Chiang Mai Floral Festival Tour, North Thailand.
This is a travel destination I would highly recommend to people in the older age bracket that don’t wish to organise their trip themselves but would like to see an Asian country on a guided bus tour with an Australian and a local guide.
It is the stunning country of Thailand, and flying in their national airline is a must. There are excellent Travel Agents who can arrange all this for you and then you just sit back and enjoy the places and sights in an air conditioned bus.
We left from Brisbane, Australia for the fortnight holiday that was timed for the Chiang Mai Floral Festival and Parade held over the first two weeks of February annually.
The parade was spectacular with many hours of work decorating the floats with hundreds of different flowers, leaves, people and flower animals. There were also groups from different sectors of the country who all wore their local costume or dress. The photo opportunities were unending.
Our hotel was just off the main street where they have markets every night with stalls wheeled out and put away each time.
There was an English pub, the Red Rose, in the main street where we lunched listening to Roy Orbison on the radio.
The tour then took us to a large park where all the floats were parked and a chance to get more closeup photos of them. There were food stalls lined up and an incredible flower display of all kinds of blooms but specialising in amazing orchids in every colour which are grown there in profusion. Circling the park was part of an ancient stone wall that still stands in parts of the city.
Dinner was in an outside restaurant with beautiful palms and a tropical theme with fairy lights all through the trees. An elephant was brought into the grounds and we were given bananas to feed him. More markets for the women after dinner!
The next day we were taken to a Jewellery Showroom and then to Silk, Wood, Cotton and Teakwood Furniture outlets, all very beautiful.
Dinner that night was in a lovely restaurant with a Thai Show of traditional dance and musical instruments and in the same complex some Hill Tribe people performed for us as well. Take plenty of batteries as we had trouble with recharging ours as the power outlets are not as high wattage as we’re used to, even though showing fully charged.
The following day we were taken up to a working Elephant Farm with the animals playing soccer, doing tricks and most magical of all, elephants painting pictures. They are the only ones in the world to do this and are in the Guinness Book of Records. The paintings are then for sale. Some of us then rode on elephants up into the surrounding hills in a very tropical area. It was very peaceful and quiet up there.
We then travelled to an amazing Garden Resort with a Swiss style hotel and restaurant and the most spectacular gardens, complete with a waterfall and while we were there we witnessed a couple getting Wedding Photos taken.
We visited another orchid growing area for lunch with butterflies all around. We then travelled to the Belle Resort also with lovely surroundings with a huge pool and fairy lights in the trees where we dined under an outside covered area, followed by coffee in the lounge listening to a piano player.
A rather long drive was taken the next day until we stopped at a restaurant with an open verandah overlooking the Coq River. We were then taken up to a Tribal Village on a smaller bus and then onto the back of a truck up the mountain where the ladies (Karen Girls), have neck bangles and all dress in silk which they spin themselves. They had markets up there as well. They were originally from Burma (now Myanmar).
We visited another Tribal Village and saw school children in their classroom. They sang us a song and then we sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to them, that was very special.
Dinner was at a huge market area with food stalls and seating in the middle to watch a stage show. We shopped ’til we dropped and then nearly missed our bus back to our hotel.
The following day we stayed at the huge Rimkok Resort on the river near Chiang Rai where we then visited the Queen Mother’s Gardens which had a laboratory where women used tweezers to transplant tiny orchid plants from small bottles into larger ones as they grew. Again, stunning flowers everywhere.
We then were taken to the Opium Museum on the Mekong River where we could look across to Laos. This is the Golden Triangle where three countries meet, the other being Burma (Myanmar). There was a massive Buddha statue high up on a pedestal and lots of gold decorated elephant statues and a mockup in stained glass of a viking type ship with a dragon head at the wharf. It was an incredible museum and visual fantasy with more markets over the road looking a bit out of place with the opulence of it all. We were allowed to take photos in a temple there. They even have temples with statues, etc. in caves in a few places we visited.
The lunch spots were usually somewhere beautiful, and our next one was across the road from a lake, set in a lovely garden with bamboo, palms, etc. One after lunch treat was a neck and shoulders massage (for a small fee) which we loved.
We then went on to the Monkey Temple where these little creatures have lived for 100 years. They came out through the fence where we were standing and climbed all over us trying to grab hats, glasses, etc. We got some great photos.
Next stop was an ancient Pottery Museum and a huge Unesco park with ancient ruins of a King’s residence complete with temples and inside an old walled complex.
We then visited the Flower Markets which again were stunning and then took a boat trip on the Chao River where we inspected the King’s Royal Barges with much gold adornment.
He is now 80 years old and has ruled for 60 years. The people love him as is seen by the number of huge billboard pictures of him and his wife around the country.
By now we had travelled down to Bangkok for the night and then next day did a tour of the river through that city and saw a few of the people selling things from their little canoes.
Next we were taken to the River Kwai area where we called in at the Allied and Chinese cemetaries and museum which was very interesting but also very sad and had lunch overlooking the famous bridge. They have a little train that gives people rides across the bridge and an inspection of part of the infamous rail line.
In the afternoon we were taken out to the Tiger Temple near the Burmese border where the monks look after the animals and had photos sitting with all five tigers individually. That was incredible and a dream I had long had.
We then boarded long thin boats and travelled up the river to our next night’s accommodation which were in rustic little cabins set amongst tropical palms. There was a large restaurant and pool area and after dinner we were entertained by the Mon Dancers and very loud drummers.
Next day we visited Hellfire Pass where 20,000 men died building the railway line to bring supplies, etc. to the Japanese during the war.
One of the last places we stayed was a new resort, the Grand Pacific on the Gulf of Siam. It was the most luxurious and amazing hotel we had ever stayed in. There were carved white elephant statues everywhere and some were spurting water into the pool which was lit up at night.
We had our first trishaw ride to the markets after dinner that night where some poor person had to peddle the two of us along crowded streets and across intersections where they just put their hand up to stop other traffic. Very exciting but scary.
The following day we were taken into a large cave system with many altars to Buddha and where larger unfriendly monkeys congregate in and around the town.
Back to Bangkok for last minute market and department shopping, a ride back to our hotel by monorail and then home to Australia. The Thai people are very friendly and humble and made us all feel very welcome everywhere we stayed.
Tags: , Asian, Bangkok, Bridge on the River Kwai, Buddha, Bus Tour, Chiang Mai, Cruises, Elephants, Exotic, Festival, Floral, Food, Gardens, Golden Triangle, Hellfire Pass, Karen Girls, Markets, Massages, Monkeys, Monorail, Museums, Orchids, Pensioners, Rice Paddies, Seniors, Temples, Thai Air, Thailand, Tigers, Tourists, Travel, War Cemetary
travelpassion66