Chiang Mai and Home to Mae Sai - April 3, 2014

We had a fun three days is Chiang Mai.  We got to visit some friends and do some shopping.

We bought two stainless steel tables and a free standing sink for our outside kitchen along with a wardrobe for the guest room.  We also bought a waste paper basket and a night stand to match. 

On our way back from picking up the tables it rain a little and since it hasn't rained here in a couple of weeks it got really slippery with the oil on the road floating on the water.

We loaded everything this morning for the trip over the mountain.  We will have to go slow on the curvy road.

We were hungry so we decide to have something to eat at the noodle shop next to the Mavin Hotel.

I had a coconut milk soup with beef and yellow noodles. About the only thing Thais use chopsticks for is to eat the noodles out of noodle soup.

The laugh at me as I eat the noodles like an Italian eating spaghetti.

We took our time driving over the mountain on the winding road. 

We stopped at the Hot Spring to use the restroom and check our load. 

This is the highest Hot Spring in Thailand and the water shoots 50 meters (164 feet) into the air.

Then at what we think of as the halfway point we stopped at Charin Gardens and had blueberry cheese cake pie, chocco cherry cream cake and coffee.

We were cutting up some so we did a selfie picture.

Then between Chiang Rai and Mae Sai we stopped and had a late BBQ chicken lunch. 

We also stopped and bought 3 kilograms, almost seven pound of pineapple along with three packages of cut up pineapple for home. 

When we got home we unloaded everything.  I took a shower and went to bed.  When this fat boy goes to bed without dinner you know I'M TIRED.

Tomorrow is the second set of joint lubricant shots in my knees.

Road Trip to Chiang Mai March 31, 2014

We had a fun and exciting road trip to Chiang Mai.  We do not get up very early but we had coffee and packed for the 3-4 day road trip. 

When we went downstair, Daeng said: "Look, you were wrong, Nuy is doing something for the family."  Sure enough, she was cooking breakfast for the whole gang.  

We kidded around about eating all the time and her weight.  She told me: "In three months I won't have a big belly and you'll still be fat!"  It was good to see her happy. 


We put everything in our new pick-up and headed south. When we went through the first check point it was about 11:00 AM so we decided to stop and have an early lunch of barbecued chicken, som-tom papaya salad and sticky rice. 

They now also have fresh frog.  No, I'm not going to say: "Tastes Like Chicken". 

After lunch we drove down route number 1, through Chiang Rai and made the turn off onto route 118 to Chiang Mai.  About 19 kilometers more we stopped at Charin Gardens for some sweets.  They have great cheese cake and pies.  We met the owner who lived for many years in San Diego, California.  Yes, it is a small world. 


I think of Charin Gardens as the halfway point between our home in Mae Sai and Chiang Mai. 

By the way, Chiang Rai is a City and a Province, very similar to New York, New York.   We live in the City (District) of Mae Sai in the Province of Chiang Rai.

I might add our new Toyota pick-up with the 2.5L diesel engine ran great on the mountain roads. We were able to pass trucks and buses on the hills without any need for more power.  

About 50 kilometers up the road through the mountains we came across a big jungle fire. We don't know if it was a controlled burn off but it was big and scary.  

We made it safely to the Mawin Hotel.  It is a nice little hotel on the river about 100 meters from the Duke's Steakhouse and about 300 meters from the meeting I like to attend. 

After we checked in I went over to the Raintree Center to a meeting of English speaking friends.  After the meeting I was very tired so I came back to the hotel, took a shower and went to bed without dinner.

When I miss dinner, you know I'm tired.  It was a good trip. 

Bored in Mae Sai so Chiang Mai Trip

Well, we're a little bored here in Mae Sai.  It's the old get up at five or six o'clock, shower, dress, answer emails and go to the morning market for breakfast.  The Ban Pa Mueat Morning Market usually is in full swing by 5:00 AM.

After breakfast it is stop at the exercise equipment beside the road by our house and work out a little.





We then watched the monks do their morning walk collecting food.  Many folks come out of their homes and businesses and give food to the monks.

Home and work on quilt or if it's raining, clean the third floor tile roof. Our third floor roof is ceramic tile but does need to be cleaned every once in a while, especially after the jungle being on fire.  There was a lot of ash on our roof.

Daeng's quilt is looking good.  She put it on the bed today, as well.  She starting making it almost a year ago.  It is a patchwork quilt, double sided with a soft filling inside.

Because we are bored, we decided we would make a little trip to Chiang Mai for a little holiday.  Chiang Mai is about 250 kilometers, by road, from us.  It is up through the mountains so it takes about three and a half hours without stops. 

We started off pretty early, about 6:15 AM.  We stopped at our local market and had a little breakfast.  We drove to Jan's coffee shop in 60 km south in Chiang Rai.  We talked a little with Jan to be sure she was doing okay.  Our friend Charlie is her boyfriend.  He is in Canada for a few months.

Then we drove a little more down route number one and made the Chiang Mai turn off onto route 118.  About 19 km after the turn off, we stopped for sweets at the Charin Gardens.  They have great cheese cake and pies.  They are so good you want to lick the plate.

We also watch a man net fishing in the river by the restaurant.  We hope he got some fish as he laid out a lot of net.

We drove to the hot springs and stopped to use the rest room.  Here they charge five Thai Baht to use the facilities.  Many public places in Thailand charge three Baht so it is not that much more. 

Onward to Pooie's home.  Pooie is one of Daeng's four older brothers. It was easy to find him again as I marked our GPS locator.  When we got to the house, Kat, Pooie's daughter said her Dad was coming home for lunch in about a half hour, around noon.  We hung out.  Daeng took a little bicycle ride with Gla, Pooie's son.

As for me, I just hung around hugging trees.  These teak trees grow right in the middle of the road.

Pooie and his wife, "Ley", came home around noon and we spent some time together.  They both had to go back to work.  We said: "Good-bye" and headed down the road ourselves.

Then onward to the Royal Lanna Hotel in the Night Bazaar section of Chiang Mai.  We have a friend, Jay, that lives in the hotel on a monthly basis.  It is a big hotel, 22 stories tall in a great location. 

We booked the room from their old website for a nice discount.  The discounted rate was 1050 THB, about $35.00 USD, a night including a buffet breakfast for two.  This picture is a view of part of the night bazaar from the hotel window.  The hotel sits in the middle of this Night Bazaar.

Eat, sleep, eat, sleep and a few meetings with friends for the next few days.  I took Daeng to stay a few nights with her brother Pooie.  I hung out with my friends Brian & Jay.  It was pretty relaxing. 

While driving across a single lane bridge that crosses the river we saw a small, new hotel with a sign "650 THB" on it.  Daeng said lets stop to see it.  We liked it and made the decision to change hotels.  It was only two blocks from the Royal Lanna Hotel. 

The name of the hotel is Mawin Hotel. You can see the Royal Lanna Hotel across the bridge and down the street.  It is the large building on the left of the picture.

After seven nights in Chiang Mai we made the trip back to Mae Sai.  It was May Day, May 1st and a holiday in Thailand.  It is like Labor Day in America.  The nice part is almost everything was closed, banks, schools and businesses so the traffic was very light.  That was a nice change.