Doi Mae Salong, Thailand

     The Doi Mae Salong mountain road is by far one of the most beautiful driving loops in all of Thailand. From Chiang Mai, Doi Mae Salong is about 4 hours to the North, beyond the Chiang Dow National Forest. The drive is very curvy, and at times very dangerous. However, once you get out into the jungle, you will loose track of time, wherever it is that you come from.  

This post visually describes what you will find in the market at the Chinese immigrant town of Doi Mae Salong. Please don't be afraid to haggle over everything that is for sale. If you don't bargain, they will pull the wool over your eyes.
Although, everyone in the market is very friendly and
sincerely genuine.     

Please take a look at my pictures below,  and then plan a trip to Thailand for yourself.   

Tubers and Guava

Guava

Fresh cherries! 

Look at the child sleeping on the groceries.
He is content to rest for hours while his mother sells her crop.

A Loufa anyone?

6 Months Living on Kho Lipe, Thailand

Kho Lipe Island, Thailand, during my stay as resident volunteer English Teacher.

     I want to share some photos I took during my 6 month stay on Kho Lipe Island, while I was resident English Teacher for grades 4, 5, and 6, following the Asian Tsunami.

     Kho Lipe has changed a lot in the last 6 years, although it is still wonderful, quiet and relaxing.

     Here is the original walking street, from Pataya beach to the Chao Lay Village and the school.

Walking down the trail from the beach for about 10-15 minutes I neared the “Sea Gypsy” village,  http://andaman-island-hopping.com/articles/seagypsies.htm

where there were a collection of “backpacker” restaurants with excellent sea food, so you know

 you won’t go hungry.  The Chao Lay Village has a population of around 800 in grass and tin shacks spread along a very pretty beach.  I walked the equivalent of 3-4 blocks, having

to make several turns at forks on the complex of dirt and sand walking paths.  After about 5 minutes, I reached the center of town,



This is the view of the beach in front of the school. It's possibly the best school setting in the world.



where a huge communal sala (roofed outdoor seating area) occupies the beach.  Behind the beach is the school complex, made up of about 5-6  

large buildings, solar panels and water tanks.  My classroom was located at the end of long school building, right in front of the ocean. It has to be the most picturesque school setting in the world.

   
       I was called “Achaan” Johnny.  Having the title “Achaan” in Thailand is somewhat like having “PHD.” after your name in the States.  My classes were fairly well behaved by modern standards

(no pandemonium and kids running wild), although if I didn’t keep their attention for the entire time, “They will eat me alive”.

      Since I am able to speak Thai Language, I was placed as 4th 5th and 6th grade teacher, so that I could talk to the children, and answer their questions.  When class was over,

     I got some of the kids to pose for a group photo.  Then we walked over to the main building where we met Ben, the

other American teaching English at the school. We became good friends while living on the quiet isolated island. 

   Here is a map of the area and the national park islands painted outside the school. There are over 50 uninhabited islands in the area, most of which are visible while walking the beaches of Lipe.  All of which can be visited for day trips from Kho Lipe.

Visa Van / Visa Run from Chiang Mai Thailand, through Chiang Rai, and up to Mae Sai.

     In order to get your Thai visa renewed properly from Chiang Mai, you will most likely ride up to Chiang Rai, and then on to Mae Sai, to get your new visa stamp done in Burma. It's a good trip, I've made it about 50 times or more already, so this post will show you everything you need to know.
     Please check out the pictures.

     I talked to a local travel agency in Chiang Mai, there are hundreds of them, so there is no need at all to plan in advance. They booked a round trip mini-van ticket for 550 Bhat,  which is $16 dollars. 

      I reserved my ticket two days before my visa ran out, so I was sure to have a seat on the day I needed.
   
    Two days later, at 8:00 A.M., a silver mini-van picked me up in front of my apartment building. It was already full of travelers, and I was the last to climb aboard before we reached the super highway and made our way north for three hours to Chiang Rai. 

It is a three hour drive to Chiang Rai, along a bit of a gauntlet highway. Wear your seat-belt.
      





 

Here is the Entry Sign on you way into Burma, (Myanmar)

 

       From there, it was another hour and a half along the fast super highway, to the Thai border town on Mae Sai, on the sleepy little river next to Burma.  That makes it a 4.5 hour drive one way from Chiang Mai.  It will be a long hot day for anyone, but a trip that is necessary for so many of us who live here.

We reached the bridge by noon, as I assume most trips do.



This is a photo taken from the center of the Bridge heading into 
 Burma from Thailand.






Here is the view from the bridge, Thailand is on the right,
and Burma, (Myanmar) is on the left. Children swim naked and play in the muddy water on both sides. 

 It is a porous boarder.

You can walk across the bridge from the van drop off point, 
 get stamped out of Thailand in 15 minutes,
 get stamped into Burma for 500 Bhat, and
have about two hours to walk around the market loaded with Chinese electronics, duty free for alcohol, fake designer goods.

 


Heading back to Thailand.
Welcome Mae Sai, Thailand




     A friendly Thai customs officer stamped my passport, and welcomed me back. It was refreshing to return into Thailand, where immigration and customs equal those of a first wold nation, where they treat you with respect and dignity. It was barely three in the afternoon, and there was enough time for the Van to drive back to Chiang Mai by nightfall.

 



I took this from the van aswell, these are the mountains along the way, outside if Chiang Rai.



     You may be able to doze off on the ride back to Chiang Mai if you are lucky. It's a long day, and one that has to happen for so many foreigners every 15 days, or every 60 days for the lucky ones.     

    I took this picture from the moving Mini Van, on the way back.
We didn't get back to Chiang Mai, until 7:00 P.M.
It was an 11 Hour day.

You will only be given a 15 day Visa if you do not have an official visa already stampped in your passport. They will let you use a two or three month Tourist Visa, or re-new your Non-Immigrant "B" or "O."

It was a long day like usual, but my visa was refreshed, and I was back in the city I love.

Please check out my Thai Cooking Book,

16 Delicious Thai Dinners
Cooked in a Western Kitchen

 

Loi Kratong Festival of Lanterns in Chiang Mai, Thailand 2012



Here are three different batches
 of Pad Thai. One heavily mixed with
Egg, while the others are more
noodle filled.


     This post will show you the food that was available at the 2012 Loi Kratong festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on the banks of the Ping River.

    All of the food available was street food, and all of it wasbeing sold for a very low cost, considering how amazingly tasty it all was.

Check out these pictures!

Stuffed Crab Cakes are one of my favorites.
For 50 cents each, they were fabulous!



Here are some crab claw Tofu snacks,
and some Fish Tofu



This is a special rice snack, which is mixed with sugar
 and some seasonings, and then slow cooked over the
fire inside a bamboo shaft. It is very common in the hills,
and is a popular treat of local country folk.



Here is a batch of large squid.

 

This is a piece of Sushi that I ordered.
It is a baby Octopus.
He was delicious!