Indigo Chiang Mai Holidays

Photo by thomaswanhoff

Having a Traditional Thai Massage is a great experience for many people, but some people also find it, well, quite torturous and painful!

A Traditional Thai Massage involves a lot of pressing and stretching of the whole body. The massage therapist will use his/her elbows and feet to prod and you in all sorts of interesting positions. I’ve even heard the experience being described as someone doing yoga for you.

Traditional Thai Massage is actually quite relaxing, and you’ll feel quite light afterwards. To enjoy the massage (and to lessen/avoid pain), it’s a good idea to relax your body and trust your therapist! The more you tense your muscles, the more it will hurt! The more you relax, the more you’ll enjoy it.

If you’re having trouble relaxing your muscles, try to breath out as pressure is applied, and inhale when pressure is released.

So loosen you body, relax, lie back and enjoy!

Note: Most massage places also offer oil massages, which is also great may be a bit more luxurious!

For tours in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai & Mae Hong Son, contact us now!

Here’s an interesting article on Traditional Thai Massage.

Somtum (aka Papaya Salad) is one of the dishes that every Thai and almost every “farang” (Westerner) I know in Chiang Mai love. Somtum is found EVERYWHERE from street stalls to restaurants.

This is  a spicy salad made from ingredients such as shreds of unripe papaya, tomato, long beans, peanuts, garlic, etc. These are all pounded together in a giant mortar with lime juice, fish sauce, palm sugar and of course, chilli! The result is a refreshing and delicious blend of flavours.

There are many variations of somtum. Sometimes brined crabs (the variety found in rice fields) or fermented fish (which has a very…interesting smell) are added. Both these ingredients are raw, and there is a risk of you getting hepatitis from it, so I wouldn’t actually recommend you try these varieties, even if you’re very adventurous! I suggest do as I do and just stick to the plain version - which, in my opinion, taste better anyway!

Somtum is typically served with grilled chicken and sticky rice.

Huay Tung Tao Lake, Chiang mai, at dusk

Sometimes it’s nice to take a little break from a busy life (or touring, if you’re on holidays) and take a little breather to recharge our batteries. Luckily, this is easy to do in Chiang Mai, and just 20 min or so drive out of the city, we have the picturesque Huay Tung Tao Lake, and Chiang Mai’s very own beach (well, sort of!).

Huay Tung Tao is one of the locals’ get away places. Getting there is very easy - just drive up Canal Road, past the 700 year Stadium, drive another 2 km or and follow the signs! The lake is in a lovely area with mountain views. There is a very good two lane road that goes around the lake - perfect for taking a walk, or taking your bike for a spin. There are quite a lot of facilities here, including a camping ground, paddle boat hire, ATV and paintball courses.

As you look around the lake, you’ll see huts lining the shore. These belong to a restaurant. Each hut sits up to 4-6 people, and is where you can sit back, relax and enjoy your meals and scenery.

The lake understandably gets quite busy on the weekends but when I was there on a weekday evening, the place was almost deserted, except for a couple of families strolling about and locals riding their bikes around the lake. Very relaxing and peaceful indeed!

For the romantics, Huay Tung Tao lake is also another place in Chiang Mai where you can enjoy stunning sunsets over Chiang Mai’s mountains.

Sunset at Huay Tung Tao Lake, Chiang Ma

Huay Tung Tao Lake is opened daily, officially, 8:00am-5pm. There is a 20 baht entry fee per person. If you come after 5pm, you can still go in, but you don’t have to pay!

Tired of walking? Stiff muscles? Street masseurs to the rescue! These masseurs can be found each Sunday night at Chiang Mai’s Sunday Walking Street to relieve the weary feet of shoppers. A bargain too, at only 60 baht / half an hour. Not to be missed!

Photo by RobRyb

It’s mangosteen season! What’s that? This is a fruit with soft and think purple rind, and beautiful, lusciously sweet, white flesh on the inside. Last year we had them by the bucket every night! If you’re in Thailand, this is a must try! Be careful though, to choose your mangosteen carefully. The most delicious ones are softish, but firm when you squeeze them lightly. If they are rock hard, don’t get them!

Incidentally, the other fruit in season is the King of Fruits, the durian. Usually, durian and mangosteens are eaten together. According to Chinese Medicine principles, durian is a “heating” fruit (causes “hotness” in the body), whereas mangosteens are “cooling”, which help to balance out the heat. Interestingly, both are in season at the same time.

Enjoy these fun photos of Songkran, Chiang Mai 2010! Courtesy of Marty Johnston. You can also see more of Marty’s beautiful photos of Northern Thailand on his website.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Hope to see you next year for Songkran! Contact us for more information & tours of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai & Mae Hong Son

If you’re in Chiang Mai in April, and would like to escape the madness of Songkran, you can always visit Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi’s beautiful Oriental Shop. This is one of my favourite cake shops in Chiang Mai, serving beautiful, but reasonably priced cakes and pastries. This month, they have the Ice cream Sandwich promotion - yummy ice cream sandwiched between two macaroon fingers. Very delicious, and comes with tea or coffee! 99 baht ++. Enjoy!

What!? No air-conditioning?? My Thai companions cried in disbelief as we arrive at Doi Angkhang Nature Resort in a picturesque little town at the peak of Doi (Mt) Angkhang, the sixth tallest mountain in Thailand. In fact, air-conditioning is not required due to the all year round cool weather. In the heights of summer (April-May), the evenings are cool at around 20 degrees celsius, while day time temperature hovers at less than 30 degrees. In the cooler months, the temperature can plummet to as low as -2 degrees.

So here we were at Doi Angkhang in the beginning of April, trying to escape the heat. The air on top of the mountain was clean and clear. The scenery breathtaking. As we approached our resort (Doi Angkhang Nature Resort), we were greeted with bright flowers (top photo). The staff there was very friendly, and the bungalows were very well-maintained, comfortable, clean and spacious. As mentioned earlier, there was no air-conditioning, but the rooms come equipped with a fan and each bed has an electric blanket. The breakfast was quite good - you can choose between an American style (eggs, toast, sausages, etc) or Thai style (rice porridge). Talking about breakfast, their homemade pineapple & strawberry jams were particularly good.  Just minutes walk down the road, we find the little town and right next door, the star attraction of the mountain, Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang.

Garden 80, Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang

Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang

The Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang is a project started by King Bhumibol to research temperate climate fruit, and to encourage the local hilltribes to cultivating crops like fruits and flowers instead of growing opium. These days, most of the hill tribes in the area work for this project. Originally, the station only consisted of temperate fruit trees, which shed their leaves in the winter, and because of this, visitors complained that “there was nothing to see”. Flower gardens were then introduced, resulting in a number spectacular gardens including Garden 80, Scented Garden, Rhododendron & Azalea Garden, Temperate Flower House, Bonsai Garden, and many more! The Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang is indeed a garden and nature lover’s Eden.

If you’re after a bit more excitement (just a little!),however, there may be something for you as well! At the back of the Bonsai Garden, we discovered a staircase up to the “Natural Rock Garden” consisting of interesting natural rock formations. Once there, it’s like a maze to get lost in. On the way back, we realised that there were many paths leading down, and there were no signposts. We were lost! We ended up, not back in the Bonsai Garden, but, as we realised later, the Plants Propagation Centre next door. So if you do decide to check out the Natural Rock Garden do be careful!

Other attractions:

So we have the Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang, what else is there to do?

The Town

The town itself is very small and has a Chinese Village feel to it, basically because a lot of the shop owners here are of Yunnanese descent. Here (right photo), we have Khun Ti Lek giving us a tea tasting/demonstration session. The tea sold here are predominantly locally grown in Doi Angkhang. Khun Ti Lek’s family actually owns a few businesses in town, including a guest house and a Yunnanese restaurant, Ting Ting, where we had one lunch.

Super delicious mushrooms in soy sauce

The food at Ting Ting, incidentally, was delicious! Of particular note were the mushrooms fried in soy sauce (we had to order another serving!), and the local specialty, Ginseng Soup (with house chicken or pork) - very interesting and tasty! We also had this at the resort the night before, and it was great there too. The Yunnan Stir-fried noodles were also great!

This preserved plum is called "Love"

The town was pretty quiet (in April) compared to the winter months, when most of the visitors come, and there is a fascinating hill tribe market selling all types of interesting food! This time of the year, the market isn’t as happening, but the restaurants and shops are still open. There are several shops selling a variety of preserved plums, strawberries, local tea, etc. The friendly vendors were more than happy for us to have a taste of all their goodies. In terms of price, we found the produce here are cheaper than in Chiang Mai. If you get a chance to try the preserved strawberries, please do -  they were luscious!

Military Base & Norlae Village

Why would you want to see the military base? Because this is a military camp right on the border with Myanmar. The soldiers are friendly and you are able to walk around the camp, look at the bunkers overlooking the Myanmar-Thai border. Local villagers are permitted to cross the border to trade with their counterparts in Myanmar, but no, tourists won’t be able to cross the border.

Peeking over the Thai-Myanmar Border at Norlae Village

The residents of Norlae Village are Palong people from Myanmar. It is said that they walked seven days from Myanmar when they first heard about the Royal Project and petitioned the King to allow them to stay in Thailand. Land at Norlae Village was subsequently set aside for the Palong people.

Kobdong Village

Kobdong Village is home to the Black Muser people, originally from Tibet. You’ll be able to see how these hill tribe people live and purchase their handicrafts like grass bracelets and musical instruments. Most still live in very simple huts in poverty, but you’ll be able to see the odd satellite dish or two, and the million dollar view from their homes, at least in the summer months. In winter, there is a sea of mist that blankets over the mountains.

Million dollar views from the simple homes of Muser people

Fast Facts

• Doi Angkhang is on the Thai-Myanmar Border, 160 km from Chiang Mai city. The drive takes 3 hours. The last section takes you up a steep winding road with breathtaking views up the Angkhang Mountain.
• You can visit Doi Angkhang any time of the year, but the best time is in the winter months, and Feb-March when the flowers are in full bloom. There may be some rain in May-July, and a lot of rain (sometimes the whole day) in Aug-Sep.
• Low season is from April-September; High Season is from October-March

Where to Stay?

• Angkhang Nature Resort (3 stars) - an ecofriendly resort, managed by the Amari Group. The resort was voted Best Eco Resort in Asia in 2000 by Travel Asia magazine. This is the luxurious option for Doi Angkhang.
• Chalets @ Royal Agricultural Research Station - comfortable bungalows/chalets. There are 2 restaurants serving food grown in the Royal Project.

Wondering what’s happening in Chiang Mai for Songkran this year? Check out the schedule!

(Taken from Chang Peuk Magazine!)

10th-11th April (8am - 9:30pm)

Chaing Mai Beach Festival @ Huay Tung Tao Lake, Chiang Mai

10th-15th April (8am-9:30pm)

Sand pile building, Lanna Flag making, Blessing Ceremonies @ Jet Rin Temple (Pra Pokklao Rd)

11th-15th April (8am-4:00pm)

Blessings, Lanna Market, Cultural Show @ Phra Singh Temple (Samlan Rd)

12th-15th April (5pm-11pm)

Culture Street & Food Festival @ Thapae Gate to Klang Wieng

12th April

@ 3 Kings Monument (Pra Pokklao Rd)

6am-8am Monks Morning Offerings

9am-10am Lanna Style Ceremony

4pm-6pm Dam Hua (Paying respects) Ceremony

12th-15th April

9am-10pm Water games/fights @ the moat & Huay Kaew Rd

7pm-12am Lanna Cultural Performances, Miss Songkran Festival Contest @ Thapae Gate

13th April

7am-12pm Miss Umbrella Bicycle Parade Contest @ Iron Bridge to Phra Singh Temple

8:09am-8:30pm Official Opening Ceremony “Pee Mai Muang Festival 2010″ @ Thapae Gate

9:09am-9:30am Lanna Religious Ceremony @ Phr Singh Temple (Samlan Rd)

2:09pm-6pm Pra Buddha Singh Procession @ Iron Bridge to Phra Singh Temple

13th-18th April

9am-6pm Pee Mai Muang Cultural Show @ Sree Su Phan Temple (Wualai Rd)

14th April

4pm-6pm Sand Piles Building and Kham Salee (Holy Stick) Procession @ Temples on Thapae Rd

15th April

1:30pm-6pm “Dam Hua” Parade to Governor’s House @ 3 King’s Monuments to Government House

That’s it! : )

Hope everyone enjoys a safe and happy Songkran Festival! Expect that you’ll get wet everywhere & remember to keep your valuables, passports, mobile phones, etc in plastic bags to keep them dry!

In this entry, I thought I’ll tempt you with some delicious Thai food! This dish is called “Hor Mok”. It’s a steamed seafood curry, usually served in a banana leaf (but some restaurants also serve them in aluminium foil!). Ingredients include: lots of coconut milk, seafood, red curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and basil. The whole thing is blended together then placed inside banana leaf (or foil) then steamed.

This hor mok came from a lovely restaurant called “W for Wanlamun”. Interestingly, “W” actually specialises in French style cakes, but the patisserie chef’s mum makes fantastic central Thailand food. What a great combination, I’d say! Have your lovely meal, followed by coffee and French cakes!

For a review of “W:  please see my Chiang Mai restaurant review blog.