Chiang Mai - Mon Cham, Elephant Camp, Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden (January 2018)

Chiang Mai Tour Day 4 was Monday, January 8, but I had to go away to give a lecture to young people who escaped North Korea and now live in S. Korea. There is a ministry called Jacob's Well that aims to help restore the dignity as children of God as the citizens of God's Kingdom. So, it became a special day for ladies. They received massage - both Thai and foot massage - and spent time experiencing tropical fruits of Thailand.

On Day 5, we decided to explore Mon Cham, one of the popular hangout places in Chiang Mai off the Samoeng Loop and two additional places right on the Samoeng Loop: Elephant Camp and Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden. Samoeng Loop is a scenic route of 100 km in the mountains and along the loop there are numerous places of interest. I plan to explore the loop again on a motor bike someday in the near future.

Mon Cham
Mon Cham is a place that is situated on top of the hills where people can enjoy the panoramic view as well as flowers. Also there are food carts and merchants that sell various products. Most of these merchants are Hmong people, one of six major hill tribes.

I was amazed at my mom who at the age of 88 was able to hike up the hills without too much difficulty. Her warm and peaceful smile is always comforting and encouraging to me.

We bought some fruits, roasted corn ears and roasted sweet potatoes. We stopped by an adventure shop called Pongyang where people can try out ATVs, zip lining, biking in the air etc and enjoyed the snack along with beverages while watching their activities along with the ever soothing green scenery.

Elephant Camp
We already rode on the bare back of elephants else where, and my 88-year old mom would not dare to ride it. But she could watch an elephant show without taking a risk.

We watched the elephants getting bathed in the small river. They love to get dirty with mud but also to get bathed in the water. One elephant lay down in the water.

Later in the show, elephants kicked balls and also defended the goal with their body. The elephants did other tricks such as taking off the hats from their trainers and also putting them back on the heads of their trainers.

But the most amazing and impressive trick they showed to us was their painting skills. Amazingly they were able to paint trees and even scenery. I am not sure how they learned, but it proved to me that elephants are quite smart. I saw one painting of an old tree framed for sale at TB15,000 or $460. Well... I am not sure if I want to pay that much money for a painting drawn by an elephant.

Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden
This botanical garden was established in honor of Queen Sirikit, the mother of the current king and the wife of the former king who ruled Thailand for 70 years, the longest rule by a monarch.

The area was quite large, but the contents were a bit disappointing. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the lake view with a water shoot colorfully coordinated with trees decorated with colorful fabrics. A large flower clock was displayed on the grass near the pond, and it was pretty.

We found out that all seniors who are older than 60 years of age were admitted for free. Great! - Jeffrey

Chiang Mai - Warorot Market, Cafe Woo, Sunday Night Market (January 2018)

Chiang Mai Tour Day 3 fell on Sunday. After worship service at Dream Church and a quick lunch, we headed out to the Chiang Mai Old Town to visit the first and largest market, called Warorot Market.

Warorot Market
The oldest market in Chiang Mai is the most established and thus more famous. It is attracting both the locals and the tourists. Local Thais buy goods in this market to sell them in their own local markets. Tourist wander around to find bargain products and to experience exquisite cuisines of Northern Thailand.

We bought dried mangoes and several other products, including clothes. The prices are really affordable unless you are unlucky and get ripped off, which is really rate anyway. We did not have enough time to explore the upstairs and another market across the street from Warorot.

After shopping at Warorot Market, we walked by the Ping River (originally called Mae Ping River), that flows north to south right by the City of Chiang Mai. Unfortunately, the place where my mom and my sister stood to pose for the photo was stinky smelly due to urination probably by people as well as animals.

Cafe Woo
Chiang Mai Old Town, surrounded by moats, and its surrounding areas offer many boutique cafes and restaurants. One of such boutique cafes is Cafe Woo. Probably established by a Chinese, Cafe Woo provides not only cozy space and excellent foods and drinks, but also interesting artistic products available for sale as well as window shopping. The owner must be very artistic. Even the rest room was well decorated.

Definitely we bought the Cafe Woo's  experiences for the price we paid for the desserts and drinks.

Sunday Night Market
Chiang Mai's Sunday Night Market is surely on the top of the places to visit. For the past one year, I have not had a chance to explore this market and we were so glad to visit this place. At several places, street musicians were playing their instruments, supposedly hoping to collect some donation from people.

At 6:00pm, everyone in the market stopped their movement and listened to the national anthem played through the speakers in the market. In fact, the entire nation of Thailand comes to a stop at this hour to pay tribute to the national anthem. I recalled the old memory of standing still when Korean national anthem was played and the national flag was taken down to be kept inside the buildings.

It opens at 4:00pm until midnight. Approximately one kilometer distance of the city streets are blocked and only pedestrians are allowed to enter. All kinds of merchants put out their booths and solicit clients. The merchandises are tremendously diverse in options. My ladies made contribution to the city merchants with their purchases. I am sure they all enjoyed the products as well as their prices, on top of the joy of shopping.

A small park transformed into a food court and the selection was amazing. We were not hungry and ended up eating only small meals. But our satisfaction was great. I will certainly come back to explore more.

By the time we left, around 6:20pm, te entire street was packed with people and I was not sure if they will be able to even walk around freely. We were glad that we came a bit early to beat the crowd. It became one of the most memorable experience for my mom. - Jeffrey