Thailand Travel Journal: From Chiang Mai to Bangkok, We Didn’t Buddha Our Fun (page 9 of 11)

Hello,

Aside from your kind reply, I’m happy to say you still have plenty of time to see a lot of the country and experience some of these sights in person. In the meantime, you can check out my other travel journals by clicking on my username. Françoise is glad to see this journal resurface—thanks again.

Hello,

Apart from your kind message, I’m happy to say you still have plenty of time to see a lot of the country and experience some of these images in real life. In the meantime, you can check out my other travel journals by clicking on my username. Françoise is glad to see this journal resurface, thanks again.

++ The rest !

Someone’s gonna have to sponsor me! 😉

Gonna need a sponsor for this! 😉

DM me your IBAN :)

The world upside down!

No, I'll just put it in the next message so everyone can join in! 🙂

Hello, Thank you for your site—it’s simply amazing and really inspiring! We’ve booked a stay at the SWANA Hotel from February 1st to 8th. I have a very practical question: what tips can you give us for getting around during our stay? It seems like boats and taxis are the main options? For taxis, should we negotiate the fare, or are there meters like in Vietnam? Thanks in advance for any advice you can share. Best, André rage.ritti@gmail.com

Hi there,

Absolutely, the answers to these questions are all in the travel journals.

I’ll be in Chiang Mai in May, and I really enjoyed your travel journal. What worries me most is not being able to find transportation to take us to those charming, isolated spots with Buddha statues like the ones you showed. I hope we can manage in Thai or English to make ourselves understood. Anyway, thanks for your very descriptive journal—it’s given me lots of ideas for our upcoming trip.

Hi there,

Don’t worry—like I often say, if you can’t find a taxi, tuk-tuk, songthaew, or samlor on the street, your guesthouse or hotel will practically always dig up a driver for you. Before you head out, make sure to jot down the names of the places you want to visit. Thanks for the comment—it’s great to know the travel journal can be helpful!

I wanted to thank you for the café address in Chiang Mai—it’s a true haven of peace. The place is popular now, and we had to wait 15 minutes for a seat!

It’s not my fault!

Sooner or later, everything ends up on certain well-known sites. And it’s true—if a place gave us pleasure, how can we not wish it success? The spot isn’t huge, and given the crowd in Chiang Mai, it fills up fast.

Thanks for the updates! !

What a lovely travel journal that sparks dreams! Thanks for sharing this with the site members! See you soon! :)

Hi, thanks for stopping by and leaving a note. Following up on your recent discussion, this was the way to extend the trip by over a month...🙂

Hello Joel, I read your message with interest. I’d be happy to respond in a courteous manner, if you can assure me that my answers won’t be censored. Otherwise, we’ll leave it at that.

Hello PAI (no, I’m kidding!)

With humor, we notice that in life, we sometimes make absurd parallels. For example, your proposals for meet-ups and discussions remind me of those movies where the godfather arranges a little exchange of viewpoints in a discreet place. And systematically, the poor guy involved ends up getting his face rearranged like a puzzle. Since you like crime films, I’m sure these references resonate with you. 😎

You also mentioned a little hint from me, which actually wouldn’t have revealed much, admit it. Like with my travels, I have multiple sources, not recent ones, and not the ones you think. I already knew certain things even before I learned what GBO stands for behind our mutual friend’s username. There’s someone who should’ve opened an intelligence agency...🙂 To be honest, you never really know who’s behind the keyboard, what their capabilities are, or who they know. Just like in real life, in the end. Deep down, I’ve even managed to be very discreet. I particularly insist on the fact that none of us bears responsibility for certain burdens, and also regarding the events from about fifteen years ago. Despite some teasing, I’m more on the side of those who wanted to live than on the side of the great moralizers—who, I’ve long understood, are absolutely the worst. But be careful not to become one yourself!

I really appreciated some of the exchanges over the last two seasons because they allowed me to dust off my tactical and guerrilla instincts. What breaks some people elevates others. It’s simple: when the action starts, sometimes I can’t even stop! Yet, it’s not easy when the Brain, lurking in the shadows, sends his henchmen. That’s the moment to spare a thought for those who had to resign from the discussion space because they were targeted by the same inconsiderate people and unable to defend themselves because they’re less sneaky. Sometimes, in a private message, a wounded heart testifies... It seems that lately, a little justice has been served. The tables have turned!

We’ll have a hard time agreeing on travel journals. Indeed, when people post their photos and videos in journals that aren’t theirs, sorry, but it feels like a cuckoo laying eggs in someone else’s nest. I’m not saying this in general—it’s just about those who want to show off or do it on purpose. I’m also aware that those who cry loudly about not being able to "share" are actually bothered by the inability to degrade the work of those who disturb them. If forgiveness might seem possible, we can always hope for forgetting. To my great, very great regret, life has taught me that in operations, hostilities only cease with crushing defeat.

Let’s ultimately congratulate ourselves for being among the lucky ones who have a particular attraction to Thailand and for having a tool for information and conviviality like VF at our fingertips. All I have to offer here is a bit of humor—more or less well-received—some images, and anecdotes... but at least I do it!

And as our friend Chanthabanni used to say: good luck and happy exploring!

Good evening Joël, and madam,

While listening to the Moody Blues, I just finished reading the 9 pages of this travel journal. A few personal remarks;

Kept me hooked for long minutes; To my taste—which isn’t yours 😉—way too many local religious buildings; but no Catholic churches or mosques; yet there’s a splendid one in Chiang Mai.

--Wat Suan Dok—I knew it as the "Temple of the Princesses" because I’d been told that beneath each chedi lies a royal princess.

--Traditional houses are generally on stilts; they can be relatively old, though a hundred years in Thailand is almost prehistoric by European standards... I’m not mocking—you’ll have to ask the Burmese to come apologize for destroying the capital Ayutthaya in 1767, along with all the archives, and taking some 600,000 prisoners into slavery. Repentance is all the rage these days, especially from our president... With the Burmese, there’s little chance of that happening. And those with a concrete ground floor—5.5 cm-thick cinder blocks, basically like cigarette paper—can be just as old as the ones next door without a concrete ground floor.

Many Thais build these concrete walls to expand their homes, but it’s a mistake—they realize it too late, of course. Without the walls, the houses stay much cooler, and the best part of the open-air ground floor is that it doubles as a *sala*—you can nap in the shade or even park the pickup if it’s not too tall...

--A "monk" smoking a cigarette or glued to a smartphone isn’t a real monk; there are way too many of these fake monks in Thailand, and way too many recurring scandals involving them—whether fake monks or even real ones messing around with kids, drugs, or both... Not a day goes by without a similar story in the Thai tabloids. It’s not just the Catholic Church 😕

--Closed toilets on buses... The answer is simple: the words repair and maintain don’t exist in the 18-volume Thai dictionary.

--Pattaya, since you mentioned it or replied to kekun... You might be surprised—a huge part of the city rarely, if ever, sees a *farang*...

--Anecdote about the 9 monks posing for the photo; Taking that photo would be impossible or unthinkable in Vietnam because you always need an even number of people in a picture. That’s the rule, at least in the province of Huế.

--The reception girls who take off; yet these young women usually have a bachelor’s degree (or higher) and a tourism diploma from a university, like Kasetsart in Sakon Nakhon...

--Real jam... In Thailand, aside from imported Western jams, there are only 3 kinds: strawberry, pineapple, and orange. At Makro, you can buy them in 4.3 kg jars for about 400 baht each.

To wrap up, Suphanburi... Another town I biked through on my way up to Tak and then Chiang Mai...

And it’s at Suphanburi’s bus terminal where you catch a local bus to Ayutthaya or Kanchanaburi.

This journal is fantastic, and the photos are stunning—kudos to madam.

Stop bumping this post—I’m forcing myself not to read it!!!!😇

I made myself read the travel journals in order and I haven’t gotten there yet😛! You’re all trying to make me crack!

Well, too late, I'm done for... And since we're (apparently) heading north this year after all, I couldn't resist any longer—I had to dive into your story!

That first photo is absolutely stunning! You're so talented.

One thing's for sure, the way you describe Baan Phor Liang Meun makes us want to go there so badly—it's definitely going on our 2019 itinerary! Thanks for the gorgeous photos and this travel journal that already looks so fun!!

Good evening Joël, and madam

In my opinion, which isn’t yours 😉, far too many local religious buildings; but no Catholic churches or mosques; yet there’s a splendid one in Chiang Mai.

This travel journal is great, especially the magnificent photos; compliments to madam.

Hello,

We don’t go to Asia to see churches, and even less so mosques. We don’t really create these travel journals for someone to say there are too many temples, but so that someone can realize we offer a detailed view of many temples. The idea is also to make it easier for those who want to visit them or those who don’t know which ones to choose. Among them, there were quite a few that were previously unseen.

Your thoughts are packed with interesting info, but we regularly see that the opinions of people who live there differ from those of tourists. It’s completely normal, actually: on one side, there’s experience, routine, and realism, while on the other, there’s still wonder, discovery, and a bit of naivety.

Otherwise, okay, I’ll pass on the compliments to madam and none to myself...🙂

Thanks for all these lovely comments. We try to create something enjoyable and presentable. It’s great if it tempts you—winter feels lighter when you’re dreaming of your next trip...

Thanks for your travel journal. I don’t follow you regularly, but I do when I need info—and now’s the time!

We’re in Chiang Mai for 15 days. We’re on a mid-range budget, getting around on foot, and staying in a guesthouse with a big pool (super useful after our long morning walks) in the northeast part of the city, the Sri Poom neighborhood.

Every day brings new temples—magnificent ones.

Even after my fourth trip to Chiang Mai, I’m still discovering new things.

Thanks to you, I’ve found even more outings to explore.

Your Khmer-style temple should be in my area—could you pinpoint it for me? Thanks!

Modestly, this is my fourth post about Chiang Mai: odile-en-chemin.over-blog.com.