Cooking Pleasure - Travel & Food: Thailand Trip Itinerary 2014

Day 7 - Trip from Chiangmai to Chiang Rai, Thailand

How to get there – By the Green Bus from Chang Klan Road Bus Terminal, Chiangmai. Fare is 185THB one way. Hourly bus and tickets can be bought earlier.

Had breakfast at hotel with sandwiches bought from 7-Eleven outlet. There are numerous 7-eleven outlets all over Chiangmai city and they have very good sandwiches which are reasonably cheap. 4 packs of ham, tuna and meat floss sandwiches and a Taro bun only costs 61THB. This quantity is enough for 2 person. Hot coffee is only 23THB.

Checked out from hotel at Thapae Road and took Tuk-tuk to bus station which charges 70THB.

Took the 11.00 am bus from Chiangmai Bus Station. Journey takes about 3 hours. Bus is very comfortable.

Notes: The bus driver is in uniform, there are attendants to check your ticket and handle your luggage. In the bus, there is a magazine called ‘city connect’, a bottle of drinking water and snack [bun or biscuit] for each passenger. So similar like you are flying in a plane.

Bus arrived on time at 2.00 pm in Chiang Rai. There are 2 bus terminal in Chiang Rai. A new one outside Chiang Rai city and an old one in the city itself. You have to get down at the old terminal to be in the city.

We had booked our hotel in Chiang Rai once we decided to travel there through Agoda.com

The hotel we booked is

Moon House @ Clock Tower [B&B]

1025/37 Jedyod Road

T. Wieng, Amphoe Muang

57000 Chiang Rai

This hotel is near to Chiang Rai Golden Clock Tower and within walking distance from Chiang Rai Terminal One Bus Station. From bus station walk to Night Bazaar, cross the road, walk down the road opposite the bazaar to Wang Come Hotel, turn right and walk down the road. You will see the golden clock tower. The hotel is on the right side towards the end of Jedyod Road before the clock tower.

The room here is very spacious, clean and comfortable. There is a balcony area and light breakfast given. The rate is about than USD20.

After checked in and freshened up, we walked down on the left of the hotel along Jedyod Road for about 5 minutes. There are several food outlets [local, Korean and Japanese] along this road.

We had the Chiang Rai Khao Soi at a local Thai food eatery along the road [about 5 minutes walk from hotel]. This eatery is open from morning till late afternoon. A bowl of Khao Soi here costs 35THB. This one is more creamy and less spicy than the Chiangmai Khao Soi but tasted good too. As we were late, there aren’t many choices. They do have clear soup noodles and rice. A lookat the menu, we noticed the prices of food here is reasonable.

Along the road outside the Night Bazaar entrance, we hired a Tuk-tuk to take us around the city for 150THB/hour. We paid him 170THB cos’ he was very patient and waited for us to see all the places we specified.

We visited 3 Wats and King Mengrai’s Monument.

Wat Doi Ngam Muang [near Kok River]

Wat Phra Kaew [Emerald Buddha]

Wat Phra Singh

King Mengrai’s Monument

Notes – next to King Mengrai’s Monument, there is a food court at night. Was told there is a good Pad Thai stall here which we wanted to try but had to skip as we went to the Chiang Rai night market street food before having dinner at Yellow Table Food Court at Night Bazaar area.

We left the hotel around 6 pm to get our bus ticket back to Chiangmai before visiting the night market street food area which is walking distance from the hotel.

There are numerous stalls selling food and various items. Unbelievable long stretch of stalls. You may need the whole night to slowly walk the area and try the food and shopping if you like. This is a must visit street food area located after the Clock Tower [north from the hotel at Jedyod]. Most items and food are reasonably cheap ranging from 5THB to 80THB. We tried several varieties before leaving the place for late dinner at Yellow Table Food Court, Night Bazaar area.

A stick of Miang Kham [5 pieces] – 10 THB

A big cup of strawberry smoothie – 20 THB

A piece of small prawn fritter with basil leaves – 10THB

A half coconut flesh and coconut milk ice cream – 20THB

On the way back, we noticed the Golden Clock Tower changes colour at the strike of 8.00pm with a song being played. Was told that this will happen every hour from 7.00 till 9.00pm. Managed to video taped the changing of colours.

Had Jeen Chum at Yellow Table Food Court. Per set costs 100THB, portion enough for 2 person. The Jeen Chum comes with 2 small trays of seasoned fresh meat and a basket of raw vegetables to be cooked in a claypot with soup over a charcoal stove. You have to cook it yourself. You can order other add-ons like seafood and chicken.

This is a very popular spot for tourists and there is a stage show and singing, too.

We stay Chiang Rai only for a night at we cancelled our trip to Golden Triangle because the bus schedule is not suitable for us. The bus only leaves at 3.00pm and we can't make a day trip. The next morning we visited Wat Rong Khun before leaving for Chiangmai after lunch [2.15pm bus]. We took the same Green Bus and the fare is 185THB. We had light breakfast at the hotel and lunch at a Roast Pork and Duck Meat Rice Shop which is situated just opposite the Night Bazaar Entrance. Price is very reasonable for the portion. This lunch for two costs 270THB. The food is good. The hotel allowed us late check out at 1.00pm.

Hired a song taew to White Temple which is about 15 km [20 minutes] from the city. For an hour's trip we were charged 250THB. Since the driver was very patient and friendly and spent almost 2 hours with us, we paid him 270THB. It was a good trip there.

Wat Rong Khun [White Temple]