清迈 - 走进另一片天空

Chiang Mai - Northern part of Bangkok - my last visit was many years back, perhaps near to a decade ago. What images do you have when you hear about Chiang Mai? Padi fields, Long Neck Hill Tribes, Fair-looking Khun Thai or cool weather?
I remembered the ruined walls of ChiangMai, one Macdonald and the bowling game we have during the buddy trip. It was really a long long time and I wondered if I could remember some sights that my buddies and me have walked past before.   

We took the bus ride (about 5.5 hours) from Sukothai to Chiang Mai new bus station (Called Arcade Station). Dear has a point that we should take the bus at the stop outside our guesthouse instead of travelling back to Sukothai bus station - reason being the Sukothai-ChiangMai bus will still pass by the stop. I just wanted to make sure we could get seats seated together - well the tour operator managed to settle that though by re-arranging the passengers (most are army soldiers) on the bus before letting us board the bus - Good 5-star service I guess.  Hmm... just stubborn me at times too. The bus ride was better than the ride from Bangkok to Sukothai (about 7 hours). Bus was smaller though and "leg room" kinda limited.  

7-11 Kaya Bread

Kaya Bread became an interesting and sweet memory as part of the bus journey. Just want to make sure you are not hungry and also dun wan you to stay on the bus on your own for too long.

Chiang Mai seemed to have more restaurants - there were Burger King outlet, Grand Canyon Coffee which I dun remember seeing last time. We had our first meal near our guesthouse - our first guesthouse with a fridge plus a small balcony. I would recommend to anyone Trigong Residence as it is clean and accessible. Some of the delicacies that we liked are the Chiang Mai Noodles (yellowish curry) and Muesli. Well, dunno why Muesli tasted so nice in Chiang Mai - frankly I have not tried Muesli yogurt except Uncle Toby. "Aroy" - delicious in thai.
Chiang Mai was also the town that we walked long long (well, the best was yet to come). I liked to take slow walk and experienced the lifestyles of the locals. It was one such incident that we went into a local food stall and saw "Jolin-look alike". It was one such time that we walked in the rain trying to find a pier to take the river ride but ended up not taking. It was also one such encounter that we went into a IT mall that appeared to have no IT shops and food court.  

Tired may be, drenched may be. No matter what condition you are in, it is always nice and warm to have a place to rest and relax with your loved ones. Blisters on the toes may be, tanning on the skin may be. No matter what condition you are in, it is always nice and warm to have someone walking with you, going through the journey with you.

We went up to the Wat in the mountain too. Nice cool feeling. The songthaw driver was quite good, stopping at a pavilion half-way to let us take a clear picture of Chiangmai Town. It was also a refreshing feeling - at least at some high altitudes above sea water - no sweat, Xp. At least, we can remember one of the many Wats that we visited. We bumped into a "chang" too - it was tied to a pole near the entrance of the Wat. Probably the owner was waiting for customers to take a elephant ride bah.


The encounter at the post office in Chiang Mai was fun too. Simple little words and simple little things - I always believe that we dont need grand things to be happy. A little card can also do wonders.  I like to plant sweet surprises - the best is the least expected moment the least expected surprise. I realised a different meaning of surprise - there is no need to skilfully plant surprises - the best way is to plant it openly. Hee! 

I dun understand why the drinks/fruits vendors are so brave. I will be "freak out" when I see 101 honey bees flying besides me. The bees do have strict working and resting hours though. I always try to keep a lookout for such stalls when we go makan.  Very hard to concentrate on eating if you feel that you are very vulnerable to stings here and there. Nonetheless, it is still a unique scene at the market - though I want to avoid seeing, but it helps to complete the picture of a real wet market?


 

重返 Sukothai

It is one of my travel aspirations to go back to Sukothai and stay near the historical park - to wake up early in the morning (6 O'clock), catch the morning market activities and the routine lifestyle of the people in the old town of Sukothai.  So, we backpacked into the guesthouse that was just situated opposite the historical park =). 
It is interesting to take a stroll along the old town in the evening or morning (think quite tough for us to wake up that early though as sunrise in Thailand is usually before 6 am). The town was quite quiet and peaceful - no nite food bazaar as compared to the new town. However, the evening market was equally interesting - we bought my fav thailand longan and most interesting was we bought local "bermudas". We probably will only wear it during our backpacking trip in Thailand bah - the donning of the berms also need certain skills - "tie here, tie there, everywhere tie tie".

绝不会忘记要看日落, 终于可以一起看日落了. 两个人, 两副相机, 两辆单车, 感觉很好.
Went back to the same spot that I have previously sat to wait for the sunset. We met a group of "khun thai" (Thai people) who were waiting for the sunset as well. The ladies told us that the scene would be fantastic, just like the postcard pictures. There was a group of family having picnic - something that I would like to do so last time too.  We did the same this time - feasting on our longans and our mineral water as we were still early. Though the weather was cloudy and maybe we might not see a round round sunset, it was equally enjoyable.
We switched location to a Wat near the pond - it was nearer to the entrance/exit and we could also capture the Wat with the sunsetting backdrop. There were no lamp posts in the park as the sky grew darker.  My dear asked me what I meant to see a sunset - must a round round red sun setting constitutes a sunset? It was something that I did ponder for a while. In photography, we could hide the sun behind a lamp post, a building or a mountain if we are unable to get a nice round sunset - the picture will be equally inspiring. Perhaps, I am a perfectionist? Craving for the perfect round round red red sun setting right in my eyes Xp. Funny that some times when we aspire to take certain pictures framed in our mindsets, we ignore or totally oblivious of the other equally good pictures that we could take. No red round round sun setting could also be beautiful as well.
By 1900hrs, the park was really dark and we cycled towards the entrance to find our way out. Gates locked and closed! Luckily, there was a small "lobang" besides the gates where we could still push our bicycles through, taking care not to touch the barb wires. Subsequently, I recalled that was my "escape" route during my last trip as well. Poor memory me.
We like the peacefulness of Sukhothai. Kampong style, light traffic, Sukothai noodles, friendly locals... we enjoy cycling past padi fields, herds of buffaloes and rivers as well as background Thai music of some open air "food court".  Teaching my dear how to speak Thai and "forcing" her to communicate in Thai to local street vendors is equally amusing too. Under the hot sun, blue sky, scent of grass, low decibels - it is an experience that we treasure. 
It is an experience that I long for.