Chiang Mai- Elephant Camp and Bo Sang Umbrella Village

Visit the Mae Sa Elephant Camp, if you have not seen a elephant show before. In fact, you should visit this place. I been to elephant camps, shows before, but I like this the best. There are more things to see and I guess more creative elephants. You can also take a ride on the elephant. But is can be quite costly.
I have put some photos of the elephant show:
(but I did not put all my pictures of the show, as I do not want to show everything that happened, so it will be more exciting for all those going to chiang mai)

Next to Samkamphaeng Road, that is where most of the handicraft factory or outlet are located. Silk, Cotton and Bo Sang Umbrella Village.
There are quite a few company that makes umbrella, they have the really commercialized one and the not so commercialized one. For me, I don't really like the commercialized one, because I feel that they are really expensive and not so passionate about their work, or because they keep pushing you to buy their products. I went for both this time, I told the driver about my plans to go to the Bo Sang Umbrella Village, and he showed me two places. First, I went into the not so commercialized one, I can't remember the name though. This is what I saw:

Beautiful artwork, amazing handicraft, impressive skills! and it is not finished yet!! The finish product must be incredible! The umbrellas was so beautiful, that I was tempted to bring one home for myself. Too bad, there was not enough space for me to do so, plus it was costly to ship it. So I decided against that idea.

This women is starting from scratch... putting glue on umbrella.

There was a man, that was able to draw on the pants and t-shirts. Very realistic drawing. Impressive skills! Can take that back as souvenir!

Then we got him a plain t-shirt to draw on and see what he did to the t-shirt.Really I'm not lying, he is really talented! Look at the picture, it was drawn from scratch... to this beautiful t-shirt.

I went to the commercialized one too, it is actually Thaksin's family shop. Really good service, but very commercialized, feel pressured to buy. I wonder whether it is closed down now?

Chiang Mai- Night Market

Yellow lights shinning brightly, crowded with people, stalls selling a variety of things---It is none other than the Night Markets. Chiang Mai has a few night markets, the night bazaar, is the most famous one, but I was told there it more for tourist. They have a few local ones too.

What do we all like to do there? Basically, it helps us get a taste of how local people lives their life, it is a cultural experience, for some though it is where the pocket holes get bigger. Yes, Shopping!!! Chiang Mai is famous for handicraft, so the local people too, they sell handicraft, hand-made jewellery, very nice ones too and at a reasonable price. You can buy clothing too, I found that it is cheaper here than in bangkok.

Small Food stalls--- I did not dare try anything, wasn't adventurous enough, but did tried the tamarind juice, it was good and cheap. Did not have any food poisoning afterwards, fortunately, a sign of relief!

There is something special that I bought from Chiang Mai Night Market, is a tea pillow. A Tea Pillow, you must be shocked that I bought that. I thought that it was something special to bring back. They put tea leaves in the pillow, and the pillow smells good. From Chinese tea to green tea. Every month you must take it out to sun it, then the tea smell will come back. If at anytime, you do not have enough tea, maybe you can cut the pillow and get some from there....Haha! Just my crazy thought!

Remember to experience the night markets in Chiang Mai!

Below are pictures of the night market:

Chiang Mai -Doi Inthanon National Park

The national park is quite far, maybe approximately 1-2 hours from city center by car. Prepare your journey before you go. I hired a car with driver to take me out the whole day, to wherever I wanted to go. Starting at 8:00am, I wanted to beat the crowds, to get to the mountains early and have a clear view of it. The journey up was quite cooling, even though the sun was shining brightly. It can be quite cold up there, depends on which period you are going, i heard that the lowest it ever went was -8c, so don't forget to check the weather before going or to bring a small jacket.

Look at the picture above, do you know what that is? Snow? No! During the journey up, I was looking at the sky, and this is what I saw, it is actually clouds. very interesting. It looks as if it was snow or cotton wool. Really I'm not kidding!

Look at the lovely flowers, it is truly impressive! There are so many colourful and beautiful flowers. Truly a postcard picture!

Climb up and take pictures of the flowers and the beautiful scenery, plus enjoy the cool and fresh air.

I took many pictures on Doi Inthanon and was really spectacular place for me. I never seen such array of beautiful flowers before.

The waterfall, there is quite a few in Doi Inthanon, I didn't have time, so I went to one. But the recommended one is Mae Ya Waterfall, it takes extra effort to there. This waterfall is quite nice too! Be very very careful when visiting the waterfall!

Chiang Mai Hotel Review

Chiang Mai- one of the tourist destination in Thailand. I want to share with you about my trip to Chiang Mai.

My friend recommended me to stay in this hotel, Royal Princess, as I wanted to stay near the night bazaar and he could get me special rates.Therefore, I followed his recommendation and booked the hotel.


The hotel is really strategic, if you want to shop at the night bazaar everyday. It is just opposite the night bazaar. So just cross the road and you will see it. The room is good, but for the price they are charging( i just checked on the website: 2400Bper room per night), I would say that it is quite expensive! After comparing, the hotels nearby, other hotels has much cheaper rates and it is still, just walking distance to night bazaar. If you are on budget, I would recommend that you try other hotels, but if you would like a very comfortable and luxurious stay...then this might be suitable for you. My room was just a very normal room, wasn't anything special in it! In the hotel, there is a tour company that arranges tour, but I think they charge much higher than others.

Pro: Really near Night Bazaar.
Cons: Sometimes the noise from cars passing by could be heard from the hotel room (especially if you have the rooms facing the night bazaar),expensive.



The other hotels nearby the night bazaar:
CH Holiday Hotels
Sriwongse
Royal Lanna
Central Duangtawan
Downtown Inn
Pornping Tower Hotel
Star Hotel

*Note: This is just a list of other hotels that I found, it is just for your information. I do not know whether it is good or otherwise, as I have not stay in any of this hotels other than Royal Princess.

Coming Soon- Chiang Mai

Hi Everyone,
I will be writing soon on my journeys to Chiang Mai. As usual, with lots of photos included!!! I will post 1 post everyday. Come back soon!