IN NORTHERN THAILAND
17 - 23 JULY 2004
From left: Tee Meng, Ah Whatt, Dominic Yeo, William Chin, James Goh, Bong Soo, Rudy Chaw, Andre Goh.
Arrived at KLIA on the 17th and our team leader, Rudy checked in for all
of us |
 Soon
we were up,up and away and our Tee Meng was trying to use his X-ray eyes
to see through the clothings. |
After arriving at Don Muang airport, we chartered a van and headed for
Hualampong train station where we left our luggage and then walked to Chinatown for our dinner of fishball noodles. |
Then it was time to walk back to the station and before you could say Jack
Robinson, it was nap nap time. |
Arrived in Chiangmai the following day and for James, it was a dream fulfilled
after all these years. Eight of us crammed into two tuk-tuks heading
for Paradise Guesthouse about 3km away. |
After a few minutes of relaxation, it was chow time again as we head for
the most famous beef noodle shop in CHM. |
While Rudy went cycling around we booked a songthaew and went to Doi Suthep
temple. |
And Bong Soo was enjoying his second childhood frolicking with some Akhachildren |
Doi Suthep temple with its golden stupa. |
At night we had prorata dinner at the Kalare food court while being entertained with Thai cultural show. |
The next day we went on a one-day conducted tour of the province that took
us to the hot spring, Chiangsaen, the Golden Triangle, Maesai border town
and a visit to an Akha and Yao village. |
A buffet lunch awaited us at a restaurant near the Golden Traingle and for Willy it was a cultural shiok! |
At the Golden Triangle. Myanmar to the left and Laos to the right. |
At the northern most part of Thailand. The town is called Mesai. |
The following day was a 7 hours train ride from CHM to Phitsanulok, passing
through lush greeneries |
There was only time to walk around, watch some aerobics in session, window shopping and then having dinner at the riverside stalls as we had our first taste of Sheridan, compliments of Dom. |
 Phitsanulok
town taken from the town bridge. |
 The
next morning we had time to wander around before boarding the train to
Lopburi |
 Rock-a-bye
babies until the train stopped.
After Phitsanuluk, Lopburi was our next hop. |
This was the place where James Goh was robbed,
By a gang of acoholic monkeys infront of the town shops. |
When we arrived at Lopburi, the city of monkeys, the population of monkeys
increased by eight. |
A roadside hawker roasting pop corn with his simple but effective method. |
 Wat
Prang Sam Yot in Lopburi. Paid 30 Bhat to go in. |
Bong Soo was in a pensive mood, wondering when he would come back to Thailand
again. Sigh! |
 The
train journey from Lopburi to Ayuthaya was a short one minus one monkey
which escaped in the wee hours of the morning. We were fortunate to get
a dormitory room for all of us. |
Bong Soo then led James, Willy, Dom and his cousin to Wat Mahathat and
later in the evening we went to Wat Yai Chaiyamongkol. |
A view from the top of the main Chedi of Wata Yal Chaimongkol. |
 There
was enough time for breakfast of coffee and charcoal toasted bread the
next morning before we board the train to Don Muang airport. |
By the time we reached Pudu station it was too late to get a bus back to Muar and so we put up a night in KL. |
ALL in all it was an enjoyable trip but alas! for Willy was it the first and last time or was it the first trip to many more yet to come. Anyway, James was of the opinion that it was the same everywhere, you can see the whole of Thailand in Hadyai. Dominic was on a discovery trip. He tasted every edible stuff he could lay his hands on (even though after loosing his voice). Tee Meng was always very slow in taking shots with his semi-digital camera. Rudy was very busy talking classical Thai to the local who found it very difficult to understand him. And he did not understand morden Thai language except 'wantankap'. He had to cut short his holidays by a day. Occupational hazards. As for Andre and me. we were busy enjoying the trip through our video cams. As for Ah Whatt, he vetoed most things and that scared the lights off Tee Meng. I could hear him saying,"Ok, ok." Whenever Ah Whatt said 'NO'. |