about chiang rai and other Thailand General Tips

Favorite Thing: Chiang Rai is a truly ugly town and there aren't many things to see or to do in town. Some people come here to go out to hill-tribe villages - but i heard a few people saying that Akha tribes in particular are not too friendly, and sometimes downright rude. Other people use it as a base to visit the Golden Triangle area, which I found less spectacular than I thought (and at time downright boring)

Fondest Memory: Leaving Chiang Rai... possibly the dullest, ugliest place in Thailand

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Favorite Thing: chiang mai, the rose of the north... i was expecting beauty everywhere, but i found only noise and traffic. It has its beautiful moments, of course, but generally speaking it is bangkok's little (and uglier) sister. Of my visit there I mostly enjoyed some temples (as usual) and the stunning Doi Suitep just off Chiang Mai. What I did not like were the tourist traps: the snake farms, elephant camps, orchid farms... so unnatural, so uninteresting

Fondest Memory: getting away, I suppose. When I was still there i quite liked the night bazar and enjoyed finding out, after a tuk-tuk crash, that the police and ambulance are very efficient. Very reassuring!

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Favorite Thing: Bangkok is a city with two faces: a brash modern and westernized one, and a smaller, more intimate, traditional one. I must admit I did not like bangkok a lot, though I appreciated what the city had to offer, culturally. But, in my opinion, it lack charm - and is not even nearly as exotic as i had expected it to be. Some sights were too familiar for me to truly appreciate it. However i really enjoyed cruising along the Chao Phraya river: it's a nice way to escape the city's infamous traffic and choking smog and you can see itsrags and riches: makeshift houses on stilts and towering skyscapers - coexisting side by side

Fondest Memory: I really enjoyed doing my own temple tour. great architecture never leaves me unmoved. Another fond memory is the relative peace and quiet of the river, and also the river traffic - not noisy - but very present. I had not thought that the Chao Phraya would be so much alive and "active"

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Favorite Thing: Mae Hong Son is off-the-beaten path thailand: the town itself is tiny but not ugly... there are some really characteristic wooden houses... however, the whole town is a single street, so no one comes here just to see it. it's also a good starting off point to visit some tribal villages or to go bamboo-rafting on a river. In case it's culture you're looking for, there's a temple that's a real jewel not far from the centre.

Fondest Memory: The temple mentioned above but also - and especially - the stunning hilly landscape... karst and limestone hills densely covered in thick forests... very scenic and pretty... a wlcome change after so many flat rice-fileds

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Favorite Thing: Pai is another non-descrptive northern town (village actually) that is restricted to about 4 streets... most of them taken over by the growing tourist industry. There are several agents organizing day trips to neighbouring tribal villages, or multi-day trekking adventures in the surrounding hills and mountains.

Fondest Memory: Pai is also a place with several natural hot springs... so this is definitely my fondest memory: after nightfall, speing a few hours in and out of a hot pool with an Israeli traveller I met. The second fond memory are some funny shop windows in town: thai things side-by-side with western things... looked so out of place.

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Favorite Thing: Sukhothai is the capital of the first Kingdom of Siam in the 13th and 14th centuries - and it's such a wonderful magical place. The name means 'the dawn of happiness', and all I can say is that the name can perfectly express my feelings while I was visiting there.

Fondest Memory: Renting a bycycle and being free to move from one wonder to the other... archaeological wonders, but also much simpler wonders... like thatched huts along some side-streets, cattle and banana trees out in the country... I think it's the simplicity and quiet of the place that's the fondest memory

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