Northern Thailand is, for me, the ultimate mix of culture, adventure, and amazing sceneries. Northern Thailand is home to the Lanna Kingdom which ruled the north from the 13th to 18th centuries.
In the old days, it was only permitted for temples and palaces to use stones as building materials. For ordinary houses, wood and bamboo were the preferred material, but both wood and bamboo do not last long in the hot, humid air, so mostly only temples are preserved to this day.
Chiang Mai is the 2nd largest city in Thailand and is the centre of education and culture in the north, and here you find a strong presence of Lanna Culture. This is especially evident in the many beautiful temples you will find within the moat of Chiang Mai´s Old Town.
It is in the mountains of northern Thailand I have been on the most amazing off-road trips. Many of the small mountain villages you find here are only connected to the outside world via primitive gravel roads. I really like exploring these little dirt roads. Mostly when I come to a village, I get the feeling that visitors are not an everyday occurrence.
The land of Wat Umong covers more than 37 rais of land mostly covered in woods. Wat Umong means the tunnel temple, Wat= temple, and Umong=tunnel. The temple date back to 1297 where it was built by the Lanna King Manglai. The most famous attraction at the temple is its tunnels. The legend says the…
Udon Thani is one of the 5 major cities in Esan, North East Thailand and it also the Thai traffic hub for connecting to Laos, North Vietnam and China. During the Vietnam war, the city was also a recreational city for US soldiers when they had the chance to rest. There is still bars and…
Take a walk in nature’s pharmacy. When you walk the streets of Vientiane you will find one street in particular where most of the vendors are selling natural remedies. The importance of traditional medicine is recognized by the Lao government, and the government has established research centers under the ministry of public health, so that…
Visa run to Vientiane Laos, part 2 Apply for Visa and get back to Thailand. The next day i was at the consulate 7:50, at that time the gates were opened and 50 people were waiting in line to apply for Visa already. I spoke to a guy, he said he was at the consulate…
The Thai consulate in Vientiane, Laos is one of the places you can get your visa business done if you have to leave Thailand. There are many ways you can go to Vientiane in Laos, what the cheapest and most easy way is, depends on where you are trawling. If you are not flying directly…
Take route 118 in direction of Chiang Rai you find Wat Doi Saket on the right-hand side app. 30 kilometers north of Chiang Mai. Translated Wat Doi Saket means, Temple mountain Saket, or the Saket mountain temple. Wat=Temple, Doi=Moutain, and Saket is a name. It is a quite big Temple with a lot to look…
From old times San Kamphaeng Hot Springs was grassland, the people used the hot springs, and wells for bathing and boiling bamboo shoot… In the start of the 1970s when the oil prices were high, because of the worldwide oil crisis, the Thai government have an idea that it could use San Kamphaeng Hot Springs to…
Kham Tiang flower market in Chiang Mai is the place to go if you are in Northern Thailand and need plants for your garden. It is almost only a market for plants and garden supplies, so if you want to make a beautiful tropical garden Kham Tiang flower market in Chiang Mai, have everything you need. It is the…
King Saen Muang Ma started to build Wat Chedi Luang, or as it originally was called Phra Chedi Luang, in the 14 century. He wanted to enshrine the ashes of his father. however, the wat was first finished by King Tilokaraj in the 15 century, almost a hundred years later. Wat Chedi Luang was the tallest…
Chiang Mai old city was founded 1296 around and it was built as a walled city surrounded by a moat, which you can still see the remains of today. Most of the walls have collapsed, or the bricks have been used for other constructions in Chiang Mai, but the corner towers still stand almost intact. Each…