Chiang Rai Favorites

Favorite thing: It's faster, cheaper, and easier just to go by bus to Mae Sai and cross over into Myanmar/Burma at Tachilek. You'll get a day pass for U$5 (or maybe it's U$10) and you can turn around again back into Thailand but you'll only get 15 days when re-entering Thailand by land. No need for a Myanmar visa and far cheaper than crossing into Laos at Chiang Khong to Huay Xai since the Lao visa is usually around U$35. If memory serves, the bus takes about an hour to Mae Sai.

Favorite thing: Green mango is important fruit for Thai life.
They are sliced into small strips with hot red pepper as antipasto for good appetite.
or into thick strips deeping in spicy sauce and plum powder directly for eating ....

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Favorite thing: Golden Triangle is located between Thailand, Burma and Laos, at corner of Mekong and Ruak River.

There had booming drogen trade between the minority and drogen deals.
It was taboo area for normal people.

Favorite thing: Although it's called the Chiang Rai International Airport, flights to Chiang Rai only originate from Bangkok. And two airlines ply this route - AirAsia and OneTwoGo (i think that's the name). This was also the first airport that I'd been to where I could see from one end of the airport to the other.

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Favorite thing: This unique city is the ideal base for touring the Golden Triange of Northern Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Car hire is very inexpensive if you shop around, as is motorcycle hire. I found a girl from the Triangle who acted as a guide and translator, with the result that I found many little out-of-the-way spots, many of which were utterly enchanting.

Fondest memory: My friend Pin, the food and the general easygoing aspect of the place.

Favorite thing: Popular attractions in Chiang Rai include Chiang Saen, an ancient capital facing Laos, and the mountaintop Wat Phra That Doi Tung, and seven major, once-itinerant hill tribes of Tibeto- Burman origin ý ý the Meo, Lisu, Lahu, Yao, Akha, Lawa and Karen. Visitors to Chiang Rai also have a wide range of hiking and trekking options to choose from. Two to six day treks take visitors through forested mountains and high meadows in the lower extremities of Himalayan foothills. The best time to visit Chiang Rai is in winter (November to February) when the air is cool and refreshing and beautiful flowers are blooming.

Favorite thing: Chiang Rai province covers some 11,678 square kilometres with a population of 1.23 million.The average elevation is 580 metres above sea level, Myanmar borders on the north, and Laos on the north and northeast. The provincial capital is 829 kilometres north of Bangkok . The province contains Thailand's northernmost point at Mae Sai which is well known for its crisp mountain scenery, and hilltribes. North Chiang Rai and falls within the region known as the Golden Triangle, the area where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos converge.

Favorite thing: I sat around for a while and listened to the Monks chanting at sunset at the Wat Phra Kaew temple here in Chiang Rai...

It really wasn't very hard to pick out who was the apprentice here. While all the other monks were staring forward chanting away, only one was using a crib sheet to follow along.... (Orange robe, shaved head, read left hand side, can't miss him...)

Well someday, I'm sure he will be leading the chants....