Opkhan National Park Chiang Mai

As mum is in town we are trying to keep her entertained by taking her out to a couple of local attractions each week. Last weekend we took her out to Opkhan National Park.  Of all the accessible National Parks in the province this is relatively unknown but strangely enough it is only about 30 minutes drive from the city of Chiang Mai. The park is easily accessible by motorbike or a car is fine in the dry season although the last couple of km are by dirt track which could get a bit slippery in the wet season.  Most national parks in Thailand charge the standard entrance fee of 20 baht for Thais and 200 Baht for foreigners but for some reason there is no charge here. Near to the area where we parked up the car there is a camp site and a couple of national park owned bungalows for rent the river runs through this area from a natural gorge which is only a few minutes walk away from the car parking area.  We brought some food to eat by the river and Pinky played in the water. We took a short walk up river to the gorge. As we had Pinky with us and mum was still getting over her knee op. we didn’t walk too far but there is a well trodden trail following the river deeper into the park and would make a good self guided hike if you were feeling energetic. I am sure we will be back again soon.!

Matt and Pinky

Matt and Pinky

Opkhan National Park

Opkhan National Park Gorge

Opkhan National Park Gorge

Mum and Pinky

Chiang Mai Aquarium

Today Tack, me and the little Pinky headed out to the new Chiang Mai Zoo Aquarium. It opened a couple of weeks back and is supposed to be the biggest of its kind in SE Asia. Got to say it was quite impressive. You get to walk through these long glass walkways which run under the water. I think this was the first Saturday it had been open and there were loads of people there. If you want to avoid the crowds then take a visit on a weekday.

Loi Kratong 2008

Been busy for the last week or so and I havn’t had a chance to post this short vid from The Loi Kratong Festival. This was my fourth or fifth Loi Krationg in Chiang Mai so not much to get excited about really. Tack and I headed down to Narawat Bridge to float our Kratongs and set off a lantern.

Studio99 Chiang Mai Serviced Apartments

Tomorrow will be the first anniversary of the opening of our apartment project in Chiang Mai. About two and a half years ago we bought 99 square wah of land (400 sqaure meters) just off Thapae Rd close to Chiang Mai’s Night Bazaar and built 6 luxury apartments. Construction was finished about mid October 2007 and our first guests checked in on 22nd of October 2007. The apartments are priced similar to that of a good quality 3 star hotel. Rates for a one bedroom unit start at 2000 Baht/night and a two bedroom unit 2,800 Baht night. We have had over 85% occupancy for the year which we are more than happy with considering it is our first year and from now future bookings are looking good as we are about 60% booked up until the end of Feb next year. I guess part of its success is the added facilities an apartment offers over a hotel room. Anyway hope the next year proves to be as good as the first. Studio99 Chiang Mai Apartments for rent

Studio99 Serived Apartments

Landing

Sign

Private Garden

Lounge

Entrance

Entrance

Entrance

Bedroom

Courtyard

View from Landing

Studio99 Serived Apartments

1 Bedroom Apartment Plan

2 Bedroom Apartment Plan

Pinky’s first day at school

Today was Pinky’s first day at nursery school. After looking at three schools we went for Little Stars mainly because of their bilingual programme. One day is taught in Thai and the next in English. We are starting her quite young at 18 months and were not to sure if she would be quite ready but when we dropped her off this morning she immediately went over to the other children and started to play. We went back at 12:00 to pick her up and she didnt want to leave!

Little Stars Nursery School Chiang Mai

Chasing Chickens

Today we went out to a friends Lahu village. Our friend Sai has a niece who is Pinky’s age and we thought it would be good to get them together for some play time. Pinky loves playing with other children but where we live there aren’t any other children around her age. Pinky had a great afternoon, not only were there loads of children around, she had a wild time chasing the chickens.

The village itself is a bit of an oddity situated this close to Chiang Mai. Traditionally the Lahu are mountain dwellers and will set up their villages in the hills but this little Lahu settlement has recently sprung up on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Economic necessity has meant that many of the villages are now working in the city (Chiang Mai) and therefore have come down to live near the places of work. They have all built themselves traditional Lahu houses. I have been up to Sai’s village in the mountains a couple of times and many of their Lahu traditions remain intact which is real nice to see but now with the next generation living in the city you can see it is only a mater of time before these traditions start to disappear.

Chasing Chickens

We couldnt bring our car into the village so we had to hitch a ride

Traditional Lahu dwellings

Whitewater rafting on the Mae Tang River

Next month we (The Travel Hub) are arranging a weekend of team building activities for a corporate group of 25 persons from Malaysia and Australia. We are arranging a trek into the jungle with a few team building activities thrown in along the way, this will be followed by some whitewater rafting fun on the Mae Tang River. Tack, Me and Aor one of our guides came up here today to make some arrangements and decide on some suitable locations for the activities. Anyway although this was work we had a fun day in the Jungle and even managed to get some whitewater rafting in ourselves…..

shower

alternative shower arrangements

Tack and Aor

Tack and Aor

River crossing

Safety briefing

Mae Tang River

Mae Tang River

Mae Tang River

Mae Sa Elephant Camp

This afternoon as things weren’t so busy in the office Tack and I decided to take the afternoon off and take Pinky out. We went up to Mae Sa Elephant camp. If you are in Thailand this probably isnt the best way to see elephants. I for one would much prefer to see them in a more natural environment doing what elephants like to do and I have to say I kind of feel uncomfortable with these elephants being made to play football, darts and paint pictures but anyway it was a good chance to get out of the city. Pinky enjoyed it and it gave her a chance to get close to elephants.

Mae Sa Elephant Camp

Mae Sa Elephant Camp

Mae Sa Elephant Camp

Mae Sa Elephant Camp

Pinky will hill tribe girls

Pinky will hill tribe girls

Moo Jum

With so many eating options in Chiang Mai tack and I rarely find ourselves preparing anything more than  simple snack in our own kitchen at home.  About once a month we manage to go to a simple Moo Jum joint  on the west side of the city moat.  Moo Jum consists of a small clay charcoal burner with a clay pot on top containing  a lightly flavoured soup in this soup you can add various meats, vegetables, noodles.  You just let the meat gently boil until cooked.  This is a really healthy meal. On our visit tonight we ordered about 7 dishes from the menu and we were stuffed. The bill came to around 200 Baht (about 3 quid)

Moo Jum

Moo Jum

Vaccine time for Pinky!

Vaccine day for Pinky

Vaccine day again for Pinky!