Nan, Northern Thailand - January 2014

We caught the bus from Chiang Mai.  The bus takes between 5 and 6 hours to get to Nan, but we decided to stop off en route at the town of Phrae - 3 hours away.  Not many western tourists visit this remote corner of northern Thailand, which was great for us!  Lots of smiles and hellos from the school children as they zoomed past on their mopeds.  Whilst in Phrae we visited the Yongburi House Museum, which was originally the residence of the lords of Phrae.  The house, built in 1897 and is painted pink and white.  The woodwork looks like white lace.

Another 2 hours on the bus took us to Nan through wonderful scenery of paddy fields and rolling hills. Nan is located 50 kms from the border with Laos.




The town of Nan is fabulous and it was everything and more than we hoped it would be. It really felt like the real Thailand.



We stayed in the wonderful Pukha Nanfa Hotel  - a traditional Thai wooden place with an open breezy terrace overlooking the bustling street below. To learn a little of Nan's history we visited the Nan National Museum.

Our stay coincided with the walking streets (night markets), which are held on Saturday and Sunday nights.   We passed on the insects and instead headed to the Poom Sam restaurant where we ate a  delicious masaman veg curry.  The food was so good we ate at Poom Sam's every evening!


The next day we visited the temples of Wat Phumin with its famous murals (see photo) and Wat Chang Kham where we had our first monk chat - a petite moment.  Wat Chang Kham is over 500 years old.  The main feature is the gold-capped Chedi, supported by stone elephants (see picture).

Another day, another temple - we needed transport to reach Wat Nong Bua as it is 50 minute drive from Nan so we enlisted the help of Fhu Travel and the owner, Oon Ang, drove us herself.  En route, we stopped off at the Riverside gallery, where, amongst other things, they had a Haiku art exhibition - if only I could read Thai!   

Wat Nong Bua is also famous for its murals.  Behind the temple it is possible to see the Tai Lue hill tribes women weaving their traditional cloth.  Each intricate design was laboriously created on an ancient loom.   

Here's one she made earlier - how could I resist!

In the evenings, we borrowed  bikes from the hotel to get out and explore the surrounding countryside, a

patchwork of paddy fields, shimmering temples and grazing cattle.  Nan is famous for its longboat racing. The races are held on this stretch of river every September/October.

It was hard to drag ourselves away from this unspoilt place, but we had booked our internal flights south and the beaches beckoned.  

Thailand

We arrived in Bangkok on New Year's Day and the City was very quiet.  We stayed in the Sukhumvit sector where some of the embassies are located.  We had 2 days to explore the city.  Day 1 we took the sky train down to the river where we hopped on a river boat stopping at various points including the grand palace.  It cost 500 Baht (£10) to get in - men have to wear long trousers and women skirts or trousers below the knee and shoulders covered. Being high season it was very busy, but even with the crowds it was possible to have a quiet moment sitting and staring up at the famous emerald Buddha.  No photos were allowed.  We took another boat across the river to the dawn temple - think this temple is more dramatic viewed from a distance.  Then a boat back and another temple this time housing a huge reclining Buddha (200 Baht entrance fee).  Another popular spot with lots of tourists.  The soles of the reclining Buddha's huge feet are inlaid with intricate patterns picked out in mother of pearl.  The boats were so busy that we walked back through China Town and past the flower market - beautiful. 


Day 2 we visited Jim Thompson's house/museum - a tranquil spot amidst the frenetic city.  Jim Thompson was an American entrepreneur responsible for making Thai silk popular with the west.   He disappeared in mysterious circumstances whilst visiting friends in Malaysia in 1967.  His traditional Thai house and his antiques have been preserved.
We had three great meals - two at very simple places and one at the more upmarket Baan Khanitha where the roasted seabass with Thai basil and chilli was sublime! 

Bangkok is a city of contrasts with shrines and temples competing with modern swanky air conditioned shopping centres selling designer goods.  Boots the chemist is a popular brand here!  Monks in saffron coloured robs walk along with their smart phones and people selling anything and everything.  The roads are choked with cars, tuktuks and busses while the sky train glides seemingly effortlessly above the chaos.  There aren't many green spaces.  I was glad to have stayed, but after 3 nights I was glad to be on my way to the city of Chiang Mai.

Flower Garlands