A touch of class
Posted by admin on March 7th, 2010 filed in Living here, Locals, tourist tipsComment now »
For those who have been in Thailand for a very long time, there are a few things which are easy to miss. Although the food here is cheap, fabulous and packed with flavour, rice and noodles for every meal can get a little tiresome after a while.But there is a hidden gem in Chiang Mai’s Nimanhaeman area that is perfect for a healthy dose of Western indulgence, and more importantly which won’t break the bank.
On Soi 3 and located within the plush Kantary Hills hotel and served apartment complex, is the Niman Bar and Grill. This chic and stylish restaurant may be the preserve of Chiang Mai’s expat gentry, but the staff are extremely friendly and only too happy to serve walk-in customers.
And every Monday and Friday they put on a sumptuous salad bar buffet including deli meat, delicious soup, smoked salmon, all different fruit and veg you could ask for which only costs 150 baht for as much as you can devour. Tax and service is not included but even then the price comes to less than 170 baht – a bargain considering all the high-end imported treats on offer. And the best part is they have happy hour from 18:00 – 20:00 so all your beer and cocktails are half price!
Reservoir party rocks till dawn
Posted by Northerner on February 28th, 2010 filed in Adventure, Attractions, Day trips, Living here, Locals, tourist tipsComment now »
Saturday night saw hundreds of revellers descend on the parkland by Huay Teung Tao Reservoir for an all-night party featuring live music and entertainment. The event, organised by Roots Reggae, Zoe in Yellow and other bars from Ratwithi soi 3, brought together the cream of Chiang Mai’s musical talent for the evening which ran from 9pm until the sun came up.
Everybody had a thrilling time dancing away to dub, soul and Latin tunes before a dj took over and played funky beats until dawn. And the shuttle buses coming from town tried to keep drunken motorbike riders to a minimum, although there were still a few uneasy riders swerving past in the early hours.
Although quite an expensive enterprise with tickets costing 200 baht and small beers priced at 80 baht, everybody agreed it was a great success. And with rumours flying about that another two-day party is being organised for April, those who missed out this time should keep their ears to the ground for emerging details.
Chiang Mai mountain motorcycle circuit
Posted by admin on February 22nd, 2010 filed in Adventure, Attractions, Day trips, Living here, LocalsComment now »
As the temperature in Chiang Mai begins to reach the dizzy heights and everything becomes a little more sticky and oppressive, a good option is to hire a motorbike and spend an afternoon cruising the cool mountain roads near the city.
There’s a simple and picturesque circuit beginning on the Mai Rim road from the city (directly north from Chang Phuak gate) and snaking around to bring you back out at Hang Dong. After a grueling twenty minutes bombing down the dual carriageway you swing a left from the highway following the signs for Tiger Kingdom.
After a optional stop to cuddle an oversized kitty, you continue on this road as it winds all the way around the back of Doi Suthep and through all manner of twisting lanes and gorgeous vistas. There’s no chance of getting lost and plenty of great photo opportunities along the way.
And remember to stop off for some refreshment at a wonderful little beer garden two or three hours in. Just follow the multiple signs for ‘beer’ at the side of the road and you can’t go wrong. Eventually the route feeds back around to Hang Dong and you are a short hop from there back to the city. And don’t worry, all the smoke and heat will still be waiting for you.
Down tempo drinking
Posted by Northerner on February 11th, 2010 filed in Attractions, Living here, LocalsComment now »
Soi 3 on Ratwithi Road (just inside the old city just a block or so north of Thai Pai gate) is home to a bohemian collection of bars and some of the most chilled nightlife in the city. A favourite haunt for passing-through travellers and expats alike, there are many buzzing live music venues as well as a selection of decent restaurants serving up all types of cuisine from Greek to Indian.
Amongst the most popular bars in the area is Zoe in Yellow, an intimate place with a great cocktail selection, brilliant resident Latin band and some of the friendliest staff in the Kingdom. And the Cypriot/Turkish owners put on a delicious Mediterranean buffet feast on Thursdays which is perfect for a hearty boost of humus.
Another popular favourite is the Reggae bar where throngs of scruffy backpackers fuelled on whisky buckets shake their stuff until the early hours. And when hunger strikes there is no need to despair as Royal India restaurant does some delicious veg and non-veg thalis starting from only 120 baht.
For more on Chiang Mai bars.
Golf courses around Chiang Mai
Posted by Northerner on February 2nd, 2010 filed in Adventure, Attractions, Day trips, Living here, golf, tourist tipsComment now »
Thailand has long been acknowledged as a golfer’s dream and this week we take a look at some of the best options on offer for those wanting to get in the swing of things around Chiang Mai.
Alpine Golf Resort: Nesting in the mountains by the San Kampaeng forests, this is a picturesque course that makes it impossible not to gaze in wonder even when you are having a bad round. (Green fees from 1,206baht)
Mae Jo Golf Club: Located behind Mae Jo University, this course is merely twenty minutes drive from the airport. (Green fees from 1,003baht)
Gassan Khuntan: The owners of this brand new addition to Chiang Mai’s golf scene set out to build one of the finest courses in the whole of Thailand, and few could argue against them succeeding. (Green fees from 1,504baht)
Chiangmai Highland Golf & Spa Resort: This Lee Schmidt-designed course is striking in its ability to use the undulating hilly landscape of the Chiang Mai area to such great effect. (Green fees from 1,003baht)
Summit Green Valley: This championship standard 18-hole course is carefully maintained and beautifully landscaped. With lots of water features and sand to negotiate, it is amongst the more challenging tests on offer. (Green fees from 1,444baht)
Gassan Lake City Golf & Resort: The most recently constructed course in the area, the Lake City promises to test the metal of even the most experienced amateur and a put some professionals through their paces as well. (Green fees from 1,083baht)
Gassan Marina: This 7,600 yard course surrounds the Chiang Mai area’s largest lake. It is an extremely challenging course and not for the faint hearted, especially in the tropical heat. (Green fees from 1,206baht)
For more on golf in Chiang Mai.
Huay Teung Tao Reservoir
Posted by Northerner on January 18th, 2010 filed in Attractions, Day trips, Living here, Locals, tourist tipsComment now »
If you’re looking to chill out and escape the city of Chiang Mai, why not head out of town to Huay Teung Tao Reservoir. It’s only about 12 kms to the northeast of town and easy to get to by car, motorbike or songthaew. If you are making your own way there, follow the signs for Mae Rim on route 107, then take a left hand turn for the last 2 kms, but it’s all so clearly signposted, you can’t miss it.
So why go there? Well it’s a huge lake with some great Thai restaurants around it where you sit in your own bamboo raft and just eat loads of inexpensive delicious Thai food; enjoy a drink and just chill for as long as you want. Then jump off your raft, enjoy a swim, paddle your toes in the water – it’s like having your own fish spa!!!
Feeling fit, you can walk around the lake, it’s not actually as big as it looks, takes around 30-40 minutes to stroll round. Avid bird watchers should go early in the morning, as apparently there are quite a few different species of birds to see, but don’t ask me what kind, I’m still a ‘oh there’s a blue bird and ooh there’s a brown bird’ kind of person.
Don’t want to walk but feel you should do some kind of exercise; you can hire a bike at the entrance to the lake for 40 baht an hour. The cost to get into the reservoir is just 20 baht per person, regardless of whether you are Thai or foreigner. It gets a little busy at weekends but not packed but it’s a lovely place for lunch during the week.
Typically British: Complaining about the weather!
Posted by admin on January 7th, 2010 filed in Attractions, Living here, Locals, Uncategorized, tourist tipsComment now »
I’m always being told by my friends back in England how jealous they are that I live out here and how crap the weather is back home. This week, however, and possibly for the first time since I’ve been here, I’ve envied their situation.
After you’ve lived out here for a while, it’s true that the hot weather becomes less and less exotic feeling and more of a daily chore that you must struggle through. In that way, Chiang Mai in the winter can be quite refreshing, as unlike the weather farther down south, you still have the benefit of sunshine but without the usual suffocatingly muggy feeling.
This week, however, this has not been the case. All day today I have been held up in my apartment as the rain streams unrelentingly from the sky like you might expect it to do in Manchester. Meanwhile, in merry Manchester itself, and across pretty much the whole of the UK in fact, they are enjoying an extended white Christmas.
While I know it gets tiresome after a day or so, I’ve always had rather a soft spot for snow. And perhaps I’m being either ungrateful, or greedy, or both, but is it too much to ask for just a bit of the white stuff instead of the wet stuff?
Fish Spas
Posted by Northerner on December 6th, 2009 filed in Attractions, Living here, Locals, tourist tipsComment now »
You can’t have helped noticing the number of fish spas that have opened around Chiang Mai in recent months. You will find them at Airport Plaza, at the end of Night Bazaar road, Rimping Plaza, Nimmanahaeminda Road. Every day there seems to be a new one appearing.
If you don’t know what a fish spa is, it’s basically a place where you dip your feet into a pool of water and hundreds of doctor fish nibble away at your flesh. Sounds a bit like a scene from a horror film and I have to admit, it took me a while to pluck up the courage to try. Apparently the fish only feed on any affected or dead skin on your feet and don’t touch the healthy skin, guess my feet must be completely dead because it felt like they were biting everywhere and nobody told me it would be so ticklish!!
These fish spas originated in Turkey and were first used to treat people who suffer with psoriasis. You have to wonder who first came up with the idea ‘Oh you got psoriasis, never mind my pet fish will soon clear that up!!!’
Since them, they have been popping up all over Asia more as a cosmetic treatment rather than to cure skin disease. Anyway if you’re concerned about the fish biting you, don’t. They say there’s little risk of infection as most Asian spa rules state everyone must bring their own towels and keep a fair distance from each-other while in the pool. Although sitting next to a guy in the pool who’s got dodgy feet, you can’t help feeling you may pick up some skin infection along the way. Would I try it again? Yeah, probably, I’m a sucker for punishment, but would probably head for somewhere that seems more hygienic. Sharing a fish tank with other shoppers in the local mall just doesn’t feel right to me.
For those interested in this alternative spa treatment, prices start at 150 baht for 15 minutes. Be sure to count your toes at the end of the treatment, just in case.
Monk chats and Veggie Food
Posted by Northerner on November 19th, 2009 filed in Attractions, Day trips, Living here, Locals, tourist tipsComment now »
I love animals but I can’t quite convert to being fully vegetarian, veggie food always tastes the same to me and the texture of tofu makes me want to gag, but I found a place here in Chiang Mai that could just tip me over towards being a total veggie. Never has veggie food tasted so good and cheap – always a big plus!!!!
There’s a hamburger place in town which proudly advertises that it can convert vegetarians – hmmmm guess they have never tasted their own food. But this wonderful veggie restaurant should boast that it can proudly convert meat eaters. So where is it, I hear you scream!!! The name is ‘Pun Pun’ and it is in the grounds of Wat Suan Dok on Suthep Road. Just continue heading west from the Old City. All the food is delicious and organic which usually means expensive, but it isn’t and there’s so much choice and the average cost is 40 baht a meal and no I don’t have shares in the place!!!!! I personally recommend the Khao Soy and every one of the curry dishes.
And when you have finished eating, you can have a monk chat and find out all about Buddhism and the lifestyle of monks too. You can observe the monks at work and play. The temple itself is quite pretty, all white and gold, wear your sunglasses it can be quite bright on the eyes. If you have a car or motorbike, there’s plenty of parking, but it’s easily walkable from the Old City or plenty of red songtaews go past the entrance.
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Hiking around Chiang Mai
Posted by Northerner on October 30th, 2009 filed in Adventure, Attractions, Day trips, Living here, Locals, tourist tipsComment now »
One of the things I really like about Chiang Mai is that in just a few minutes drive from the city, you are out in the countryside. I love to go hiking and Chiang Mai is great for that, you have the mountains, parks, waterfalls, caves, and hill tribe villages, there is so much to explore.
When I first came up here, I noticed most of the travel agents were offering one day hiking trips but on closer inspection, it’s only a 30 minute hike, the rest of the day is taken up with bamboo rafting and elephant riding. Now don’t get me wrong, if you haven’t done these before, it’s great fun but it’s not hiking, is it really?
Anyway I don’t like to hike alone, partly because I have a dreadful sense of direction and may never be seen again and hey who would feed the cat? And I don’t really see why I should pay to go for a walk.
But I have discovered there’s a motley crew of hikers who meet every Sunday morning at 8am (yeah I know it’s early, but exercise is a great way to rid yourself of that hangover-honest!) at the Arboretum, near Chiang Mai University. Every week, they head off in a different direction, sometimes up Doi Pui, maybe take the old Pilgrim Trail up to Doi Suthep, find a secluded waterfall or venture into hill tribe villages that haven’t been ruined by tourism yet. Some weeks we just get completely and utterly lost; guess I’m not the only one with a lousy sense of direction.
All are welcome to come along, they are a friendly bunch, they must be if they can put up with me moaning and whinging every time we hike up a hill. Many of the hikers are ex-pats but tourists, travellers, backpackers are more than welcome. And if you are planning to move up to Chiang Mai, it’s a great way to pick up tips.
So next time, you feel the urge to do some exercise, come along. Ok I admit, the average age of the group can be rather high on occasion but don’t let that put you off, if I can still run up hills when I’m old and grey, I will be delighted because I certainly have a lot of trouble doing it now.
For more info on local hikes, take a look at http://chiangmaihiking.wordpress.com