Road-Trip: ChiangMai to ChiangRai, Phayao and Back Again

[friscofrankie]

My ol' lady is still registered at her mother home in Chiang Rai, this offers her and excuse to raid the refrigerator (bare), see mom and the siblings a couple times a year. it also offers me a weekend home, alone. Sunday was Election Day and try as I might, I just couldn't steel myself against the whining, tears and cajolery this time. Anyway the bars were gonna be closed, so why not?

I did have work to do. A lot of work. I made the ol' lady promise we wouldn't stay at her family home, we would only visit a few hours and come home directly after voting. She was good to her word. We made the road trip; in twenty-six hours, twenty-three minutes and forty-two seconds.


We left at 14:00 hrs. heading north out hiway 118 for Chiang Rai. As long as I've lived in Chiang Mai there has been serious road work on that hiway, this time was no exception, after passing through Doi Saket the road goes to dusty road base until the hot springs on the lower edge of Amphur Wiang Pa Pao.

It gets nice shortly after that and although I took a few pictures of the ride up I'm not gonna post 'em here. The Construtction of a Khmer-looking wat/hotel/restaurant/resort/whatever has been going on
for nigh on to three years now and it's as yet uncompleted. If you've traveled the roads of Thailand you've all seen the never-endig construction along the way. No point in more of the same.

We arrived in Chaing Rai at about 4:30 or so and went tothe Sun & Moon Guesthouse/Hotel. Very nice and clean with rooms at 700, 800 & 1300 per night the ol' lady bristled and didn't even try to negotiate a 600 night (with the state of their parking lot I'm sure they would have gone for it).

No, Moms "had a friend" and we could get a room for 300 Baht. So we drove around another half hour (it's amazing our easily the ol' lady can get lost in her childhood home-town) and found the Lan Come Hotel. The ol' lady argued, cajoled (she's pretty good at cajolery) but the young man at the counter wouldn't budge from 400 Baht. At this point I'm tired of driving and I don't care if it's a stone floor & a sleeping bag; "just rent the goddam room" was enough to wear the ol lady down.

The musty aroma of mildew on the fourth floor was greeting enough to remind me of a hundred other cheap rooms I've stayed in for an hour or two all over Thailand, I'm getting to like it. What the hell, we'll drop on over-nighter splash some hot water on our faces and head out to town any way and spend maybe eight hours sleeping and be on our way. The bed was kind of clean, the sheets; threadbare and the shower's HOT.

After a quick clean up we left the car and our stuff at the hotel and went into town in search of nourishment and entertainment. A light snack of noodles dumplings and pork were enough, for now. I wanted to sit at the night bazzaar food court, eat and people watch before bed.

We go to the food court a little ahead of schedule:


It's changed a bit since my last visit But all for the better I think. took a stroll around the downtown area to kill an hour, I wanted to see how much other things had changed. Not much really. There's a place called "The Old Dutch" on the main drag advertising Thai food and an American Style BBQ buffet Dunno if they're related to the one in BKK but the prices seem to be.

This is one thing I noticed in Chiang Rai prices for western food seem to be much higher than Chiang Mai, I only had one western meal (breakfast) in town and it was more a Thai imitation of a western breakfast at the "Nice Cafe" where for 10 Baht extra I could have non-instant Coffee - 145 baht two eggs, toast orange juice, three half slices of (streaky) bacon and a tiny banana. A full breakfast it ain't. The coffee, brewed or not was crap. The restaurant is situated across the street from Wat jet Yod:


I digress. We made our way around the city for a while visiting some of the people we'd met in previous trips I noticed a much higher concentration of Farang walking the street, most with that "I'm really Doing Thailand, and look! A guy with a Thai girl!" look on their faces. OK, not 'most' but there were a few "old Hand" hippie types I saw smiling at my Pony tail turning to frowns when they say I was in the tow of a Thai Woman.

By the time we got back to the night bazzaar, things were looking up and we Settled under clear sky with nearly full moon:


And loaded up on finger-type food and a couple of fruit shakes:

[ChiangMai noon]

Did you take that moon picture???

This is one thing I noticed in Chiang Rai prices for western food seem to be much higher than Chiang Mai

I noticed that too.

considerably more expensive.

[friscofrankie]

THE Night Bazaar Food court has improved a great deal and most of the tiny kiosks are brand new they were all clean, with just about any variation of Thai and some western-type dishes available. There were only two beer kiosks and they were staffed with boys in tee-shirts. Sadly I think the mount of beer & ice these poor boys had to carry might have made the short dressed, beer girls an impractical luxury.

There was some traditional entertainment:



Plenty of food to choose from:




And some things you may, or may not, wish to try:


Some of the stalls did a land-office business staying busy keepin up with orders:


While others had time to reconsider their current menu choices:


After a few plates of this, that and the other thing there is no excuse to not try a plate of Chiang Rai fruit. It was cheap & fresh. And ask any Thai, everybody knows you buy fruit in Chiang Rai, even if the lady thinks a mug shot is attractive.


After the meal and experimenting with various settings on my camera We took the short walk back to our musty room we passed through the night bazaar area where you can buy anything from bongs to micro-fiber jackets to puppies.
This is a new strip (to me) that runs out the main drag through town (the name of which escape me at the moment) We used to walk down the side road to the Bus Station and the nigh bazaar was right there. Now there is a gate on the main road lined with shops as night falls hundreds of tiny stalls bloom, it make the area easier to find and there appears to be no trouble finding vendors to fill the spaces.

We walked along the practically deserted streets and found a gem, or two, on the way back:

This picture; an old prison that has been turned into a park. It looks like it would be an interesting subject for an hour or two diversion in the day-time, it wasn't daytime.

Tired from a 6 - 8 kilometer walk, full of food we just wanted to fall out so we could get the voting process over, grab a bite and head to Phayao. When we got to the hotel the lady-in-charge was present a made big to-do about returning 100 Baht. Of course it was all a mistake and yes we are on the short list for the 300 Baht super discount special The more I hear about other people travel nightmares in Thailand, the more I wonder about those "other people"

Chiang Rai residents exercising their democratic right to vote:

[klongmaster]

the nice thing about your reports FF is that they are exactly you...

I mean if we were talking face to face you would describe it all in exactly the same way...

and don't "food courts" look the same everywhere in Thailand...

Merry Christmas Frankie...

[friscofrankie]

Did you take that moon picture???

yes Hand-held at aperture priority, automatic exposeure with full zoom (50x). Fuckin thing was bitch to get to sit still I think I took and discarded 20 shots. The "film speed" set at iso 400 the shot's a bit grainy; this is he limit of my cam, even though it will push to 1600 the graininess of the resulting shots make them impractical.

I spent the evening experimenting with the camera hand-held no flash. The two of the foot traffic were taken by holding the cam above the crowd and hoping for the best. (OK soI only posted one, shoot me)

The next day was a beautiful sunny day and many of the outdoor pics came out well.

[NickA]

I was there only a week or so ago, went to the same food court. unfortunately the entertainment was not at it's best... some ugly slappers or ladyboys (we weren't quite sure) dancing and miming to various bad songs. Embarrassing.

[friscofrankie]

Leaving Chiang Rai in the morning we headed south along Hiway 1. Everyone going to Chiang Mai does, it's the way home. At Hiway 118 you turn right and follow the road home. We didn't turn.

over the last 4 - 5 years I have made this trip dozens of times and each time we get to the intersection I play a mental game I usually lose. I keep promising myself to follow Hiway 1 south down through Phayao, a corner of Lampang and on, to Wiang Pa Pao back on Hiway 118. This time I finally won the game.

The road is broad smooth with gentle sweeping curves. The traffic on this stretch of hiway is, if not sparse at least sparser than the one directly back to Chiang Mai.

It's a Thai Hiway one of the better ones in the country, not much to photograph, although we whizzed by one interesting Wat before we noticed it. We were on our way to a pretty decent side trip and an enjoyable day out.

About an hour, or so, down the road we cam to a turn off to Wat Analayo. it lies about 9 Km off the main hiway and involves a turn or two along the way, they are well marked (leave some bread crumbs though, the way back isn't). you'll travel some typical rural Thai villages I always enjoy those rides and could take hours stopping at roadside shops and never get anywhere.

AS you bgin to climb the hills you'll come upon the lower gate that may have seen more use in former times this is where the tour buses will drop you so you can be sold trinkets, drinks some food and the song teaw drivers can make a dime ferrying you up to the top.

The gate is looks like some sort of archaeological find recovered from the surrounding jungle, and walked up about 40 steps or so.


up through the gate You meet the guard:


if you make it past him you are greeted by a long and winding road UPhill


I think the song-teaws offer a kind of Ski-slope service; ride up walk down. We were smarter than that, we brought a car. There is no room for large buses at the top but enough parking area for maybe 40 vans and cars. Maybe. When we got there there were five or six private cars and one group of Thai tourists in a van.

There are several individual wats on the grounds of different architectural types, shrines, roosters, and nothing to eat, drink or buy. Having the souvenir kiosks down below is a Very Good Idea.

This view was worth the drive. you can see "Kwan Phayao" In the distance Nice lake, we'll get there in a bit.


And is enjoyed by this Dead Old man


he has plenty of company all staring out over teh valley below:

The place is littered with statuary one thing I found unusual was the number of Rabbit "Guards?" place around several important Buddhas;


Some other images From Wat Analoyo:


An inner gate to where Roosters roam:


Rooster Roaming, These guys are fast and hard to shoot (with a camera)


I spent about two hours roaming around but had neglected to buy water before getting to the top, there is a small shop at the top Not sure if it is a storage area that used to be a shop or if it opens on most days, it was election day and it was closed. I was dry, asking wouldn't solve my current problem so we left. if there was a place to have a bite and a cool drink this could be a nice place to browse around for a few hours. I wanted water, and that lake looked interesting...

[Thetyim]

Nice photos FF. Thanks

[friscofrankie]

"They" tell me "kwan" is northern language for lake or in Thai, "Talay Sap." you can call it Lake Phayao, you can call it Kwan Phayao, but it ain't Talay Sap Phayao.

Bodies of water have always had a calming affect on me, this one this one worked even better than I remember. The waterfront had a few people some going about their daily tasks, a few tourists the restaurants were neither full nor empty. Peaceful and quiet, without being isolated or remote.

The lake is large and appears to be shallow, this maybe an impression from all the Water Hyacinth in it. There appears to be a great cottage industry around crafting items from water hyacinth in town. The lake is full of fish and there were a couple of fishermen out on the lake:





most of the Fishermen had either decided to vote or just no work on this legal holiday.


I don;t know abut you but I could think of a thousand worse ways to spend a "legal holiday" or even a life;


There were a few boats for hire all human powered, there was not one motorize water vehicle in evidence;


The craftsmanship was a cut above on this one boat;


The ol' lady was hungry and there was no shortage of Dining establishments along this short section of Lake I found my self sitting on a 60 Cm wide, 10 cm think plank of teak downing a bowl of noodles. We had places to be, things to do and people to see so the stop was brief. We'll be heading back and can only hope the quiet nature wasn't just an election day anomaly. One last shot before we hit the road back home.



I didn't check (I never do) but I noticed a few guesthouses and a hotel or two, on my next trip I will spend the night I like Phayao and it's abot two hours from Chiang Mai. Hope fully we can organize a short ride up and take the time to sample some of the huge ruby fish i saw in the lake. Maybe get a chance to drift around the lake getting sun-baked and slightly drunk.
Can't wait to get back

[Thetyim]

"They" tell me "kwan" is northern language for lake or in Thai, "Talay Sap."

I thought Talay Sap was a lagoon

[friscofrankie]

Dunno about lagoon but Talay Sap indicates lake I verified this with the ol lady and a dictionary even.

[friscofrankie]

After Phayao we headed south on Hiway 1 again for a short distance before turning west on Hiway 120 towards Wiang pa Pao and back home.
A nice road for most of the way it's almost new flat and scenic.
A few places to stop grab a sick of roast Eggs, or some sweets something to drink.
One last look on the valley we are coming out of:


We round this turn and the valley where Phayao sits is gone:


but the road is Nice, broad and smooth


On the way back we slip into Lampang province for a few minutes then back into Chiang Rai Province where the road conditions are not as nice but still in relatively good repair, I'd take a motorcycle down them.

We drove by naam Tok Tha Thong, shaded, with enough room for a dozen cars or so we stopped to cool our feet and take a couple snaps:
This one is about half way up:


The water is rich in minerals and has laid down a coarse layer of limestone(?) it's easy to keep your feet in the water (the mud alongside is another story). This hiway is not at all busy, while we were there only one othe couple stopped to stretch their legs. There was some development at one time there and it looks like there was one noodle shop that looked like it might have been opened in the last couple weeks or so, But I wouldn't swear to it. No one in attendance, no toilets, no one selling trinkets, fruit, sandwiches or bothering you for a guided tour.

Just a nice place to relax, if you didn't bring it with you you weren't going to find it here, and that is just fine by me.
One last shot of the Waterfall:


And we continued west to Wiang Pa Pao turn left at 118 and home to Chiang Mai. The road from Wiang Pa Pao has loads of interesting things to see and do severl places close enough for a day trip/picnic or even shopping expidition, if you're in the market for Bamboo Furniture or woven houshold goods; but, that's another story.

[ChiangMai noon]

lovely pics and a fab report.

That lake is idyllic and you saved me from trying to capture the full moon myself.

if you have the large version, i'd like to make a copy.

tried for ages last night to capture the rabbit in the moon.

it looks very different from the UK.

[friscofrankie]

the nice thing about your reports FF is that they are exactly you...

gets me to wondering...
Is that a good thing? or a bad thing?

went to the same food court. unfortunately the entertainment was not at it's best... some ugly slappers or ladyboys (we weren't quite sure) dancing and miming to various bad songs

Going to food courts for the "entertainment?" I took the picture and forgot them, people watching is a helluva lot more "entertaining." Although KM have a point about Thailand Food courts this one is my favorite. There used to be a guy that played guitar and sang Thai ballads and you can see there was a set up in back for a full on band, I saw only this group dance then I left, but there were a few katoeys wandering around in full traditional Thai dancing regalia, I'm sure they were on the bill for the evening, I left before they got up there.
I had a family of four from some language I didn't recognize the language that were entertaining watching them try this "Thai Delicacy," then that "Thai Delicacy" They did by pass the bug and innards kiosks but I believe tehy tried every other damn thin in the place . There was a large contingent of Waist length dread-locked, pachouli oil scented in fishermans pants with genuine hill tribe shoulder bag eating chicken and chips, a farang with a huge beer gut stuffed inside a two sized too small bright green tee-shirt in short-shorts with matching green socks.

There were also Northern beauties at every turn of the head, rugrats playing loudly with cheap toys and full, extended families setting down to a boiling pot of water and dozens of tidbits to boil and flavor with sauces. Who gives a fuck what's on stage?

[friscofrankie]

That lake is idyllic

let's take a road trip in the near future when the town isn't dry and we can spend the day it's fantastic ride once through the contruction in WIang pa Pao and Doi Saket (a long stretch that is though).

and you saved me from trying to capture the full moon myself. if you have the large version, i'd like to make a copy.

Yep, got a copy that is 2592x 1944 pixels almost perfectly centered and 'bout ten others that have a slice cut off here or there; some of those have better focus might try again with the tripod. You can choose the one you want.

[ChiangMai noon]

^
thank you.

don't say i never green you.

[friscofrankie]

Once a year! Christmas spirit and all that, eh?

[jizzybloke]

Stunning photos and a lovely report thank you very much FF.

[BosseO]

Nice pictures FF.
Tried to fish once in Kwan Phayao together with wifey and SiL, didn't get any but some locals landed a few really big fish.
The lake is very shallow with a mean depth of 1.7 meters.
We have a small house about 10 km South of the lake.

[friscofrankie]

I saw quite a few fish pens dotted around the lake the size of some of the fish in them were a decent meal for two or three There was a large gathering of small (hand sized) ruby fish at the steps where the tour boats were moored, watching the fish hit the bugs that landed in the water they look like fun on light tackle.
Thai might think you crazy fishing with something light enough to make it interesting, but it looks like it could be fun. When i go back, I'll see if I cant get some to rent me one of those little fishermen's canoes.

[DrAndy]

gets me to wondering...
Is that a good thing? or a bad thing?

It's just a thing

[NickA]

Who gives a fuck what's on stage?

Exactly, most of the time it was background Thai traditional music, but then these ugly things came on with a tripling of volume.

[BosseO]

I Thai might think you crazy fishing with something light enough to make it interesting, but it looks like it could be fun. When i go back, I'll see if I cant get some to rent me one of those little fishermen's canoes.

Think I will bring my fly rods next time I'm in Phayao.

[DrAndy]

yeah, you catch the flies, he will get the fish

[dirtydog]

Thai might think you crazy fishing with something light enough to make it interesting,

I wonder what they would think of that, I mean they would all be saying that it was no good because the line might break, maybe show them some barbless hooks as well