Chiang Mai & Beyond

In Chiang Mai, the district by the Tha Phae Gate is the place for budget travelers to lodge, -/night, and spend time in the evening. It's 50 baht by Tuk-Tuk from both bus stations. If you don't have a plan, tell the driver you want to start at JJ's- a restaurant and bakery right within the gate of this lively district.

The next day, if you haven't drunk too much at one of the many pubs that serve draft Carlsberg, you can sign up for a Thai cooking course on the opposite corner by JJ's. Cooking instruction includes trips to the market to identify the roots and herbs. Amateurs cooks rave about some chefs! It's a good way to appreciate more than pad thai.

Some tourists head to the western movies on the big screen at the main shopping center and others seek out the monks in the many temples within the old city. Soon enough most head up to Doi Suthep on a songthaew, by Chiang Mai University, to see the temple with big bells on the mount and a view of the small city. Make sure you take the same songthaew back or the driver might cut you off on the winding way back down and demand that you get into his pickup.

The Night Market is popular after sunset. That's where you will be surrounded by hill tribe girls and babies with forearms full of braided necklaces and trinkets, and opium pipes. Nearby many German restaurants serve wines from around the world and chicken cordon bleu and McDonalds has its place on the busiest corner.

Quick Tips:

Side trips around Chiang Mai can last for a few hours, like Doi Suthep, or for several days like the rafting trips to Pai where there are bungalows close to the trails that lead to elephant camps and villages where the people claim to live within the border of the mountains, not nations. Modern life in the city is such that the ticket girl in western dress for these excursions could be related to those Akha, Meo and Hmong peoples you will see after hours or days of trekking. Ask if you can say 'Sawadee' to anyone she knows while you're there.

Best Way To Get Around:

To get to Chiang Mai you can fly from Bangkok for or from the islands down south for about . Overnight buses run every night, back and forth, to destinations throughout the northeast and central regions. Luxury buses run about , while the air-conditioned and comfortable cheaper buses run only about one-way to Bangkok. From Chiang Mai you can also fly internationally to Jinghong and Kunming in southern China and Vientiane, Laos, as well as to many other destinations.

The Golden Fern is a nice place to stay in the center of the Old City of Chiang Mai. The New Zealander family that runs it and the Burmese girl at the front desk keep it lively and pleasant in the cool restaurant and lounge area in the front.

The rooms are roomy and nice, if not wonderful, but the overall feel of the place is very good and recommended for budget travelers at 250-400 Baht per night.

Rooms include a refrigerator and fan or air-conditioning and old fashioned pink blankets that look better with a ladybar girl under them.

Moped and motorcycle rentals can be made at the front desk and much tour information is available as well visa processing that takes a few days, as passports are sent to Bangkok.

The guesthouse is conveniently located near the Thae Pae Gate. That makes driving while drunk on a moped less dangerous since the bars are just a few throttles away. Also, the Night Market can be reached by tuk-tuk or motorcyle in about five minutes and, if you don't have transportation, well, many nice places to eat are nearby, as well as places for film processing, currency exchange and ATMs.

The restaurant in the guesthouse, open 7-7PM, proudly serves no Thai food, as the Kiwi chef is old school and well-loved for his Western fare. Big beers, Singha, Carlsberg and Heineken, and maybe an Amstel, are available for drinking in nice wicker seating for evening reads of the newspaper or for backpacker chatter.

Overall this is a very pleasant place, though not the best for its ambiance. The staff and the open air restaurant lobby give it a welcoming air, and the price is right even in the high season. Some nights the guesthouse was booked in December and January, so make a reservation during the holiday season.

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Aroon Rai is an open air restaurant located near the Tha Phae Gate where you can enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner everyday including Western holidays. Hours: 8am to 11PM. Nothing in the decor draws tourists to its tables, except the wide open front that welcomes all in any attire. It's one of those places you would pass unless you heard about it through the grapevine- even then you might pass it believing you were played for the fool. That's why I was surprised to find myself at this restaurant every morning for an early lunch during my stay in Chiang Mai no matter how long I searched the alleys for another place.

The tasty dishes that kept drawing me back include delicious curries and fried fishes, as well as one popular dish good for breakfast or dessert: sliced mango over sweet rice. And the price is right! This is not the cheapest place to eat in Thailand, but for $3 you can enjoy more than one dish at Aroon Rai.

The service at this restaurant just outside the wall from the pub district of Chiang Mai is uninspired, but that just makes the food the star. If you're looking for a Khan Toke dinner this place will not satisfy. But if you want to park your moped right by the table- not too close- and immediately point out your choice of the offerings on the line and to be served in just minutes, then Aroon Rai is for you. Hot mounds of sticky rice with unskinned fish is one of my favorites. The other fish, including the big monsters some of which I've never tried, are recommended for they look intriguing on the platter. When full please feel free to leave Aroon Rai, but when you return for another meal you must try the chicken curry with potatoes or the duck stew. In the morning you can start with a fresh squeezed juice- mango, orange, pineapple and even lumyai in season. Tourist breakfasts are also offered as well as fruit plates, and coffee is served, too.

Rumor has it that there is an upstairs to this restaurant, but in my many visits I've just sat right down on the first floor and enjoyed my meal.

Overall, Aroon Rai is close to ranking high and low like the House of Nanking in San Francisco. That popular restaurant with an awful decor has the worst service and the best food for the price in the city- so patrons love to hate it. At Aroon Rai the service is efficient and uninspired, rather than bad, but the food ranks up there with the best casual dishes in the city. I love to almost hate it, but know in my heart of hearts that for better food one must squat on mats in a rice field.

Nearby, across from JJ's Bakery and cafe, you may take a Thai cooking course to reproduce similar recipes to those dishes offered at Aroon Rai when you are home.