Vacation trip to the north: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son.

[Bill Miller]

Recently went north with my girlfriend and her daughter for their annual vacation. Since her aged father and older sister live in Chiang Mai that is our obligatory starting point.
I stayed the first two nights in a hotel I had been at before, as we are not married and it would not be appropriate to share a room at the family farm had there been one available. Very much enjoyed visiting with Kuhn pah, pi sao, pi khoy, nephew, nieces, neighbours..... really need to work on my Thai language skills!
After a really great lunch at an organic farm restaurant we packed into a Suzuki Swift; my oversized self, Fon, her lovely daughter and two delightful nieces, and headed west.
The high points of the week, in addition to the wonderful company, were:
Exploring Chiang Dao cave- bit of a challenge for someone 114 kilos! Several interesting Buddhist shrines down under....
Spent most of a day at Shinga Park/Boon Rahd Farm...
Overnight stay at Huay Hon village.... fabulous coffee, mountain vistas, handicrafts featuring woolen textiles...2,100tb for accommodation and meals for six... oh yeah, we were joined by one of the niece's boyfriends... handsome young cop who is also an accomplished amateur guitarist.
Visited the provincial hospital in Chiang Rai where the nieces work.... they are both nurses... comforting to a diabetic/heart patient...anyway, picked up three vials of "R" insulin for less than 1/2 the cost of a single vial here in Bangkok. Helps to have an "in" with a nurse employee, I think.
Altogether a great trip. I highly recommend getting out with and amongst the Thai people, doing what they enjoy. I was amazed at some of the places we had lunch... the girls would drive to these little hole in the wall eateries, far from the town they live in, and we would have a wonderful meal!

[craigt3365]

Sounds great! I like the good coffee and mountain vistas part. We're hoping to do a road trip in the next month or so up to that area.

Thanks for the post!