
the breakfast is rich, delicious and excellent.
I highly recommend this hotel! To book a hotel room go here
After getting organized in the room, meeting with Assaf from Topper Tours,
we received all sorts of tips and recommendations from him,
we did a massage (half-hour shoulders and half hour legs),
strolled in the night market and when everything was closed we went
back to the hotel to sleep.
First day summary of photos:
The next day, we got up early for a Doi Inthanon National Park tour,
The highest point in all Thailand!
We went with other travelers (we were the only Israelis on this trip)
and arrived to our first point the Wachirathan Waterfall
From there we proceeded to an authentic and intriguing little village
of Karen people.
In the village the guide explained to us about the lives of the residents
and the interesting vegetation of the place.
From there we went on to another beautiful waterfall which was
also relatively easy to access,
The Waterfall name: Sirithan Waterfall
After being impressed by the beautiful waterfall we went to a friendly
but well-traveled local farmers market (not cheap)
Which is at the entrance to the village of Hmong.
The market sells mainly fruits and vegetables,
You can walk around the village itself and see the residents and their
sweet children.
In the market, I took this perfect picture:
We later had a nice lunch.
There was food that fit vegetarians too,
and of course for dessert we got watermelon and pineapple, Yami!
After we ate and sat down we went on to the King and Queen Pagodas:
Besides the impressive pagodas there are very beautiful and well-kept gardens,
and from there we continued our trip to the highest point in Thailand Doi Inthanon
Not far from this point there is a nice walking path where you can see
the source of the water springs
that starts with a weak, calm current that flows from the ground,
but later it concentrates and intensifies to an impressive waterfall
(the one we saw earlier!).
From there we returned to Chang Mai.
It was a beautiful walk, filled with the enchanting landscapes of
northern Thailand, accompanied by slightly cool and pleasant weather.
It is best to make the long trip.
Cost of the trip: 1000 baht per person.
The driver who drove us back from the trip to Chang Mai asked everyone
where he wanted to get off,
we went down with other people in a central place where there
should be performances In honor of the Louis Cartung holiday
that is currently held in Thailand,
a holiday that marks a centuries-old tradition.
This holiday, the Thais thank the water goddess for the rains she has
given this past year and pray for rains that will be good for agriculture
next year too.
Boats offering small boats for sale – kartong are located around the
city and around the river.
The boats are made of wood, paper, or a combination of bamboo
cane and banana tree, and decorated with flowers,
leaves, candles, incense and the like.
After choosing and purchasing the “kartong” participants go to the water,
say a prayer, and put the carton on the water.
Another custom to make on the holiday, even more beautiful,
is the bloom of khom loy.
A kind of large or small rectangular balloon made of rice paper that
floats in the air and brightens the sky,
It rises with the warm air produced from a candle inside.
In some places in Thailand, you can see thousands of such com-Louis
on the air this holiday. Spectacular show!
The photo was taken by my friend of the blog owner “awandereratheart”
Isn’t that amazing?
We got to see the town decorated and we saw people cruising
their cartongs after praying,
We even fly a candle to the sky in rice paper, but it wasn’t in Chiang Mai
it was in pai
The temples in the city are also decorated and festive prayers are held there.
So we walked around the city and soaked up the festive atmosphere,
and after going through the 20,000 steps, we returned to the hotel for a
little rest and we went out again to do a massage,
then sat in some pub and drank ‘Chang’ – a delicious local beer.
Our summary of photos today:
After two nights in Chiang Mai, it was time for us to move to Pai
We got up in the morning, organized the suitcases, put what we needed
for the next three days in 2 small Trolleys
(the rest we left in the hotel in a luggage room),
We had breakfast and booked a shuttle from the hotel’s tour desk.
The driver who picked us up from the hotel took us to the main
station in Chang Mai and from there we boarded
another van that drove us (along with another couple and a little girl) to Pai town.
(The cost of transportation from the hotel to Pai 200 bahat per person).
3 hours drive ahead of us. The road from Chang Mai to Pai starts with
a normal journey about an hour and a half and then many bends begin.
It is advisable to take something against nausea.
Our driver drove calm and the ride passed safely.
So when we got to Pie, we booked the same ticket back with the
same company.
The cost of travel back (up to the main station in Chang Mai):
150 baht per person.
Immediately after arriving in Pai we went to the Aya Agency and
rented a scooter with insurance.
Scooter rental cost: 400 baht per day including full insurance.
We loaded our little suitcases onto the motorcycle, turned on Waze and
drove to the hotel
Family House Zen Boutique Resort
a beautiful little boutique hotel, close to the center of town
(but with a car/scooter you make a turn that lengthens the road)
I booked a room with pool view from the booking site
To book a room at this hotel go here
After settling into the hotel we went to eat and get to know the city a bit.
On this trip, we decided to eat more local and less western food,
So every time we ate, we chose a vegetarian pad-tai.
This dish is delicious, fits our limits (we don’t eat meat overseas so we asked
for no chicken) and it’s also very cheap!
After eating we went to know the place with the scooter,
driving not knowing where..
So we got to a beautiful place on the river, sat there for a few minutes,
enjoyed the sunset and the scenery
From there we proceeded to the main street called Walking Street,
this street is lively all day and in the evening becomes a kind of small
night market full of people, little pubs
and interesting and colorful food stalls, here are some pictures from
Walking Street:
During the night, people flew to the rice candles lit by people to light
Louis Cartung’s holiday
and in the river there were bouquets of flowers, in addition,
a colorful procession took place throughout the town
and men and women sang and danced in their fun for the holiday
Before we returned to the hotel, we did a massage and ended it with a
magic day in Pai ..
Our summary of photos today:
The next day we had breakfast at the hotel ordered from an unlimited menu
We got organized and drove to the hot springs Sai Ngam which is in a
nature reserve.
Waterfall Address: U-Mong, Tambon Mae Na Toeng, Amphoe Pai,
Chang Wat Mae Hong Son 58130, Thailand
Entrance to the reserve costs 200 baht per adult (100 baht per child) +
20 baht for a motorcycle.
At the entrance to the springs themselves, there is a small “checker”
and there you will be asked to pay 20 baht per person.
It is a magical place in nature, so beautiful and fun, natural pools
with warm and pleasant water,
Just got here!
We met a lovely young Israeli there named Tomer, she is traveling alone in
the east.
After swimming in the warm water we went on a short drive in the reserve,
we saw cute local kids,
We honored and praised them in the ‘Bamba’ bag and proceeded to the next site
But before we got there, we stopped along the way at Strawberry Farm,
bought a delicious real strawberry smoothie
and we also charge our phones there ..
After the phones charged to our satisfaction, we proceeded to the
Mo paeng waterfall,
This is a lovely waterfall that you can climb on a rock and slide down with
the water, for brave surfing only!
We just climbed the rock to see the place from above
From there we proceeded to a resort called Pai Hotspring spa resort
In this resort you can pays 100 baht per person and enters the hot pools and the
regular and large hotel pool,
I don’t think it’s a destination that must be reached .. it’s nice but not more.
The hotel itself and the large pool are very beautiful.
In terms of hot pools – if you have to choose then it’s better to have
the hot springs Where we were in the morning.
The water in the hot pool at the hotel is very hot.
Not far away there are geysers (we saw signs but we didn’t get there)
and also some elephant farms,
featuring elephant rides (I’m not in favor of elephant riding!)
We stopped by this cute elephant to take pictures.
From this morning we searched unsuccessfully for the famous
bamboo bridge ..
Searching Google Maps led us to a plain and simple bamboo bridge in
Pai town and not the bridge we wanted.
But we’ll find it later ..
Now we reach the Historic bridge in Pai where a boy and man are dressed
in soldier’s clothes, to bring the visitors in instead to the atmosphere ..
Not far away is the Pai Canyon, we didn’t plan to reach it but we were
around just in time.
Everyone wants to get there precisely at sunset because it is a great
vantage point.
Parking was full of vehicles, but no problem finding a place for our
cute scooter.
We climbed up the stairs (not so easy for those who don’t
feel good, but not terrible for people with good shape),
We got to the first vantage point and from there we watched the amazing
view and sunset!
You can continue from there but the road is narrow and a bit dangerous,
It looks like that:
After the sunset we sat down (next to the parking lot) eating rice
stuffed pineapple and having a delicious mango smoothie!
There are lot of nice smoothies there, so drink something if you are already there.
It’s getting dark and cool, it’s time to go back to the hotel, leave the scooter
in the hotel parking lot and walk about 6 minutes on foot to the town center.
We sat at night in the pub and ended this wonderful day.
Here is a summary of our packed day with photos:
Our third day in Pie opens again with a wonderful and luxurious breakfast
Today we must find the Bamboo Bridge!
So we asked at the hotel where the famous bridge is,
there seems to be more than one!
The friendly hotel staff gave us a map and explained where the bridge was,
so after figuring out exactly where to go we set off.
Before reaching the bamboo bridge, we first go through the
Pambook waterfall,
a lovable waterfall with greater potential than is currently being exploited.
Important to know: not everyone can reach the waterfall itself because
the road is a bit problematic and inaccessible.
After enjoying the waterfall, continue about 2 miles away to the
bamboo bridge (there is signage from the waterfall to the bridge).
Above many paddy fields, where diligent Thai labor established a very
long bridge (about 2 km) from bamboo,
Here you walk in a pastoral landscape on the bamboo bridge and
just enjoy the scenery and the walk-in this magical nature.
Entry costs: 30 baht per person.
When we finished walking there, we drove back to the town center .
and asked when the next tubing cruise is coming out,
We concluded that we would come back a little before 2 pm.
We wore swimsuits, took a towel, a water-saving camera, and some money
and we went back to the nice guy who takes us to the tubing attraction (oboe)
But before we left we had lunch , we eat Pad Thai again (Yami).
We borrowed “anti-water bag” from him on loan and free of charge
there we put our equipment,
we boarded the van and drove about 20 minutes to the point of departure
for the cruise.
All this time we were accompanied by a guide, he was with us in the water,
on his own Inflatable tire a reasonable distance from us.
It was really fun, calm and pleasant, the flow of water was neither strong
nor weak and all this fun took us about an hour and a half of tubing,
maybe a little longer.
It is recommended to come with a beer or any other beverage you want to
drink while resting on the tubing …
When you finish the cruise, you get out of the river and walk a bit on foot to
where we took the oboe.
From there we returned to the hotel to get organized for the next place
we will visit at sunset.
We saw the sunset tonight from White Budha
It is the large white Buda statue overlooking the town of Pai.
It can be seen from almost everywhere in the town.
We shot both the buddha and the sunset from all angles
and when it started to get dark we went back to town and looked for
a nice place to sit for a drink.
There are all kinds of little bars in Pai that are lit in all kinds of styles
Even a special one with pool parties day and night.
We sat down to drink in one of the bars and ended another day, which is actually our last day in Pai
Here’s our great summary of photos today:
The next day, after breakfast, we got organized and left our cute hotel,
We returned the scooter and went to the shuttle station, from where
we set off by a Van to Chang Mai.
We have a 3-hour drive, which starts with twists that last about half the way ..
In Chiang Mai, we took a tuk-tuk and drove to the hotel, where we
left our luggage.
Today is Sunday and there is an interesting market in the ancient city of
Chang Mai
So we got organized and went to the market, but before that,
we moved to the Chabad House to have a kosher lunch.
After we eat we walked to the Chang Mai Sunday Market.
This is a very large market, we arrived relatively early and as time
passed the market get filled!
About a mile + from the start of the market if you just go straight,
the interesting booths start (as far as we’re concerned),
there we found good and cheap clothes for our kid (our big ones).
There are various interesting performances on the market that are
worth stopping for a moment and watching/buy.
We walked the market from evening until night and returned to the hotel
area on foot (about 15 minutes walk),
We did a foot massage for relaxing our feet and then looked for a
nice place to spend a night out.
We wanted to sit in Hard Rock Cafe Which is right next to the hotel,
but the music there was too noisy for me,
so we sat somewhere else, near the wrestling scene and saw a small
wrestling show there while drinking beer.
From there we went on to another bar, drank some more and went back to
the hotel to sleep.
At this bar we saw How the Thai waitresses are cheating on tourists who come there alone,
they “have fun” with them, laugh out loud and exaggerate, invite themselves to drink
and at the end of the evening the tourist will get his surprising = a very fat bill!
Caution from this sting, for those who do not know!
We have arranged with Assaf to pick us up tomorrow from the hotel to the airport.
From here we continue to Kho phi phi
* I booked a flight to Phuket and from there we will sail to Krabi,
as the direct flight to Krabi departed early in the morning and it didn’t suit us.
Here is a summary of our last day in the North of Thailand:
Hope you enjoyed it, I really love Northern Thailand and would
recommend incorporating it on any trip to Thailand!
Leave a Reply