Trip Overview – 8 days in Chiang Mai with old school mates

In one of my gatherings with some of my old school mates, I was given the task to plan an oversea trip within Asia for our travelling group of 3 couples during the January to February 2018 period.

I chose Chiang Mai to be our destination as the weather in Chiang Mai during this time of year would be nice and cool. A perfect getaway from hot and humid Singapore. Chiang Mai is also a relatively inexpensive travel destination, with delicious food and plenty of attractions and things to do within and outside of the city.

This was how we spent our 8 days in Chiang Mai:

Day 1  (6 January 2018)

We travelled from home to Chiang Mai by air, arriving in the early evening. Since we took different flights, we arranged to meet at the hotel.

We walked to the famous Saturday Night Market, a lively and fun night market that takes place every Saturday. It is along Wui Lai Road, starting from the southern gate of the old city walls to the end of the road. It starts in the late afternoon, after the road is closed to vehicular traffic, and continues until around 22:30 hours. There are plenty of stalls selling handicrafts, clothing, shoes,  food, wood carvings, ornaments, candles, housewares etc.

Our dinner was from the various street food vendors along the night market. We ended our gastronomical adventure with a round of brewed coffee in a nice cafe near the end of Wu Lai Road before walking along the same night market back to our hotel.

Where we stayed: Hotel De Nara, a small boutique hotel within the Old City that is within walking distance to the Saturday Night Market. This hotel is also convenient to visit the Sunday Night Market, which starts at ThaPae Gate and runs all along Ratchadamnoen Rd, for around one kilometre.

Day 2  (7 January 2018)

This was the first day of a  2 Days/1 Night private tour for my travelling group. 

The activities for this day were:

Visit Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary.

River Rafting down the Mae Teang River.

Visit a Karen Long Neck Village.

Dinner and evening activities (massage and releasing of sky lanterns) at the Tree House.

Where we stayed: Tree House Hideaway in Chiang Dao (booked as part of the tour).

Trip report - Visit Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary.

Trip report – River rafting and visit to Long Neck Village.

Day 3  (8 January 2018)

This was the second day of a 2 Days/1 Night private tour for my travelling group.

The activities for Day 2 were:

Jungle trekking to a waterfall.

Lunch at the Tree House.

Visit the beautiful Wat Ban Den temple on our way back to Chiang Mai.

Dinner at the Dash Restaurant, opposite our hotel.

Where we stayed: We returned to Hotel De Nara, a small boutique hotel within the Old City of Chiang Mai.

Trip report - Jungle trekking at Chiang Dao from the Treehouse Hideaway.

Trip report – Wat Ban Den.

Day 4  (9 January 2018)

A day out from Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon National Park, home to Thailand’s highest peak. We hired a private car with guide/driver for the day and go hiking on two of the most popular nature trails, namely the Pha Dok Siew and Kew Mae Pan nature trails.

Where we stayed:  Hotel De Nara, a small boutique hotel within the Old City of Chiang Mai.

Trip report - Hiking the Pha Dok Siew and Kew Mae Pan nature trails at Doi Inthanon National Park

Day 5  (10 January 2018)

Some free time to enjoy a massage or go explore the old city and visit at least one of its historic temples. Two couples walked to Wat Chedi Luang in the Old City and one couple went for a massage near our hotel.

Wat Chedi Luang in the Old City.

Later in the afternoon, we shifted to our next hotel in Chiang Mai, so as to try a different hotel and also be closer to the famous Chiang Mai Night Bazaar which operates every night.

After a morning of exploring the Old City and shifting hotels, it was time for some soothing massages (a must when visiting Thailand!) in the afternoon.

We went to the Fah Lanna Massage along Loi Kroh Road, which was a short walk from our new hotel.  

We had dinner and did some shopping along Chiang Mai’s Night Bazaar.

Where we stayed:  Movenpick Suriwongse Hotel. This hotel is ideally located next to the intersection of Chang Khlan Road and Loi Kroh Road which is right smack in the center of Chiang Mai’s famous Night Bazaar.

Trip report – Wat Chedi Luang

Day 6  (11 January 2018)

We hired a car with a driver cum guide to bring us to a few places outside of Chiang Mai City.

Visited Wat Phra That Doi Sutep (also known as Doi Suthep Temple) in the morning.

Mom Cham

Had lunch at Mon Cham, relaxed and enjoyed the views and fresh air at Mon Cham.

Bua Thong “Sticky” Waterfall

We then spent some time at the Bua Thong “Sticky” Waterfall in the afternoon before returning to Chiang Mai.

We ate excellent pad thai (Thai style stir-fried rice noodles) at a small nondescript restaurant called Eat Pad Thai before exploring more of the Night Bazaar. Eat Pad Thai is located along Chiang Moi Road, between Warorot Market and the eastern moat of the Old City. 

Where we stayed:  Movenpick Suriwongse Hotel.

Trip report - Day trip out from Chiang Mai to Wat Phra That Doi Sutep, Mon Cham and Bua Tong Sticky Waterfall.

 Day 7  (12 January 2018)

This was a lazy morning in Chiang Mai where we did little but explored cafes in the Nimmanhaemin area, known to be the chic and trendy part of Chiang Mai.

The Nimman area includes the main Nimmanhaemin Road, which runs south from Maya Shopping Mall on Huay Kaew Road, cutting through the city’s bustling university area towards the airport, plus all the small Soi or side lanes along the Nimmanhaemin Road.

The afternoon was spent catching the giant Mekong Catfish at Bo Sang Fishing Park, under the guidance of a fishing expert.

We ended the day with a casual dinner at the Green Chilli Thai Restaurant and a soothing massage at Fah Lanna Massage, both places near to our hotel, Movenpick Suriwongse Hotel.

Trip report - Cafe hopping at Nimmanhaemin.

Trip Report - An afternoon of fishing at the Bo Sang Fishing Park. 

Day 8  (13 January 2018)

We catered some free time in the morning of our last day in Chiang Mai before taking the afternoon flight home. Four of us went to continue exploring Chiang Mai’s Old City which included a visit to Wat Phra Singh temple, Fern Forest Cafe and Khao Soi Khun Yai (tasting the best Khao Soi in Chiang Mai).

Trip report - Wat Phra Singh temple, Fern Forest Cafe and Khao Soi Khun Yai.

 

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Beautiful morning with rescued elephants at the Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary

7 January 2018

There are a few places in Chiang Mai where one could get up close and personal with elephants and a morning at the Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary is probably the best. This sanctuary is opened by Mr. Pop, the owner of Lanna Kingdom Tours who had provided us with excellent private tour services during my previous trip to Chiang Mai, back in December 2014.

This time round, I booked a 2 Days 1 Night private tour for my travelling group of 3 couples. Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary was our first stop on the first day.

The site is located in rural Northeast Thailand next to a river, with beautiful rice paddies and stunning mountain views as the backdrop. We were picked up by Arm, our guide and Boon, our driver at 8 AM from our hotel in Chiangmai. 

During the hour long drive to the sanctuary, Arm provided us with general information about the African and Asiatic elephants. African elephants are much larger and cannot be tamed. All the elephants in Thailand are the much smaller Asiatic elephants. He also provided important safety information (e.g. don’t stand directly behind an elephant) and simple commands (in Thai!) that we would need to know when we interact with the elephants later.

An important fact I learnt is that the Asiatic elephant has a skeleton structure that not designed to carry load on its back. Elephant riding can contribute to long-term physical injuries for the animals and is hence cruel and to be discouraged.

Oops! I did elephant riding many years ago when I was not aware of this fact. Not any more from this day onwards.

The elephants at the sanctuary were rescued elephants that came from circus, logging camps or elephant riding camps. There is even one who was rescued from a logging camp in Burma. This elephant from Burma does not understand the Thai language commands, so we were not allowed to interact with it. 

After being bought by Mr Pop, these rescued elephants are free to roam around on his huge property (no chains!) and are well taken care of by their personal caregivers. Each elephant has a dedicated mahout or caregiver, a one to one relationship.

We were the first group to arrive at the site. After changing into the provided mahout clothes and plastic clogs for our feet, we were given a forearm “tattoo” of our names in the Thai language. The Thai language has 44 consonants, 15 vowel symbols that comprise 32 vowels. The alphabet also has 5 tones: low, mid, high, falling, rising. With these, it is possible to translate English with only 26 letters into Thai easily. The mahouts who don’t speak English could call out our names very accurately using these Thai alphabets. Amazing.

Mr Pop gave us a briefing on the goals of the sanctuary: To rescue elephants, educate people, and support local communities.

Group photo with Mr Pop (second from right), owner of the Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary.

Elephants eat 136 kilogram of food a day and one big challenge of running the sanctuary is securing enough funding and revenue to cover operational costs.

Then the moment we were all waiting for. A first meeting with an adult female elephant.

This elephant is actually pregnant. Elephants have a gestation period of almost 2 years!

All the elephants at the sanctuary are female and all are adults, except for the 2 year old baby elephant called Lanna!

Lanna was rescued from a circus and is very adorable.

Everyone is charmed by “Spicy” Lanna, the mischievous 2 year old baby elephant.

Elephants have a lifespan quite like human and the 2 year old Lanna is just like a human toddler at that age. Full of energy, greedy for food, playful and mischievous. 

Each couple were each given a basket of bananas to feed the adult elephants. Hearing the command “Bon”, the elephant will raise its trunk and we could stuff food directly into its mouth.

Inserting a banana into the elephant’s waiting mouth.

The elephant has no front teeth, so it is perfectly safe. No one lost any fingers and I actually got to touch the silky smooth tongue of the elephant.

Elephants are intelligent animals and love to be praised. “Dee dee” is the praise word to use as positive reinforcement when they respond correctly to our commands. They loved to be patted on their foreheads too. They have thick skin and we have to pat hard for them to feel the pat.

We were to pat the area where there is no hair. Elephant hairs are very course and hard. A few hands were slightly pricked.

After feeding, we walked with the elephants to the river for their drinks.

Next up, we were to make medicine balls for the elephants. Ingredients are tamarind, sugar cane, bananas and a little salt. These were pounded in a mortar until we got a paste, made into sticky balls and then fed to the elephants to aid their digestion.

Making medicine balls for the elephants at Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary.

Feeding the medicine balls to Lanna, after giving the “Bon” command.

Next activities were the mud spa and bath for the elephants, and a chance to get really muddy and wet. 

Coating Lanna the baby elephant with mud.

Bathing the adult elephant at their “swimming pool”.

After bath snacks.

We were given ample time to have a good shower, changed back to our clean clothes before being served a vegetarian lunch, consisting of Pad Thai (stir fried rice noodles with bean sprouts, eggs and spring onions), water melon and something called “elephant poop crackers”. Just a name for the crispy rice crackers. I am sure there is no elephant by products in the crackers.

The only thing missing from our lunch is a cup of hot coffee. Arm and Boon brought us to a nice coffee joint nearby for our caffeine fix before proceeding on with our private tour.

Overall, everyone in the group, even those who has a fear of animals, enjoyed the interactions with the gentle and intelligent elephants in the sanctuary. It was great to see the efforts made to make their remaining lives better, allow people to learn more about these animals and create awareness on the cruelty of elephant ridings.

A great day out with good friends at the elephant sanctuary.

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Visit to local market, bamboo rafting and a visit to a Karen Long Neck hill-tribe village

7 January 2018 

After a morning at the Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary, our driver Boon drove us to a local produce market where Arm our guide brought us round to sample local delicacies and food.

No one took up the challenge to sample some hi-protein grubs, insects and silkworm pupae.

Sampling local food – steamed rice with chicken, local herbs and spices, and hopefully no grubs.

Delicious deep fried potato balls.

After the market tour, we were driven to one of the elephant camps by the Mae Taeng River. We were not riding elephants. Instead, the embarkation point for our bamboo rafting activity is within this camp.

After spending the morning at the Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary where we interacted with rescued elephants and learnt about the cruelty of elephant riding, it is disheartening to see elephant riding is still a popular tourist activity in Chiang Mai. 

We boarded the bamboo rafts made of long stalks of dried bamboo fastened together by rope.

This traditional raft is stable and could take all 6 of us. Traditional bamboo rafts were how locals travelled and carried goods for trade in the past. Nowadays, such rafts are mostly used for tourism. 

Since this was part of our 2D/1N tour itinerary, we basically go with the flow. Literally.

It was a relaxing 45 minutes, 4.2 km ride down the river. For city dwellers, this was quite a nice experience and hence the popularity of bamboo rafting activity with visitors to Chiang Mai.

Umbrellas were provided, in case of rain, but were actually used by those who feared the hot sun which was peeking out from behind the clouds.

We were given the opportunity to steer the raft with the long poles at one point along the way. Otherwise, it was “sit back and relax” and enjoy a nice, peaceful trip down the river with some unique views.

 

The long bamboo raft is manned by a boatman at each ends, who uses a long pole to steer and control the raft.

Zip-lining is a popular activity in Chiang Mai.

A riverside cafe hoping to sell fresh coconuts, cold drinks and beer to the bamboo rafters.

Our boatmen on their way after alighting us at the end point.

Arm and Boon were waiting for us at the disembarkation point to take us to the nearby Karen Long Neck hill-tribe village after the rafting.

In the short 20 to 30 minutes visit to the village, we learnt about the origin, lives and customs of these hill-tribes who originated from Burma. They are not allowed to work outside their community since they are not Thai nationals.

A pair of statues placed at the entrance to the hill-tribe village as a protection against evil spirits.

 

These people are highly superstitious and some of the traditional customs may sound cruel or absurd to the modern society. For example, we learnt that a woman giving birth to twins is considered a very bad omen to these people. The babies would be left to die and the parents would be ostracised from the village. This practice has since stopped but there are still some practices that would remain, including the wearing of brass rings round their necks.

A Karen hill-tribe woman doing weaving work or selling handicraft in front of her hut.

For the long neck Karen, the woman starts wearing the brass rings at a young age. In the past, it was to protect them from tigers that tend to bite the neck. Rings are added over time, resulting in the deformation (pressing down) of the shoulders and appearance of a longish neck.

This practice continued due to superstition and belief that bad things would happen to the village if someone don’t continue the custom.  Nowadays, it is not mandatory for them to wear these rings but many still chose to continue with this custom.

The village is a small community with about 27 people living in it. In addition, there are some who lived in other villages and came to this place for work. They practice subsistence living, supplemented by income from tourism. Entrance fees are collected from visitors to the village and they make good handicraft for sale.

Colourful woven handicraft for sale at the hill-tribe village.

Young kids in the village play happily amongst themselves in the village square, while women do weaving work or sell handicraft in front of their huts. Most men from the village are working as mahouts in one of the elephant camps.

A few kids knew our guide Arm and came up to greet him.  Arm had brought a few bags of chocolates for the village kids and we distributed them.  The kids were really polite. They queued up patiently, offered a friendly wai (the traditional Thai greeting with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion) and thanked us for the treats. One boy even gave an extra packet of chocolates to his mother who smiled at us in appreciation.

The hill tribe village was the second last stop for the day. From there, driver Boon drove us northwards for about an hour to the Tree House Hideaway, a unique accommodation located at the edge of a cliff overlooking the lush jungle of Chiang Dao National Park.

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Treehouse Hideaway in Chiang Dao

As part of our 2D/1N tour of northern Chiang Mai, we stayed in a non-typical accommodation called the Tree House Hideaway. It is a house made mostly of timber, bamboo and thatch with views of lush jungle below that gave it the appearance of a treehouse.

Treehouse Hideaway in Chiang Dao.

But it is actually more like a “cliff house”, perch on top of a steep hillside and overlooks the jungle of the Chiang Dao National Park and the village of Mae Mae, a small community of 200 people.

The Tree House Hideaway is located within the remote foothills of the majestic Chiang Dao Mountain range (1.5 hour drive North of Chiang Mai). It is the perfect place for us to stay for the night, after a day of bamboo rafting, visiting hill-tribe village and interacting with rescued elephants at the Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary. A place for us to get really close to nature.

Access to the Tree House Hideaway is via a narrow and winding paved road, off the main highway from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao. As the road snaked upwards into the hills, we seemed to be getting further and further away from civilisation. Driving along such roads can be scary for some. Honking every now and then to warn on-coming cars while negotiating blind corners, our skilful and safe driver Boon from Lanna Kingdom Tours ensured that we arrived safely at the Treehouse.

Actually we only encountered one other vehicle coming from the opposite direction during the entire drive up on that mountain road.

The Treehouse Hideaway is not a traditional hotel. The rooms are simple but functional. Flooring in the bedroom consists of bamboo strips laid over the teak wood structural beams.

Each bedroom comes with bath towels, clean bedding, blankets, mosquito net and a small table for our stuff. There are adequate power points for charging our mobile phones and cameras and 2 way switches for the lights.

Mosquito nets are provided but we had no problems with mosquitoes during our stay.

Imagine sleeping in a room overlooking lush jungle, listening to the sound of cicadas and gushing river below.

Our group took the 3 private double bedrooms on one side of the double-storey tree house complex. There are other bedrooms, including a large private family room that could sleep 6 to 8 people, on the other side.

View from our bedroom -  looking back towards the entrance, bathrooms and the lower deck.

Just below the sleeping area, on the lower deck, is a very spacious living area with hammocks, dining tables, coffee tables and a pit fire. The living area has floors with teak planks. We had to walk carefully on bare feet as the planks were a little uneven.

Jungle below the treehouse with palms trees and banana trees having the largest leaves and fronds I ever seen.

Peering down from the deck or bedroom windows, one could see a couple of small huts through the canopy of the trees a few hundred meters below but not the stream that produces a steady burble of running water.

There were already other guests in the treehouse when we arrived, with some relaxing on the few hammocks strung across wooden beams.

The best thing to do after arrival is a hot shower and a relaxing massage before dinner. There are 3 shared toilets cum bathrooms with hot showers in the upper deck of the main tree house structure. We did not expect hotel-style bathrooms in such a remote place so we were not too disappointed with the basic facilities in the bathroom.

Our guide Arm had helped pre-book the massage services for our group before our arrival. Traditional Thai body or leg massages cost 200 Baht per hour.

Thai massage on the deck of the treehouse.

The owners of the tree house cooked and served a simple dinner of local Thai dishes with rice to all guests. They had even arranged for the local village kids to perform a mini and informal dance show for everyone during dinner.

This place would be excellent for star gazing since it is located on high ground and away from the haze and lights found in the city. Unfortunately, the sky was slightly cloudy during our stay. 

Arm and Boon had hinted that they had a “surprise” for us after dinner. They had actually purchased sky lanterns or khom loy for us to release while we were at the local market earlier during our tour. 

These lanterns are normally released during festivals such as Loy Krathong, Yi Peng and New Year’s Eve in Chiang Mai. 

With our wishes written on the sky lanterns, ready to send it towards the heavens.

After writing our wishes on the rice paper lanterns, we went out into the pitch black night with our guides, Arm and Boon, and a few enthusiastic village kids who had stayed back after the dance performance.

The kids played with fireworks supplied by our guides. Since fireworks are banned in my home country, some of the 50-plus year old folks in our group took the opportunity to be kids again. 

We lit the solid fuel attached to the bases of the lanterns and launched the sky lanterns into the night sky. The lanterns were to carry our wishes to heaven and hopefully they would come true.

Preparing the sky lantern for launch.

We also attached a small lit firework to the lantern, to give it an extra boost a few seconds after take-off.

A sky lantern with the burning solid fuel and a small lit firework attached to give it an extra boost halfway during the flight.

This looked like a rocket lifting off into space.

Seeing the smoke trails and lanterns getting smaller and smaller as they soared into the dark sky gave me goose bumps. It looked so much like the space shuttle taking off.

There was still time for some cold beer, local snacks and chit chat at the terrace of the treehouse before turning in for the night. We would be doing a jungle trek the next day after breakfast. The jungle trekking to a waterfall is organised for guests staying at the treehouse and is an activity that is not to be missed.

Overall, I enjoyed my stay at the Treehouse Hideaway. As the name implies, this is a place to “hide-away”. No wi-fi, no TV, forget about the outside world. Just fresh air, great views, greenery, get really close to nature (expect to see a few spiders and insects on the walls or ceilings) and good hospitality.  A good place to unwind, take it easy and hang-out with great friends.

Jungle trekking to a waterfall is organised for guests staying at the Treehouse Hideaway.

Next post : Jungle trekking in Chiang Dao National Park.

Side note:

There is actually a small tree house next to the tree house complex where we stayed. It is open for us to explore but not a place for guests to stay overnight.

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