Staying at Nimmanhaemin and eat rice porridge,
The next morning go enjoy the wind at Kew Mae Pan. Then, moving onto Mae Rim! It sounds like a sound plan.
And end the trip with Ban Mae Kampong. Well, all this is do-able even with no private car.
All the food and things are to divided by two. I'm sure we can go to all three.
Ok! Let's pack and go out to explore Chiang Mai together!

Let's gooooooo!!!!…

Well, like we know, "Chiang Mai" has so many tourist attractions.

Like Mon Jam, Mon Jong, Doi Ankhang, Doi Suthep, Doi Pui, Doi Luang Chiang Dao, Ban Pa Bong Piang, Samoeng District, ......ect. Ok, let's say that it's really a lot!

From so many places, we chose 3 for this trip which is Kew Mae Pan, Mae Rim and Mae Kampong. I have to say that we are a very adventurous group of people, haha. If you want to travel to Chiang Mai but have no private car or even if you do but you don't know how to drive........Congratulations, you have come to the right review.

We go with VIP bus for this trip. We go with Sombat Tour to Chiang Mai and come back to Bangkok with Nakhonchai Air.

It is 778 THB for both tours (for round trip, it is 1,556 THB). The Sombat Tour provides a pillow, a blanket, the adjustable chair, a TV, a bottle of water and snack, but! without a meal box. They stop for us to have lunch instead. For more information, please visit: http://www.sombattour.com/

We leave Bangkok on January 22nd 2016 at 07.30 a.m. and arrive Chiang Mai Bus Terminal at around 18.00 p.m. It is approximately 10 hours ride.....For the girls who do squat but the result is not good, I recommend you to do the round trip bus of Bangkok-Chiang Mai, this should help you to have a bigger butt, haha.

Once we arrive, do not hurry to hire the entire car as we will waste our money with no legitimate reason! What we need to do is walking to the Red Taxi...and tell them where we want to go.

Also, please have your firm stand and tell them that "we are not going to hire the entire car". Then, we just have to wait until people are full and the driver will start driving.

It takes about 20-25 minutes from the Bus Terminal to Nimman Soi 17, where our hostel "The Pause Hostel" is located.

The Red Taxi is 50 THB each and the hostel is 330 THB each. Once we check in, take the key card, leave out luggage in the room, it's time to find delicious food....

The Pause Hostel offers female beds room, male beds room and mixed bed room as well as private room.

The bathroom and toilet is separated from the bedroom and located in every floor. If you are interested, please visit: https://web.facebook.com/thepausehostel

Ok! Let's eat! Last year I came to Chiang Mai with friends and enjoyed rice porridge so much.So this year, I wanted to try again. Oh well, I can't recall the name of the restaurant and I try to search and search. Finally, yes, I found it! "Rai Khao Tom Nai Dam" is opposite to the Public Health Center of Chiang Mai Province on Suthep Road. It's only a 10 minutes walk from Soi Nimman 17.

It's has so many menus available that we almost can't make our choices. Finally, we have Fried Crab with Curry (150 THB), Fried Clams with Thai Chili Paste (70 THB), Fried Mimosa with Crispy Pork (50 THB), Omelet (40 THB) and 2 cups of rice as well as 2 bottles of water. This meal costs us 350 THB and when divided by two people, it's 175 THB each.

Now we are so full, let's go digest at Nimman Road and Maya Shopping Center.

But we can't stay here too long as we need to go back to sleep soon due to tomorrow early program....

It's now 4 a.m. let's get up and go see the sunrise at Doi Inthanon National Park. That we leave out hostel very early (4.30 a.m.), we didn't check out or anything but just leave the key card at the counter.

It takes about 3 hours from our hostel to Doi Inthanon National Park......actually, that it takes this long because we need to transfer several times.

Starting from taking the Tuk Tuk from our hostel to Chiang Mai Gate (50 THB for 2 people).

From Chiang Mai Gate, we take the blue bus to Wat Phra That for 34 THB.

And from Wat Phra That, we take the yellow Song Taew to the entrance towards "Kew Mae Pan". The fare is 150 THB. Most people will gather about 8-10 people and hire the round trip car from Wat Phra That-Doi Inthanon-Kew Mae Pan Viewpoint for 200 THB each. But since we are going to walk long in Kew Mae Pan, so we didn't yet book our return car like other people.

Here is Chiang Mai Gate where you can take the blue bus.

I already feel cool when taking the bus but once I see the sunrise....I feel colder.

We can't make it for the sunrise. If you want to be on time, you must wake up about 3 a.m. and take the first bus which will leave the Chiang Mai Gate at 4 a.m.

Once we reach Wat Phra That....we quickly take the yellow Song Taew.

When we reach the entrance of the national park, the car will stop and let us pay for the entrance fee.

Usually, the adults ticket is 50 THB but we show our student's cards, so it's 20 THB each.

Before walking to the Kew Mae Pan, let's find some hot things to eat and charge up our energy.

What could be better than the rice porridge and a cup of hot Ovantine in this cold weather!

It is 30 THB each and let's enjoy!!!

"Kew Mae Pan" or "Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail" is a 3 km trail which might take us 2-3 hours walk varied from person to person. It is 2,000 m. above the sea level with beautiful view along the route, especially at the golden open field. 10 years ago, "Rak Jang" movie was also shot here. Ok, let's get together with other people and enjoy the trail!

Once we gather about 8-10 people, we now go to the staff and pay 200 THB for a guide. We are 10 people so it's 20 THB each. Previously, you could choose either to use the guide from the national park or not, now the national park requires every group to walk with a guide because some tourists destroyed the nature while walking, like picking up flowers. Thus, we must help preserve the nature so that it can stay with us long.

The first thing that we will come across is......."Lan Saded Waterfall". It's a small magical waterfall. It seems to have certain magic that draws us in. It's very beautiful though it's so small. Just by seeing this, I feel so fresh already.

Then we keep walking to find several small flowers in white and pink. The guide told us that they are called "Pak Pai Flower".

Although it's a short route, we take breaks for several times. Probably it is due to we are on highland and it's a bit steep.

This place is called “Chong Lom" (Wind). You can try to stand here......and you will feel numb from head to toes.

Now....we are getting closer to the peak.....

We arrive now!!! Kew Mae Pan Viewpoint! Many tourists are showing their post both by sitting and laying down, what a great time!

If you are coming here late, I recommend you to find a peaceful corner and simply enjoy the view.

Here is the simplest post....

From the Viewpoint, it's the mountain ridge walk of only about 1 m wide.

So please be careful while walking, do not just take photos and point here and here; otherwise, it could be dangerous.

Several Azalea are along the route, this particular type is called Rhododendron arboreum. It is blossom from January to May and fully bloom in late February.

It's quite rare in Thailand. We probably could find them here and Khun Jae National Park.

From the end of this ridge, we could clearly see Phra Maha That Nabhamethanidol and Nabhapolbhumisiri (The Great Holy Relics Pagoda Nabhamethanidol and Nabhapolbhumisiri).

Then, we walk back to the signing spot, pay the staff and move onto "Mae Rim"!
But wait! How do we go? We didn't hire a round trip ride like other people...what to do?
We need to take the ride back to downtown Chiang Mai from Wat Phra That. But we couldn't get a ride as every car is waiting for their passengers who hired them for a round trip ride.
Finally, we found a car who is going to send off their passengers at Phra Maha That Chedi. He said the staff of the national park is there, probably they could help us. So immediately, we hop on!

Such a disappointment! Here has even less car than earlier spot. Every car is going up not down. The staff also confirm that "this is...none of our business". Finally, we have to try to find the car at the front of Phra Maha That Chedi.....After 15 minutes,we heard "girls, you want to go with me!?".... We got confused as we saw no car nearby. We try to locate the sound and find a guy in a leather jacket with a cigarette on his left hand riding on a scooter! So cool but we are a bit scared. Nonetheless, we walk near him to see who he is and found that he's our guide earlier on Kew Mae Pan! He's riding home so he offers us a ride as it'd be much easier to find the ride from his village.

Thank you so much, our hero :)

This is a kind handsome guy who offers us a ride to his village before we could find a kind family taking us further within a minute after we reach his village.

Then, we talk this and that and get to know that they are from Lampang and also travelling around Chiang Mai. We also stop for a boat noodle (50 THB) before reaching downtown and separate with them.

Thank you so much again for your kindness :)

From noodle shop, we take the Song Taew to Chang Puak Bus Terminal for 20 THB each.

Our next mission is to take the yellow Song Taew towards Muang Kaew Sub District, Mae Rim District. The fare is 20 THB. We could tell the driver that we wanted to get off at Muang Kaew Municipality and he will drop us off at this overpass. Then, we need to hire another car to our hotel. The fare is 60 THB. We won't be lost for sure as the sign is there along the route.

Finally, we arrive at “Chic 39"… The home stay in the midst of flowers, such a chic style.

This place is separated into 2 zones. The first zone is a restaurant zone which opens from 10.00 a.m. to 20.30 p.m. And the other zone is room zone which offers 4 rooms, one in each floor. If you wish to have a private and peaceful stay, here is the perfect choice. We stay at the stary night on the first floor. It is 2,390 THB per night (Sunday – Thursday is 2,090 THB). The price is varied by room, if you wish to see the room and the price or for more information, please click https://web.facebook.com/chic39

But now, please allow us to enjoy our bed........we are super tired!!!!

This is the view from our room during the sunset.

The stomach is crying now. Let's go eat. But before that, let's explore around to see if it's really chic like its name suggested......

We ordered Smoked Salmon Pizza, Yum Chicken, and Honey Toast & Ice cream. I must say that every menu is superb.

The total cost is 600 THB and when divided by two, it is 300 THB each. If you don't like toast, you can also choose other type of bread as it comes in big variety and all look yummy.

But now I'm so full and feel guilty a bit of eating too much, let's go back to our room....

Nothing is better than sleeping on the comfy bed and wake up to see this amazing view.

Ok! Let's go eat. We are going to the same place as last night. Although the atmosphere is different, the chic style remains unchanged.....

We each pay 250 THB additional and here is what we got.......Rice porridge, Khao Soi (Yellow Noodle in a Curry Soup), Kaeb Moo (Crispy Pork Skin), Nam Prik Num (Northern Chili Paste), Sai Aua (Northern Sausage), Pa Tong Go (Fried Dough), Fruits, Orange Juice, Tea, Water.. And every menu is great and delicious and we both couldn't finish them all, haha.

Before checking out, let's digest our food by exploring around the Chic 39 :)

A yellow chrysanthemum field of Chic 39 is a place that you must come for photo shooting if you are staying here, otherwise, you haven't reached here.

Oh! I forgot to mention that today we have the car picking us up from Mae Rim to Mae Kampong so we won't have to transfer. Tomorrow, she will also drive us back to downtown Chiang Mai. Her name is Auntie Nong, she drives the yellow Song Taew. We got her contact from the accommodation in Mae Kampong. If you are interested, you can contact her at 098-746-6569. The hiring price is 1,600 THB, so the more people, the better price.

Now, we arrive at "Mae Kampong Village" Mae On District, Chiang Mai Province.

How do you think about this village? I think they are very cute. What I like the most is you won't see any luxurious resort or hotel nearby because most of restaurants and accomodations in Mae Kampong are wooden home stay houses which give us such a greaat atmosphere. Before going around, let's put our luggage at our accomodation first. Tonight we are going to stay at "Ban Him Huay Lung Pook Pa Peng Home Stay". It is 600 THB per person per night. The great thing about this place is they have a small cute coffee shop and it's going to be our place for free breakfast tomorrow morning. For more information, please click https://web.facebook.com/maekampong.homestay

We stay on the 2 story houses and we choose to stay at the ground floor as private bathroom is inside. The second floor will separate bathroom and bedroom.

Here is the view from our room. We see the small stream collecting the water flowing from Mae Kampong Waterfall, it's quite refreshing.

Our first destination of the day is "Chom Nok Chom Mai Coffee Shop" (to enjoy birds and nature, literally meaning). It takes about 15-20 minutes-walk from our home stay.

Certain path of this route is quite steep, we must be careful. You are also welcome to make some merits at Wat Khan Tha Prueksa.

Here is the entrance towards Chom Nok Chom Mai Coffee Shop.

Yeah, we now arrive. Let's go find a seat and enjoy some cool refreshments to ease out our tiresome.

I have Green Tea with Milk for 60 THB. It's quite tasty....Well, given this view, anything is delicious, I think.

It takes less then 10 minutes walk from Chom Nok Chom Mai Coffee Shop to Mae Kampong Waterfall.

You just have to walk straight forwards, no turning or whatsoever and with no entrance fee, just going straight.

Mae Kampong Waterfall is a spectacular seventh floor waterfall. It is the main attraction of Mae Kampong Village. It's only open to public up until the third floor when we visited. I think it's very beautiful just as the rumor has it. The entrance to the waterfall is quite steep, let's just take a look at the photos.

After enjoying Mae Kampong Waterfall, we are going to Ted Du Coffee shop. It is about 10-15 minutes walk from our home stay.

If you are seeing this sign and cannot find the shop after looking left and right......stay clam, you have to walk down, the shop is located down there....

And here is how Ted Du Coffee look like. It is a small hut near the water falling from the mountain.

If Bangkok has this kind of coffee shop, I would ask for nothing, but....WiFi...

We order a cup of peach tea (120 THB) and a cup of hot honey lemon juice (75 THB).

Well, the taste depends on personal preference, for me, it's a little bit too sweet...

That we enjoy enough of the great atmosphere, let's go enjoy our dinner now.

This restaurant is near our home stay. It has no name. It sells Grilled Pork, Som Tum, Sticky Rice and Thai Sausage.

This meal costs us 80 THB which is 40 THB each.

We get to hang our legs down and when looking through it, we see the river flowing.

Now, time's up, it's time to go back.

Wow, time does fly. Before I knew it, I have to go back to Bangkok already!

We want to say goodbye to Mae Kampong with breakfast at this coffee shop. Then, P'Nong comes take us back to downtown Chiang Mai at 8.30 a.m.

Yesterday we also went by this shop but didn't get to take a look as it was too crowded.

Now I understand why it's so crowded....the shop is so super cute.

Each person gets a rice porridge and 2 delicious pieces of waffle and one more beverage offered in the shop on your choice.

It takes about an hour from Mae Kampong to downtown Chiang Mai.

We asked P'Nong to drop us at "Waroros Market' as we wanted to wander around and buy some souvenir home while waiting for the bus.

After that, we take the Red Taxi to drop us at Chiang Mai Bus Terminal (the fare is 20 THB each). Then, Nakhonchai Air bus leaves at 12.15 p.m.

I'm sorry that I didn't take photo outside the bus, well, it's a two story bus just like the usual one.

The chair is adjustable leather. It's very comfy. I enjoy a long nap here. It offers TV, blanket and snack like usual services.

What special is they also give us a meal box so we won't have to stop for food.

For more information, please visit http://www.nca.co.th/main.html

We arrive Bangkok at 21.40 p.m. It's time to actually say goodbye now! Goodbye the bus, goodbye the yellow Song Taew, the Red Taxi, goodbye the cold weather, goodbye "Chiang Mai" and we will definitely meet again! I hope this review is helpful for those who plan to travel to Chiang Mai, especially the ones who don't drive. Here is 20 of 3 digits budget accommodations in Chiang Mai http://bit.ly/1PERLnG Here is the timetable of the bus that goes to other districts and tourist attractions in Chiang Mai http://www.reviewchiangmai.com/1887 If you want to know where we will take you next time, please follow us at http://blissoutthere.com/ and https://web.facebook.com/BlissOutThere

Expenses Summary

1. Accommodation : The Pause hostel is 330 THB+ Chic 39 is (2,390 / 2) THB + Ban Him Huay is 600 THB = 2,125 THB

2. Transportation: Round trip bus is 1,556 THB + Yellow Taxi, Red Taxi, Blue Bus, Tuk Tuk is 379 + Hire car (1,600 / 2) = 2,735 THB

3. Food: Including every meal and snack is 1,003 THB

4. Other: The entrance fee of Doi Inthanon National Park is 20 THB + the guide fee at Kew Mae Pan is 20 THB = 40 THB

** The total cost is 5,903 THB **

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