TrongpaiExpat
March 17th, 2008, 00:25
I have made many trips to Chiang Mai and North Thailand and the one area that seems omitted from many of the official travel brochures and maps is the Provinces to the East/Northeast of Chiang Mai. There's plenty of information and promotions on the Mai Hong Son Loop. Pai, Mae Sariang and up to Chiang Rai but little on Nan Province. Many of the tourist maps just cut off that corner of Thailand. I was looking at some more comprehensive maps and I see Mountains, National Parks, small towns and roads connecting it all, so I decided to take a trip to that area.
Nan was not long ago a 'government designated' remote province and they did not tow the TAT line and did not make it on the official 'Amazing Thailand' places with any major billing. It's tucked up in a corner of Thailand with a long mountainous border with Lao on one side and Phrae and Chiang Rai Province on the other side. The people of Nan have yet to learn how to bulk the tourist out of as much baht as possible and have not been jaded by hoards of trinket buying tourist. There are a few tour companies that take groups into the area and few independent travelers do visit but not any numbers. I learned that there are several reasons why the tour industry in Chiang Mai don't have a lot on offer for Nan and one that impressed me is that there is no established system of kick-backs. This may not last long, the area is quite picturesque.
In or after the wet season, not now, they do have some white water rafting companies. Things were pretty dry this time of year and I began skipping hikes to waterfalls as the water levels were low.
The journey began at at Bangkok with a short late afternoon NOK flight to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai airport is looking old and is under some major renovations. The BF and I rented a car from BUDGET (http://www.budget.co.th/) and headed out southeast on Hwy 11. The first night we spent at the Lampang River Lodge (http://www.lampangriverlodge.com/map.html) I was more impressed by the grounds than the quite basic worn room. There was only one room available as this is one of the bus tour resorts. I suspect they make their money on the tour groups buying food at the expensive restaurant as this resort is 15k south of Lampang and not near any other restaurants. We were lucky to have a car and could drive into town for a decent meal at a reasonable price. The rooms do not have TVs. They saw the horror in the BF eyes when we were told that and someone showed up with a portable TV for him. The resort also was nice enough to save us some food after the tour bus people did the usual feeding frenzy on the free breakfast buffet.
We then drove a little further south on Rt. 11 and then back north on rt.101. We were headed to Nan but the roads don't go there directly and that's another reason Nan seems to be off the tour circuits. The road on rt. 101 was in good shape but lots of curves and steep hills. We drove off 101 to several side roads exploring historic sites, National Parks and a large cave. If I saw a blue attraction sign, I followed it.
We arrive at the city of Nan and stayed at the Dhevaraj Hotel (http://www.dhevarajhotel.com/) Don't be put off by the exterior of this hotel, it's nicer inside. The big sign on the roof is only in Thai. They don't have many rooms with AC and had only a suit available. The BF was able to able to get about 50% of the rack rate telling them that we will probably eat a lot of meals there and spend a lot of money in the Karaoke bar.
The city itself is a decent destination. It's old and steeped in history with lot of interesting sites and scenery. The people are wonderful and you don't get the oh hum another farang tourist attitude that is prevalent in Chiang Mai and you don't get the 100 ways to con the white guy syndrome. Not one person asked me where you go, instead they said welcome. I did get mobbed at the main museum when a group of school children spotted me and had to practice their English on me. A few at first, then all 50 of them, latter learned that the teacher was encouraging them to speak to me. Even though Nan Province has a long border with Lao, there's not a lot of Lao influence, it's pure Lanna with many still speaking Lanna as their first language.
There are some local ethnic groups, Thai Lu, Htin and Khamu. There's some "home stay" program that I kept seeing signs for. I would love the adventure but the BF thought it was a horrible idea, no TV, no AC and they are not really Thai people.
Nan is cris-crossed by Provincial roads, no major Highways. The roads were in good shape and most of the intersections well marked in bilingual signs, route numbers visible in most cases but we did take a few wrong turns here and there but sometimes the wrong road leads to a pleasant surprise.
National Parks of interest were Doi Phu Kha, Tham Phah Tup, Mai Nam Nam and Nam Phun. I found the mountain scenery every bit as nice as the Mai Hong Son loop from Chiang Mai. It's not quite as high as the highly touted Doi Inthanon which by the way has increased the "farang price" to 400B recently even though the new official farang price for National Parks is 200B. There were no tour buses, no mini vans and no sweating middle aged post-retirement farangs on a tour. No huge Chinese tour buses either, they could not make some of the hair-pin curves in the road.
The nature trails were a tad on the strenuous side. One of the caves was nice to see and the climb up a steep trail with stairs was a good work out. If you are not able to hike trails and climb a lot of stairs, you still can get a good feel for the scenery from the comfort of a car. I did self drive but I guess if you don't drive you could arrange something from Chiang Mai with a driver but good luck getting him to take you to Nan and if he is anything like all the drivers I have had in the past, you have to hang on to something on all the curves.
We headed back in a big loop to the north via the city of Phayao, a charming city by a nice lake. We did not spend much time in Phayao as we ran out of time and was spending the last night in Chiang Mai at the impeccable P.J.'s guest house. Rt 118 to Chiang Mai was slow going due to road construction.
Back in Chiang Mai, back in all the traffic and back to seeing farangs of all types in all manner of dress. Back to now to just being another farang of no notice.
I had always had a soft spot in my heart for Chiang Mai and someday might relocate there. I halfhearted did look at a few properties and was surprised that there was not a significant savings over Bangkok prices but when my lease comes up again in Bangkok, I shall give it a more serious look.
If your looking for a Lanna mountain experience and something off the beaten tourist spots, have already done all the usual Northern tours, I recommend Nan Province. Those without BF's could do a long term off with one from one of the Chiang Mai bars. I am sure it would not be hard to find someone willing to go with you and don't be afraid to travel independently without a tour guide.
Nan was not long ago a 'government designated' remote province and they did not tow the TAT line and did not make it on the official 'Amazing Thailand' places with any major billing. It's tucked up in a corner of Thailand with a long mountainous border with Lao on one side and Phrae and Chiang Rai Province on the other side. The people of Nan have yet to learn how to bulk the tourist out of as much baht as possible and have not been jaded by hoards of trinket buying tourist. There are a few tour companies that take groups into the area and few independent travelers do visit but not any numbers. I learned that there are several reasons why the tour industry in Chiang Mai don't have a lot on offer for Nan and one that impressed me is that there is no established system of kick-backs. This may not last long, the area is quite picturesque.
In or after the wet season, not now, they do have some white water rafting companies. Things were pretty dry this time of year and I began skipping hikes to waterfalls as the water levels were low.
The journey began at at Bangkok with a short late afternoon NOK flight to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai airport is looking old and is under some major renovations. The BF and I rented a car from BUDGET (http://www.budget.co.th/) and headed out southeast on Hwy 11. The first night we spent at the Lampang River Lodge (http://www.lampangriverlodge.com/map.html) I was more impressed by the grounds than the quite basic worn room. There was only one room available as this is one of the bus tour resorts. I suspect they make their money on the tour groups buying food at the expensive restaurant as this resort is 15k south of Lampang and not near any other restaurants. We were lucky to have a car and could drive into town for a decent meal at a reasonable price. The rooms do not have TVs. They saw the horror in the BF eyes when we were told that and someone showed up with a portable TV for him. The resort also was nice enough to save us some food after the tour bus people did the usual feeding frenzy on the free breakfast buffet.
We then drove a little further south on Rt. 11 and then back north on rt.101. We were headed to Nan but the roads don't go there directly and that's another reason Nan seems to be off the tour circuits. The road on rt. 101 was in good shape but lots of curves and steep hills. We drove off 101 to several side roads exploring historic sites, National Parks and a large cave. If I saw a blue attraction sign, I followed it.
We arrive at the city of Nan and stayed at the Dhevaraj Hotel (http://www.dhevarajhotel.com/) Don't be put off by the exterior of this hotel, it's nicer inside. The big sign on the roof is only in Thai. They don't have many rooms with AC and had only a suit available. The BF was able to able to get about 50% of the rack rate telling them that we will probably eat a lot of meals there and spend a lot of money in the Karaoke bar.
The city itself is a decent destination. It's old and steeped in history with lot of interesting sites and scenery. The people are wonderful and you don't get the oh hum another farang tourist attitude that is prevalent in Chiang Mai and you don't get the 100 ways to con the white guy syndrome. Not one person asked me where you go, instead they said welcome. I did get mobbed at the main museum when a group of school children spotted me and had to practice their English on me. A few at first, then all 50 of them, latter learned that the teacher was encouraging them to speak to me. Even though Nan Province has a long border with Lao, there's not a lot of Lao influence, it's pure Lanna with many still speaking Lanna as their first language.
There are some local ethnic groups, Thai Lu, Htin and Khamu. There's some "home stay" program that I kept seeing signs for. I would love the adventure but the BF thought it was a horrible idea, no TV, no AC and they are not really Thai people.
Nan is cris-crossed by Provincial roads, no major Highways. The roads were in good shape and most of the intersections well marked in bilingual signs, route numbers visible in most cases but we did take a few wrong turns here and there but sometimes the wrong road leads to a pleasant surprise.
National Parks of interest were Doi Phu Kha, Tham Phah Tup, Mai Nam Nam and Nam Phun. I found the mountain scenery every bit as nice as the Mai Hong Son loop from Chiang Mai. It's not quite as high as the highly touted Doi Inthanon which by the way has increased the "farang price" to 400B recently even though the new official farang price for National Parks is 200B. There were no tour buses, no mini vans and no sweating middle aged post-retirement farangs on a tour. No huge Chinese tour buses either, they could not make some of the hair-pin curves in the road.
The nature trails were a tad on the strenuous side. One of the caves was nice to see and the climb up a steep trail with stairs was a good work out. If you are not able to hike trails and climb a lot of stairs, you still can get a good feel for the scenery from the comfort of a car. I did self drive but I guess if you don't drive you could arrange something from Chiang Mai with a driver but good luck getting him to take you to Nan and if he is anything like all the drivers I have had in the past, you have to hang on to something on all the curves.
We headed back in a big loop to the north via the city of Phayao, a charming city by a nice lake. We did not spend much time in Phayao as we ran out of time and was spending the last night in Chiang Mai at the impeccable P.J.'s guest house. Rt 118 to Chiang Mai was slow going due to road construction.
Back in Chiang Mai, back in all the traffic and back to seeing farangs of all types in all manner of dress. Back to now to just being another farang of no notice.
I had always had a soft spot in my heart for Chiang Mai and someday might relocate there. I halfhearted did look at a few properties and was surprised that there was not a significant savings over Bangkok prices but when my lease comes up again in Bangkok, I shall give it a more serious look.
If your looking for a Lanna mountain experience and something off the beaten tourist spots, have already done all the usual Northern tours, I recommend Nan Province. Those without BF's could do a long term off with one from one of the Chiang Mai bars. I am sure it would not be hard to find someone willing to go with you and don't be afraid to travel independently without a tour guide.