Pre-packed char siew noodles
An elderly lady sitting in the middle of her stall among all her vegetables.
Delicious-looking red water apples
Purple steamed corns
Red juicy strawberries
Red juicy strawberries
Waroros Market
Waroros Market is opened in the day (and closed at night) and this is where the locals do their grocery shopping.
in Chiang Mai with the Blue Elephant
For Day Three of our Chiang Mai trip, we booked a tour with the Blue Elephant Thailand Tours. Our guide, Joy, is a modern lady, spoke English very well and is very knowledgable. Between our destinations, she shared about her country and about her life.
Our first stop was at a local orchid farm. Thailand is one of the exporters of orchids, which is a family of flowering plants with over 20,000 species. Vanda Miss Joaquim, Singapore's National flower, is one of them. The orchids displayed at this farm are mainly Vanda and Cattleya genus.
Next, we stop-by a local market. This was not originally in our itinerary, but since we were passing by, Joy decided to stop here to buy some fresh mangoes to make mango sticky rice as our dessert for lunch later. It's a good opportunity of us to see the diet of the locals too.
Yap... they eat insects.
After that, we proceed to the more adventurous activities - water rafting! This is the only picture at this stop, obviously because we can't be bring our cameras into the water. March is really not the season for water rafting... the water is too calm. But for a beginner like me, this was enough an experience.
Then, after lunch, we moved on to visit the Karen Hill Tribe Village. Before flying to Chiang Mai, I did a little research on the places of interest and found some negative comments about visiting these long-neck people. Some tourists felt that these tribal people have become a "zoo attraction". History has it that these people escaped from Burmese oppression and came to Thailand to seek refuge. However, they cannot become Thai citizens and they are not allowed to wander further into Thailand. This national park that they are staying now, is the only place they can be at. To make a living, the women would weave scarfs and make jewelleries, while the men would become mahout (care-takers) at nearby elephant camps. Our motherly guide, Joy, brought along jellies for us to give to the Karen tribe children. Isn't that sweet and thoughtful?
Our last stop of the day was at the Thai Elephant Home. This is another attraction that had been gaining much negative attention, where animal lovers are concerned about the well-being of the elephant (see article). However, the livelihood of the Thai people depends very much on tourism. Thus, closing down of elephant camps might just do more damage. Perhaps, it might be wiser to choose a good elephant camp to visit. My friend did her homework and decided on the bare-back kind of ride.
We were each handed a bunch of banana to fed the elephants before riding on them. One of them quickly snatched the whole bunch from me!
We went on a 2-hour ride, which included bathing the elephants in the river. Along the way, we tried to enjoy the scenery, while managing our balance on the big creature... It takes awhile to get the hang of it. The guides are very friendly and took photos for us throughout the journey. Back at the camp, there are shower rooms for us to clean up and change back to our clothes. I must say that I'm really impressed by their standard of bathroom cleanliness, even though it's a simple standalone hut!
Our first stop was at a local orchid farm. Thailand is one of the exporters of orchids, which is a family of flowering plants with over 20,000 species. Vanda Miss Joaquim, Singapore's National flower, is one of them. The orchids displayed at this farm are mainly Vanda and Cattleya genus.
Blooming colourful orchids everywhere in the farm.
These are baby orchids grown in sterile environment from seeds.
Next, we stop-by a local market. This was not originally in our itinerary, but since we were passing by, Joy decided to stop here to buy some fresh mangoes to make mango sticky rice as our dessert for lunch later. It's a good opportunity of us to see the diet of the locals too.
Yap... they eat insects.
The famous Thailand mango sticky rice.
After that, we proceed to the more adventurous activities - water rafting! This is the only picture at this stop, obviously because we can't be bring our cameras into the water. March is really not the season for water rafting... the water is too calm. But for a beginner like me, this was enough an experience.
Then, after lunch, we moved on to visit the Karen Hill Tribe Village. Before flying to Chiang Mai, I did a little research on the places of interest and found some negative comments about visiting these long-neck people. Some tourists felt that these tribal people have become a "zoo attraction". History has it that these people escaped from Burmese oppression and came to Thailand to seek refuge. However, they cannot become Thai citizens and they are not allowed to wander further into Thailand. This national park that they are staying now, is the only place they can be at. To make a living, the women would weave scarfs and make jewelleries, while the men would become mahout (care-takers) at nearby elephant camps. Our motherly guide, Joy, brought along jellies for us to give to the Karen tribe children. Isn't that sweet and thoughtful?
The children are very happy to receive jellies.
Weaving scarfs to make a living.
Our last stop of the day was at the Thai Elephant Home. This is another attraction that had been gaining much negative attention, where animal lovers are concerned about the well-being of the elephant (see article). However, the livelihood of the Thai people depends very much on tourism. Thus, closing down of elephant camps might just do more damage. Perhaps, it might be wiser to choose a good elephant camp to visit. My friend did her homework and decided on the bare-back kind of ride.
We were each handed a bunch of banana to fed the elephants before riding on them. One of them quickly snatched the whole bunch from me!
We went on a 2-hour ride, which included bathing the elephants in the river. Along the way, we tried to enjoy the scenery, while managing our balance on the big creature... It takes awhile to get the hang of it. The guides are very friendly and took photos for us throughout the journey. Back at the camp, there are shower rooms for us to clean up and change back to our clothes. I must say that I'm really impressed by their standard of bathroom cleanliness, even though it's a simple standalone hut!
Golden Triangle
After we visited Wat Rong Khun (aka White Temple), our driver took us further north to the Golden Triangle, which is where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet.
This is the jetty and we took one of these boats to the confluence of Ruak River and Mekong River.
The boat also took us to Donsao island of Laos. The quiet market mainly sells a lot of bags and some kind of snake wine. Seriously, I felt that the boat tour was such a waste of time and every time we're on the boat, we worry that the boat might capsize.
We took a photo with this landmark to prove that we had been to this part of the world. After which, we proceed with lunch at a nearby restaurant (alfresco style), which has an amazingly clean toilet.
Then, we visited 212 House of Opium (Museum). Unlike the previous places we visited in the Golden Triangle, this is a much more interesting and educational attraction.
The museum displayed the different legends, according to the different tribes, about how opium plants come about. The visitors are also taught about opium pods and opium making.
This is the jetty and we took one of these boats to the confluence of Ruak River and Mekong River.
The boat also took us to Donsao island of Laos. The quiet market mainly sells a lot of bags and some kind of snake wine. Seriously, I felt that the boat tour was such a waste of time and every time we're on the boat, we worry that the boat might capsize.
We took a photo with this landmark to prove that we had been to this part of the world. After which, we proceed with lunch at a nearby restaurant (alfresco style), which has an amazingly clean toilet.
Then, we visited 212 House of Opium (Museum). Unlike the previous places we visited in the Golden Triangle, this is a much more interesting and educational attraction.
Picture of the confluence of Ruak River and Mekong River.
The museum displayed the different legends, according to the different tribes, about how opium plants come about. The visitors are also taught about opium pods and opium making.
Opium scales and boxes
Metal weights used in the past.
Opium pipe
Water pipes for marihuana and tobacco
Wat Rong Khun
Wat Rong Khun is also known as the White Temple and it's located in Chiang Rai. We booked a mini van that comes with a driver and a guide, and it takes about 3 hours to get there from Chiang Mai.
Along the route, we stop by a hot spring and had some boiled eggs, which came with a little pack of soy sauce. The hot spring is only this tiny fountain and it's only big enough for boiling eggs.
According to our guide, this temple had been designed by a Thai, who had traveled very widely to other countries. His exposure to outside cultures led him to create this very unique and modern temple. At this moment, the construction of this temple is still going on. And this is perhaps the only temple that you'll find sculptures and paintings of movie and cartoon creatures. Although being a modern temple, as a respect, visitors should still be dressed modestly while inside the temple building.
At the first section of the entrance bridge of the temple, the sculptures below represent hell. Thus, our guide told us not to stop here but continue to walk quickly across.
Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the temple. Its interior is very different from those traditional ones.
Wishing well
Wishing trees
This golden building within the White Temple premises houses the toilets. There's the squatting type toilet bowls and there's also the western style (sitting type) toilet bowls.
Golden structure beside the golden toilet building.
Along the route, we stop by a hot spring and had some boiled eggs, which came with a little pack of soy sauce. The hot spring is only this tiny fountain and it's only big enough for boiling eggs.
According to our guide, this temple had been designed by a Thai, who had traveled very widely to other countries. His exposure to outside cultures led him to create this very unique and modern temple. At this moment, the construction of this temple is still going on. And this is perhaps the only temple that you'll find sculptures and paintings of movie and cartoon creatures. Although being a modern temple, as a respect, visitors should still be dressed modestly while inside the temple building.
The White Temple
At the first section of the entrance bridge of the temple, the sculptures below represent hell. Thus, our guide told us not to stop here but continue to walk quickly across.
Beautiful details of the architecture.
Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the temple. Its interior is very different from those traditional ones.
Wishing well
Wishing trees
This golden building within the White Temple premises houses the toilets. There's the squatting type toilet bowls and there's also the western style (sitting type) toilet bowls.
Basins outside the toilet cubicles.
Golden structure beside the golden toilet building.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)