Family Road Trip: Part II - in Chiang Mai

We spent our morning at Talad Waroros trying to find something for breakfast. After asking around the locals, we ended up at this "Khao Soi" (Northern Style Noodle) place. Then, morning snack with "Pa-tong-Goh" (deep-fried doughstick: 油炸鬼) and Thai tea / coffee in a shop nearby.

"Khao Soi"
(courtesy of P'Yai)
our usual "pa-tong-goh" breakfast
Talad Waroros is one among the most famous local market in Chiang Mai. We usually shop for local food here. Just name it, ไส้อั่ว nothern style sausage, หมูยอ vietnamese style sausage, แคบหมู pork scratchings, น้ำพริกหนุ่ม northern style curry paste, etc. Behind the market, facing River Ping, is famous for fresh flowers.

Famous local food in Waroros Market
around Waroros Market
(Courtesy of P'Yai)
This sign just caught my attention...
It says "This is a car parking lot.
Motorbikes can't park here!!!
(handwritten: or else, you'll get flat tyres <--I'm serious, no kidding!)
After breakfast, we headed out of town to Doi Inthanon, the highest peak in Thailand. The first pit stop was "The Royal Agricultural Station Inthanon" at the Km 31 mark on Highway 1009. The entrance is partly obscured by the Hmong village of Khun Klang. The projects cover an assortment of fruit plantations, flower gardens and rainbow trout raising in a pond in its compound.

Thai sakuras @ Doi Inthanon
(Courtesy of P'Yai)
local stalls
coffee break
part of the project
the three of us
Next, we moved to the Twin Pagodas (Pra Mahathat Napametaneedon and Pra Mahathat Noppapol Phumisiri). The Royal Thai Air Force was in charge of erecting these beautiful pagodas to commemorate the 5th cycle birthdays of His Majesty the King in 1987 and His Majesty the Queen in 1992. At the time when we were there, Pra Mahathat Napametaneedon (or the King's Pagoda) was under renovation.

The entrance to Pra Mahathat Napametaneedon and Pra Mahathat Noppapol
(I actually got a bit dizzy here -- altitude sickness??)
Pra Mahathat Noppapol Phumisiri (or the Queen's Pagoda)
Above the cloud!
(Courtesy of P'Yai)
Not far from the Pagodas locates the highest peak of Inthanon Mountain. The scenery was just breathtaking!


Up the Inthanon Peak @ 2,565 meters
On the way back to town, we used the same tactic - asking the locals - for where to stop for lunch. We were directed to this one local noodle shop.... but we all agreed it was only so-so. (-_-')

With my dad's driving, we still had plenty of time left, so we stopped by Baan Tawaii, a huge village of handcrafts. And yes, when I say huge, IT WAS HUGE! Imagine the JJ market for shoppers in Bangkok, Baan Tawaii is something like that for woodcarving products and some other handcrafts over there. I ended up getting nothing though. It was simply too huge!

Aside from Baan Tawaii, we also made a little detour to the location of Thai Royal Flora 2006. Dad heard that even though the event was already finished a long time ago, the place is still open for public. So there, we got to see the place without much crowd. Very relaxing. It turned out to be one of the places I like a lot in our trip this time.

@ the Royal Flora Site

Hor+ Kum
Our dinner was the vietnamese food at the hotel. Yum~. Then, of course, another "Red Car" ride to the night market for final Chiang Mai souvenir shopping. We intended to also stopped by the local famous chocolate cafe, but it was closed by the time we got there, so we made the Tuk Tuk to turn around and sent us back to the hotel. Here is part of the fun Tuk Tuk ride :)

Family Road Trip: Part I - hitting the road to Chiang Mai

Once in a while our family would get to do the WHOLE family road trip. The last time was in 1996 (or so) when we all went to the US west coast (L.A. - San Diego - Grand Canyon - Las Vegas - San Francisco + ?) This very past new year was the first time in years that all our family members were home together. So there, we decided to go somewhere together. Nice~~~~~~ :) The trip was planned for 5 days; Khao Yai - (via Lampang) - Chiang Mai - Mae Sod - Umparng - Mae Sod - Bangkok. Yes, the trip was a continued portion from our New Year in Khao Yai.

January 2, 2008
The five of us + Nah Noke left Khao Yai right after breakfast. Dad took the role as our driver with P'Yai taking over only for a mere 200 kilometers. We took Route 2 back from Khao Yai to Saraburee and then continued onto Route 1 up north. Making a few brief stops, we reached Lampang not too late in the afternoon.

Lampang's traditional Horse Carriage
In Lampang, we went to Indra Outlet, a home to clay potteries, where we met up with a few family friends (P'Pum's mom and Dr.Oui~) there. After a little while chit-chat, we head onward to Chiang Mai. With dad's driving, we reached the hotel where we stayed at around 5 p.m. (a total of 9 hours with those stops along the way!! - approx. 700 km.)

After checking in the hotel, we walked to Nimmarnhemin Rd., a famous street in Chiang Mai where many nice shops, cafes and restaurants are located. We were advised to go to this restaurant called "Tuai (ต่วย)" for local food. We got to eat all those Nam Prik (Thai curry paste, the northern style, i.e. Nam Prik Ong' and Nam Prik Noom'), also Northern Thai sausage (Sai~ Ua' ไส้อั่ว), Papaya Salad with pork rinds (pork scratchings) หรือส้มตำแคปหมูนี่เอง and other good stuff. Yum! :-9

dinner @ Tuai' restaurant
Papaya Salad, the making
local food - the Nam Prik
After meal came our dessert time. We picked Mon Nom Sod (มนต์นมสด), a famous sweet shop for milk and bread originally from Bangkok. I know, we came all the way from Bangkok, but oh well, we don't get to have Mon Nom Sod that often there (though I always had when I was still in college - it's the place where my friends and I always hung out! haha)

Mon Nom Sod
@ Mon Nom Sod on Nimmanhemin Rd.
As one of the must-do things in Chiang Mai, we definitely had to take a ride on what-so-called the "Red Car". The Red card is a kind of public transportation in which you hail like a cab, but need to negotiate the price as well as destinations. Upon your agreement, the red car can be pooled by other passengers heading in the same directions. So you need to ask the drivers whether they will go where you want to go every time you hail them. The price, depends on your destination and your status too (e.g. students get cheaper rates). Our destination for the night? Of course, to Chiang Mai Night Bazaar (@20 Baht or 60 yen/person).

Chiang Mai's "Red Car" ride
Chiang Mai Night Bazaar
Night bazaar is one of the places I vaguely remember about in Chiang Mai. I don't know how much it has changed, but the one thing I felt was that it was rather quiet and less crowded than what I had in my memory.

We slept early today, preparing for our long day ahead.