One of my reasons for driving the Mae Hong Son Loop was to visit Ban Rak Thai, a small village nestled in a valley right beside the Thailand-Myanmar border. This is a village like no other in Thailand. Coming here is like stepping into Yunnan with its Chinese style houses, red lanterns, and tea plantations.
Continue reading “Ban Rak Thai: Dreaming of Yunnan”
There are road trips, and then there are Road Trips. These are the road trips that offer fantastic scenery, unique stop overs and a drive like no other. Some of them are even world famous like the Great Ocean Road in Australia with its rugged coastline and scenic bends.
In Southeast Asia, the Mae Hong Son Loop is probably one of Thailand’s greatest road trips. Especially popular with motor cyclists, its a circuit of more than 600 km winding its way through the mountains of Northern Thailand. The route starts and ends in Chiang Mai. Along the way, you will see misty mountains, quaint villages tucked in valleys, cozy home stays and esoteric cafes. Being a loop, you can travel in any direction; clockwise or anti-clockwise.
Continue reading “Travelling the Mae Hong Son Loop”
Thailand is quite well known for its food scene and for most people the first thing that comes to their mind when it comes to Thai food is tom yum soup or pad thai. There are also other equally good Thai foods like this crab omelette that has won a Michelin star.
Continue reading “Khao Soi”
My previous post was all about Pai, so this one would be all about getting to Pai from Chiangmai. Pai isn’t that far from Chiangmai at around 146 km away. But the trip there takes almost 2.5 to 3 hours as it involves driving through hundreds of twists and turns with sometimes steep gradients of up to 30°.
Continue reading “Road to Pai”
The small mountain town of Pai is quite well known in the backpacker community and has been a regular stop over for hippie travelers plying Thailand’s north. I decided to make a trip to Pai when I visited Chiangmai this year to see what the fuss was about it.
Continue reading “The Life in Pai”
Taking to the skies
I’ve been to Chiangmai a few times but I’ve never realized that you could sign up for powered paragliding or paramotoring as they call it. So on my latest trip I decided that it was an opportunity to try this out.
Continue reading “Paramotoring in Chiangmai”
Besides just hanging out in Bangkok, there are numerous day trips that you can take outside of Bangkok. Some of these include a trip to Ayuthayya, the ancient capital of Thailand, a floating market, or a visit to the famous railway market.
Continue reading “Day Trip to the Death Railway”
Bangkok is well known for it’s many markets which operate day and night. So here is my own take on some of the better known markets which are also easy to get to using the metro in Bangkok.
Continue reading “Bangkok Markets”
For those of us who have been to Bangkok before, getting around by taxi or tut tut is pretty convenient. But then you’d also have to make do with Bangkok’s famous traffic jams and air pollution. As the impact of over tourism starts getting felt and sustainable travel becomes increasingly popular, here is a great way to travel around Bangkok without worrying about the traffic jams while reducing your carbon footprint at the same time.
Continue reading “Beating the Traffic Jams in Bangkok”
The omelette that won a Michelin star
How long would you wait to eat good food? An hour, before your tummy starts to protest? How about waiting like 4 hours or more for your turn to sample culinary delights from the Queen of Bangkok street food?
Continue reading “The Queen of Street Food”
Beyond the Little Red Dot 