Excursions, Chiang Mai

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It was easy to see the effort being made by Thay authorities to open the touristic resources to tribal people from inland. We saw the mixture between authentic tribal life, and serial production of touristic bauble.

Being a peaceful country, I expected a stronger activity close to the borders of the countries after a long war. That absence shows how closed those countries were. But it was a good excursion, the one that took us to Chiang Rai and back, visiting the tribes.

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For a different day out, away from the tourists, try the San Kamphaeng Hot Springs. Unless you've got a car, you'll need to hire a Songthaew, but it's an unusual experience, and at 40 Baht it's not going to break the bank.

Set in a wide park like setting, the springs consist of the springs themselves in which people like to boil eggs. You can buy eggs and a basket to boil them in together with fish sauce to dip the boiled eggs in both inside and outside the grounds - about 20 Baht for 4 eggs I recall.

Elsewhere, you can sit and paddle or dangle your feet in the water - the further from the springs, the cooler the water has become, but being Thailand, nobody stops you dipping your pinkies in near scalding water, so be careful!

Also available is a mineral bath swimming pool, drawn straight from the springs but at a very comfortable temperature - bring your swimming gear and towel - or you can hire a hut for a private bath and massage. This is not a euphemism for "extra services" that I am aware of and for once means what it says on the tin! The huts do not look too inviting and although you can spend the night there, I would not recommend. The cost was high as well.

Overall, it's a great place to chill out for a few hours and you could well find yourself the only westerner among the many Thai families who come here. It sounds kitsch, but it really is fun to boil your own lunch!

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I took a day tour during my time in Chiang Mai which I booked with an Irish guy called John who runs a small travel agency place in the northeast of the old city. I had seen other places offer the same sort of tour of orchid farm, elephant ride, bamboo rafting and a visit to a long-necked Karen tribe village for about 1000 baht but John offered his tour for 750 baht so I took the plunge and booked it with him.

Myself and an American woman got picked up from John's travel agency place at about 9.15am in a mini-van and after picking up a few more people, we headed north-west out of the city to our first port of call - an orchid and butterfly farm called the Sai Namphung Orchid Nursery (see next tip). This was a nice place to visit, first off.

Next up it was a visit to an elephant camp where we rode on elephants for about 40 minutes or so alongside a river. We then transferred onto bamboo rafts and made our was back along the river so that we could get back to the camp. I have to say that the elephant camp didn't look all that good but then I had just come from the National Elephant Institute in Lampang which is just amazing. The camp we visited was called the Chok Chai Elephant Camp and I did see some of the smaller elephants being hit by their mahouts.

After this, we then got a ride to a long-necked hill tribe village which was very touristy with lots of souvenir stalls selling tribal arts and crafts and jewellery items. The girls here come from several different tribes but the main one is the famous long-necked Karen tribe so we did the obligatory photo opportunities and I bought a hand-made wooden women figure. Behind the stalls are a few wooden/bamboo houses which were being lived in and indeed the girls were busy doing daily jobs whilst being dressed in traditional tribal clothes but it still seemed to me to be a show for tourists.

After this we went back to the elephant camp for lunch which was so-so and then we drove off in order to do a little trekking in the hills and visit a waterfall. We then headed back to Chiang Mai via a hill village which we looked around. I was told that they had had electricity for 10 years plus there was a huge satellite dish and phone cables. We then got back to Chiang Mai at about 6.30pm. All-in-all it was an OK day out but nothing special but I suppose if your time is limited and you want to experience life outside the city, then this is a good option.

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A short drive from the mountains peak are the twin Royal Chedis. They were built in 1989 to commemorate the King's 60th birthday. Inside them are Buddha images & tiled mosaics.

The Chedis give lots of good photo opportunities of the mountain and the valley. Once again cloud cover kept spoiling the views.

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The national park is about 90 minutes drive from Chiang Mai. It was easy to visit on a day excursion.

After entering the national park our first stop was Doi Inthanon. This is the highest mountain in Thailand at 2565 m. The climate here was a lot cooler than in Chiang Mai. There weren't great views due to the mist that hung around it. There is a chance though to be photographed next to the sign & go on one of the nature trails into the forest.

It is located approximately 120km southwest of Chiang Mai city along Highway 108 , the area cover Hod, Chomthong and Maejam district.

The beautiful scenery of the Salak Hin River as it meanders through a very narrow gorge with sheer walls at Chong Khao Khat. A small footbridge crosses the narrowest part about 100 m above the torrent below. In the area you can find pre-historic painting from the old stone age.

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After the boat trip there was a buffet lunch which was actually Ok as tourist buffets go (all the tours ate there). After our brief break we then headed to the border town at the Burma border. It is a huge tourist trap and I couldn't see anything for sale there that was any good - basically all cheap Chinese stuff. After that we headed to see the Longneck Karen hill Tribe. To get down to the hill tribe you have to descend quite a long way down steps - warning, don't go down if you don't think you can get back up! On the way, you pass various stalls set up with the tribes women selling their handiwork. Some of it is quite good. All of the women had various amounts of extremely heavy brass rings around their necks, these slowly get increased as they get older. Some of the women also have these brass rings around their arms and legs. These rings are incredibly heavy so it must take an amazing amount of strength to be able to hold their heads and bodies up.

All in all I had a fantastic time on my Golden Triangle trip. I highly recommend you doing it. It is a really long day but you'll feel like you have actually seen some of northern Thailand. Perfect!

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It's about a 3 hour drive from Chiang Mai and you do get a toilet/drink etc stop on the way. The first place we visited was a temple in Chiang Rai and then quite quickly went on to the Golden Triangle. There we had an option to do the longtail boat trip which lasts for 40 minutes. On this trip you pass the huge gold Buddha, go to the actual "Golden Triangle" and also get to cross onto the Laos side of the river and visit the market there and get your passport stamped with a visit Laos stamp. Interesting, but extremely touristy. They sell strange things like snake whiskey as well as the usual colourful blankets and wood products. The strangest thing of all was the fact that there was a baby bear in a semi large pen out the back of the markets. What was it doing there? Was it there for the tourists? I'm glad that it sort of had enough room to move though and had plenty to eat with it.