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”
This blog is all about boats. From huge cruise liners to small canoes, It’s all here. If you are afraid of flying and sea travel is your thing then read on. Very often we hear that the journey is more important than the destination, and if you are one of those that believes in this, then taking a cruise to your holiday destination can be more enjoyable than being stuck on a pressurized metal tube up in the air for hours. And you also get to sleep on a proper bed instead of being cramped onto a small economy class seat, especially on long haul flights.
For most of us here in Singapore when we hear of whale watching, we think that this is an activity that can only be done in some faraway country, and where it’s usually winter weather. For myself, I’ve been on whale watching cruises in Australia and Iceland, and it’s not a totally pleasant experience due to rough seas and below freezing wind chill. So rejoice as I share with you that you can actually see whales in Thailand just 2 hrs drive from Bangkok (in the wild, not in an aquarium) in warm tropical waters, and get a suntan while doing it. Continue reading “Chasing Whales in the Tropics”
The loud blasts from the train’s air horn shattered the hushed silenced that had fallen a few a minutes ago. People stood aside in awe as metal carriages slowly rumbled pass, sometimes just inches from their faces. In a moment, the train had passed and people started to walk on the tracks following the train to it’s final station just a couple of hundred meters ahead. Awnings that had been pulled back for the train’s passage were pushed out again, store fronts mounted on rollers extended out onto the train tracks, the loud voices of buyers and sellers haggling over prices replaced the silence. It’s just another busy day on the Mae Klong Railway Market. Continue reading “Look Out for the Train”
After a couple of days in Chiangrai trying to make like a Natgeo photographer among the hill tribes, it was almost time for the Loy Krathong festival which fell on 25th November 2015. We found ourselves back in Chiangmai on the eve of Loy Krathong. The city and it’s people were already busy preparing for this important festival with decorations being put up along the Ping River, temples and major hotels and buildings. Continue reading “Yi Peng Sky Lantern Festival 2015”
Continuing on with the photography tour, one of the places I visited in Chiangrai was a settlement for the ethnic minority hill tribes. The most well known of these hill tribes are the Long Neck Karen tribe. I’ve been fascinated by them ever since I saw their photos in National Geographic when I was a kid. Continue reading “Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand”
After my short stay in Chiangmai I joined up with the photography tour. Besides having photo shoots in Chiangmai, one of the places that we visited was the White Temple in Chiangrai. Not to be confused with Chiangmai, the former is the northern most city in Thailand before crossing the border into Myanmar (Burma). Continue reading “The White Temple”
“In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade,
And he carries the reminders,
Of every glove that laid him down,
And cut him till he cried out,
In his anger and his shame,
‘I am leaving, I am leaving,’
But the fighter still remains.”
So goes Simon & Garfunkel’s song in my head just as the crowd roared out their support for the 2 fighters in the ring and drowning out all sense of sobriety. It was the last fight for the evening and already into it’s last round. The 2 fighters, tired and bleeding were trying to outlast each other. Continue reading “Muaythai Fight Club”
In my previous blog post, I mentioned that Chiangmai would be worth another visit. Finally, I got my chance in November of 2015 when I joined a photography tour to capture the sky lantern festival during Loy Krathong. It was my first time joining a specialty tour just for photography, and it was a good experience to join with fellow photographers and enthusiasts, sharing a common interest. Continue reading “Chiangmai Streets 2015”
Beyond the Little Red Dot 