Thai Dinners in Tha Ton, and Doi Mae Salong, Thailand

Yellow Chinese Noodl s Soup with Beef and Chinese Kale

     Here are our dinners in Tha Ton, and Doi Mae Salong, Thailand, on a trip last week. We lived like Kings, and enjoyed our time traveling so much, in part to the delicious dinners that we had.

Yellow Chinese Noodles,
 in a str-fry, with Chicken.

Dumpling Soup, with Vegetables, and cabbage.

Sticky Rice served in a Banana leaf.

Pork stir-fry in Oyster sauce, with Kale.

Spicy Thai Som Tam Salad, with shrimp.

Pad Thai, wrapped inside an omelette.

Nam Tok, Moo,    Spicy Thai Salad with pork.

Suki Yaki with Chicken! Glass noodles, and kale.

Tanin Market, Siliwattana, Chaing Mai, Thailand

     Here I am at the Chiang Mai Thailand walking food market. It's the best place to the local varieties of foods, fruit, and pre-cooked dinners to go. Also the raw meats and seafood available. A picture is worth a thousand words, so please look over this virtual tour of the Tanin Market.

Mae Hong Son, the Town, the City, it's Temples and Walking Night Market

   
     Ploy and I recently took a road trip from Chiang Mai all the way to Mae Hong Son. The road is famed for having over 1000 hair pin curves. In actuality, the road has over 1,800 sharp corners. It a majestic ride through the northern mountains of Thailand. We ran into some rain along the way, and had two close calls, when the front tire of our bike hit slick spots.    That will wake you up for sure, if you have never experienced it before.  Still, we persevered, and made it the rest of the way to the small city nestled in the mountains.

     Please enjoy this post, and look at all of the pictures. We have detailed everything you will find in Mae Hong Son, from the temples, to the lake and the park, to the walking street, and its food vendors, as well as the guest house scene inside the town.

    Above the city is a most revered "Wat," or temple, which has stood looking down and protecting the city for four hundred years.

     The first evening we arrived, after checking into a nice little hotel along the edge of the lake, we drove up to pay respects to the two Pagodas on top of the mountain at the edge of Mae Hong Son. Here are the two Pagodas, in the dwindling evening sun.

   

I love the Palm tree alongside the temple.

     Here is a guard at the temple's entrance. It is a giant stone lion, in full battle armor. The mountains surround the valley of Mae Hong Son.

Visiting a Traditional Lisu Village in Mae Hong Son Provence

     Ploy and I just traveled to Mae Hong Son Provence. It was a dangerous 4.5 hour motorcycle ride from Chiang Mai.

    The locals have affectionately called it the road of a thousand hair pin curves. That is not accurate, there are over 1,800 tight turns over the course of 175 miles. The jungle surrounds both sides of the road, and mountains tower over most of the sky. The scenery is spectacular, however the drive is not for anyone who gets motion sickness. I promise.

     One of our very good friends recently had his first child. His wife is from a small Lisu Village, outside Bang Mapra, Thailand in Mae Hong Son Provence. Lisu People are a hill-tribe group most distinguishable because of their traditional clothes, or costumes. They wear very brightly adorned shirts, and with many colors, and make all of their own clothing.

     The village of our friends wife is home to about 200 people, most of whom are related. I was accepted to join the festivities, and talked with both the old and young. Lisu speak their own language, as well as Thai. My friend does not speak Thai, so I was able to talk with his Father in law and translate for him. Lisu are an an extremely kind and hospitable group. It was a special occasion to meet so many of them in their own town and not to feel like a tourist who was just shipped in for a brief photo op.



     Please enjoy these pictures from a Lisu Village we spent some time in, and celebrated one of our close friend's having a new born son. In honour of having a firstborn son, they held a large party for everyone in the village to come.

     A full grown wild boar was killed and cooked for the dinner's feat. It was made into four different meals.

     The raw pig meat was cut into many tine pieces and pounded by the ladies of the village, into a raw pig meat and chili spicy appetizer.

Here is nice girl that we met and talked with a little. She is in 10th grade.
That is traditional Lisu clothing that she is wearing.

A Village Market, in Mae Hong Son Provence. Fresh Vegetables, and local organic produce.

   
     Recently Ploy and I were traveling through Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son Provence when we stopped off at a small local market in the town of Bang Maprah.

     The vendors were very nice and I talked with a few of them. They let me take pictures of their fresh vegetables, some of which I was not accustomed to seeing even in Chiang Mai.

      Check out this post to see what the local Lisu Villagers grow and sell at the market. These vegetables are fresh off the farm, and their sellers likely helped to plant and harvest them. Your money is going directly to the source. The farmer himself. In this case, himself and herself. Enjoy the pictures and plan the next Thai dinner you make at home.

Nice size brown potatoes.

Small green pumpkins.

White and red waxy chilies.

Very spicy green peppers.

Parsley.

Chinese Cabbage.

Pak Bung.

Chinese kale.

Cabbage.

The Annual Chiang Mai Thailand Food Festival, December 2013

   

     The 26th Annual Chiang Mai Thailand Food Festival was kicked off again this week. The location was outside of the Robinson's Central Department store, in a gigantic parking lot. All types of high quality local and regional Thai food was available.

     It is one spot not to miss if you are traveling through Thailand this winter.

Here is a very tasty steamed fish in curry,
nestled in a banana leaf as a bowl.
This is also environmentally friendly!

These are fish Maw balls.
Eaten with a sweet dipping sauce.

A nice guy selling his Pad Thai.
He was proud to be at the festival. You could tell.

Some of my favorites. Beautiful Andaman Sea Crabs, delicious Thai Scallops,
fresh large mussels, and grilled squid.  I ate some of the mussels, and they were good.
Cooked in a spicy sauce, directly over the fire.

Here are the fixings for fancy Thai Som Tam Salad

Here are the rest of the ingredients to put into Som Tam.
This is one of the most well liked fresh spicy salads in Thailand.

Grilled Breaded Fish!

Sunday Night Market, Walking Street, Chaing Mai, Thailand. I have been living in Chiang Mai for ten years.

What a nice Sunday evening it was. As usual, the weekly Sunday Night Walking Street was busy with vendors, tourists and locals, all looking for something special to buy. There is something for everyone, and for every taste. Even if it is just a nice long walk after dinner,  or for some people watching. There are people from all around the world. It is an international event, with emphasis on local Thai handicrafts and hand made artisan's work.

Spicy Rice soup.

Some tasty crab cakes,
stuffed back in the shell!

Sunday Night Walking Market is a must for everyone who comes to Chiang Mai.


You will get the feel for town and the gracious hospitality of the Northern Thai people.

This is a silver handicraft, which represents the foot of
The Buddha. A story is told by the pictures inscribed into its sole.

Here is a Thai Chedi,  the spire of a temple.

Small Naga trinkets, in both Gold and natural wood.

Different types of bugs and insects are readily available
for your collection.

Fish  balls, and Thai Style hot dogs.

Pad Thai for sale is only 50 Cents!

These beautiful bowl are made of Mango wood.  I have two of them at home.

Here is a Tuk Tuk (3 wheeled Taxi) made from Beer Chang Cans.