Kingdom of Thailand aka The Land of Conditional Smiles
Pieng Dao Hotel
Rugged and atmospheric double room for THB 300.- or US$ 9.10 per night.
Click below for an interactive road map of the Pieng Dao Hotel in Chiang Dao and for directions:Visiting Chiang Dao's bustling Tuesday morning market (morning till noon), meeting both Thai and hill-tribe people, the latter in their traditional costumes, who come to buy and sell everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, home-made bread and cakes, to clothes and on to hardware, and snacking on the incredibly large variety of local delicacies (e.g. crisp Thai crepes aka khanom bueang, tiny coconut griddle cakes aka khanom khrok and sweet black sticky rice with custard aka khao neow dam sang kaya, the perfect but high-calorie Thai breakfast sweet).
“The simple answer as to why we get fat is that carbohydrates make us so; protein and fat do not.”
Hiring a reliable Honda Wave 125-cc underbone bike for THB 350.- or US$ 10.60 per day from Star Café Rental +6653455948, exploring the Lisu/Akha hill-tribe village of Lisu Huay Ko where these ethnic minorities with their own Tibeto-Burman languages, semi-nomadic culture, Tibet-originated history and opium-based economy subsist and watching speechlessly how two obese missionaries from the Church of Messiah throw cheap candy in bulk out of the window of their souped-up 4x4 Toyota Hilux to the begging villagers...
Getting up close and personal with former working elephants at the Chiang Dao Elephant Training Centre +6653298553 (admission: THB 60.- per person) and learning that these working elephants, after a three- to five-year childhood, are trained under the guidance of their individual mahouts over a period of five years to push, carry and stack logs, as well to work collaboratively with other elephants and to walk in processions.
Flagging down a regional bus from Chiang Dao to Tha Ton (130 km, 3 1/4 hours, THB 65.- or US$ 1.95 per person in 2nd class) and enjoying the uneventful and scenic bus ride along Highway 107 through gradually rising hills and plains of rice fields.
Click below for more blog posts about interesting Asian fresh-produce markets
22 May - 04 Jun 2013 Seoul
13 Mar - 18 Apr 2013 Bangkok
09 Nov - 14 Nov 2012 Bac Ha
22 May - 24 May 2010 Kompong Chhnang
27 Feb - 05 Mai 2009 Saigon
Click below for a summary of this year's travels
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