I arrived in Chiang Mai bus station at around 7am and took a taxi to get to Rux Thai Guesthouse which cost ฿80 (Rs. 118/$2.6/€1.8). Rux Thai is a place I stayed last year as well. It’s located just off Loi Kroh road, which is essentially Chiang Mai’s tourist-filled area with the Thapae Gate at one-end and Ping River at the other.
Since I was going to be spending 3 to 4 nights, they gave me a room I requested on the ground floor (because they don’t have a lift) for ฿450 as supposed to the rack rate of ฿490 (Rs. 700/$16/€11) — which includes Wi-Fi. No breakfast included, but they have a restaurant on the ground floor which offers a decent menu at reasonable prices.
American breakfast costs ฿90 (Rs.133/$3/€2)
After a hot shower, I took a nap as I barely got any sleep in the bus (as is the norm for me in any bus journey). I got up as it neared lunch time, unpacked and took out all the camera equipment I had bought.
Credit card abuse for 2010
Though I did test out the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 lens and the tripod before I purchased them, I didn’t get to play around with them as much as I wanted.
The tripod & ball head can easily handle the weight of the Canon 7D and the lensMy first shot with the Canon 70-200
I loaded the equipment into my backpack and left the room at around 2pm.
This is Loikroh Lane 1 Road
Other budget hotels on this lane are Centerplace Guesthouse, where you get single rooms starting from 200 baht onwards. Vipa House (the one with yellow board pictured above) is right next to Centerplace and is priced about the same as Rux Thai. (Maybe I should check out Vipa next time).
Though there was a cookery class near Rux Thai, I had already booked myself into another cooking class (which was one of the things I would be doing in Chiang Mai).
I crossed Loi Kroh road and walked pointlessly through the alleyways on the other side.
Lazing in the afternoonWat Saen Fang (‘wat’ is Thai for ‘temple’)
You can rent theseBut the more sexy the bike looks, the more expensive they are to rentI walked all the way around and got to Kotchasarn Road
I chose to eat lunch at the same cosy small eatery I ate at last year.
Run by a mother and daughter duoIt’s inexpensive and the food is goodSpicy prawns and calamari with rice, ฿40 (Rs. 60/$1.3/€1)
After lunch, I rented a moped from the travel agent in front of Vipa House and decided to go on a drive around Chiang Mai.
I highly doubt itI parked on the other side to click a few photos
The poster (I’m guessing) was confirming that Loy Krathong celebrations were definitely November 20th to 22nd this year
Though, I did ask around to find out when exactly the release of the hundreds of lanterns at once was going to be. From research online, I did learn that the event was something that is held at some University grounds at a place called Mae Jo, but when I asked the people at Rux Thai, they weren’t sure about anything. (Communication is a bit of an issue in Thailand, despite how touristy this country is)
Chiang Mai gate
They had floats in the canals which children were riding and jumping off of
I got back on my bike and moved on
I planned to ride up Doi Suthep on the outskirts of the city, which wasn’t too far away. The route is quite simple really, plus I had done last year. Chiang Mai city isn’t as complex as say, Bangkok. As I got towards the road leading up to Doi Suthep hill, I stopped again to take photographs.
The name of this place? Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (try saying that fast)
I wanted to drive up the hill as I loved the ride last year. I wasn’t planning to drive all the way up to the temple, just up until the last view point before the temple.
Stopped at a small temple on the way
There’s a small waterfall up here
Doi Suthep is very popular among speed cyclistsBikers, cars, superbikes… you’ll see everybody enjoying the rideThis was my ride (฿200 for 24 hours)It was starting to get darkPanorama comprised of 10 shots
It was at this hairpin bend that the viewpoint was located.
You can’t actually see the sun set from this side
I set up the tripod because I knew I would be pitch dark soon.
It was a full moonShot at 200mm & cropped
As it neared 7pm, I packed up and left the viewpoint. I drove back down and this time, I took my jacket with me… because last year, I froze! 🙂
Once back in the city, I parked on the side when I saw some beautiful decorations in front of Saun Dok Gate .
I headed back to Loi Kroh road.
After parking the bike in front of the hotel, I stepped out again, this time choosing to go by foot.
Walked down Loi Kroh roadIf you want your 5-star fix, there is Le MeridienAt the end of Loi Kroh is Changklan roadPlenty of restaurants, hotels and stores here
I walked to Chiang Mai’s night bazaarPlenty of good seafood restaurants here
The night market sells the usual gamut of clothing, accessories and home decor
I wasn’t hungry and wanted to know where all the major Yi Peng celebrations in Chiang Mai would be. I was told that the major gathering point would be along Ping River.
I walked away from the bustling crowds near the night marketI could already see lanterns in the skyI ended up taking a turn back to a main roadTo be frank, after 15 minutes of walking, I didn’t know where I wasPing Nakara Boutique Hotel & spaWalked towards this big templeI was bored of walking, so I went in
Devotees were slowly trickling in to the temple to float Krathongs
As I walked out, I saw a ‘roti’ vendor on the way out and decided to eat something as it was getting late.
‘Roti’ in Thailand is commonly referred to sweet pancake batter filled with banana and other fillings
As I walked back, I realized I took a much longer route as the temple itself was not to far from the night market.
I just needed to walk through the food court and come out the other end
I walked to the bridges over Ping River
Loi Krathong celebrations had already begun… for someFirecrackers are very much a part of the celebrationsI went from one bridge to anotherThere are several bridges all along Ping River
Chiang Mai’s youth were all out to enjoy the festivitiesLined all along the streets snacking, singing and having a few beers with their friends
The banks of Ping river saw its share of revelers tooMoved to another bridge
No surprises there
Flowers, lots of flowersThe markets were still bustling at this timeHad to get down to ground level for a closer lookSwitched to the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 lens for the next few shots
These are ‘krathongs’The base is made using a thick slice of banana plant stem
The Frenchman in the above photo and I got talking, though I don’t remember how the conversation got started. Maybe I was wearing my ‘It’s Football, Not Soccer‘ t-shirt which has my website’s logo at the back and so he gave me his blog’s domain as well.
That is a *lot* of slain pigs
Paper lanterns on sale (prices ranges from ฿20 to ฿60 depending on size)
I called it a night after this and headed back to my room.
Can’t wait to see what the city has in store the next three days
I had my dinner from a rather nice joint on the same lane as Rux Thai. Lovely pork spring rolls and a can of beer (came to ฿200). I hit the sack early because I needed more sleep. Tomorrow was going to be any early morning, for I had to get ready to learn how to make Thai curry!
After a rather disappointing day in Penang yesterday, we woke up early today to set off on our next island destination: Langkawi.
After a rushed breakfast, we hired a taxi and headed to the terminal to board our ferry to Langkawi. We bought our tickets yesterday itself, and its advisable to do so; our boat was full.
It’s air-conditioned inside and there’s a “first class” upstairs as wellThe ferry leaves at 8:15am every morningSoon after the ferry set off, we decided to get up from our seats and go ‘upstairs’…… and then outside. The mushroom cloud from yesterday was still there.
Goodbye Penang, until next timeOn one side it was clear sunny skies……on the other, dark clouds with some pockets of rainIn this wide panorama shot, you can see the pockets receiving rainfall in the distanceThere were some lovely cloud formations along the way
The fumes are coming from the ferryWith a cool breeze, calm waters, and sunshine…… it’s perfect for a napIt was cool to see rainfall like thisI wasn’t the only one on board donning our company t-shirts (Photograph by Loiyumba)By 10:30am, we were nearing LangkawiThe water was getting clearerAt this point, we were asked to go back to our seats
This was our ferry (Taken using my phone camera)Hello Langkawi! (Taken on the Nokia E72)(Taken on the Nokia E72) (Taken on the Nokia E72)Plenty of yachts out here (Taken on the Nokia E72)
We hired a taxi to get to our hotel, which was on Pantai Cenang beach. (Cost us RM24)
There is a pre-paid taxi booth outside the terminalThe main town in Langkawi is Kuah (Photograph by Loiyumba)
By the way, if you wondering where the iconic symbol of Langkawi (the eagle statue) is, you can find it near a park very close to the ferry terminal. We passed it while driving out of the terminal but didn’t bother stopping to take photos… as there isn’t much to it.
The drive takes around half an hour
We were quite happy to see all this
By 11:30 we were at Pantai Cenang
We could see a sign on the main road pointing to Sweet Inn Motel, the place where we had reservations. Problem is, the sign was pointing to the left side, into the mainland and not to the right, where the beach was.
We were a *bit* disappointed upon seeing the placeThis I’m guessing is the motel owner’s house (Photograph by Loiyumba)
When we made the booking via Agoda.com in August, the description read “on Pantai Cenang beach,” and though it is only a 2 minute walk away from the beach, it’s not a sea facing hotel. Oh well, at least it was cheap. Our triple room cost us Rs. 2360 ($52/€37) for two nights — that’s under Rs. 800 per person for 2 nights!
The rooms were also quite decent. The triple room was one double bed and a single bed, a TV with mostly local channels, wardrobe and a clean enough toilet with hot shower.
We couldn’t check in yet because our rooms weren’t cleaned and kept ready. So instead, we dumped our bags in the office room and hit the beach.
Is there any beach on the planet that doesn’t have a Jamaica-themed bar?Langkawi’s most popular beach — Pantai Cenang beach (panorama comprised of 15 shots)
We couldn’t hand around for too long at the beach. We needed to convert currency as we were running short of Malaysian Ringgits. Loi wanted to sit at the bar, so myself & Ramesh headed back to the main road in search of a money exchange.
There are a few Indian restaurants here
The resort you see above is Malibest Resort, and it’s by the beach.
So is this placeJust about every hotel has bikes for rentLanggura Baron resort is more ‘motel’ than ‘resort’. Reasonable rates & by the sea.
When we first came across a money exchange center, they were closed for lunch. We had to walk quite a bit before we came across one that was open. There really weren’t that many money exchange centers on Pantai Cenang road. Not as ubiquitous as I noticed in Thailand. My advice is to convert money either prior to landing in Langkawi or outside the ferry terminal if you come by boat.
Money in hand, we headed back to the beach.
Judging by the flags, Indians and Arabs form a large chunk of the tourists in LangkawiVilla Idaman Motel, I couldn’t find their official site so you’ll just have to Google for more infoDespite being Langkawi’s most popular beach, it wasn’t very crowdedAir Asia has plenty of daily flights to LangkawiNot sure if this hotel was open yetMelati Tanjung Motel, this another budget sea-facing optionThe usual watersports are on offer
Lovely ‘sand art’ by beach snails (I presume)…… and the shore line had lots of them!A dead jellyfish. Felt like poking it with my fingers… but didn’t.Inside Babylon bar
After having a beer to cool ourselves, we went back to Sweet Inn to check in to our rooms.
After we checked in, we freshened up and then stepped out again for lunch.
I had Nasi Lemak, pretty much the Malay-equivalent to India’s ‘meals’
Considered to be the national dish of Malaysia, Nasi Lemak consists of some rice, roasted peanuts, papadam bits, small dried anchovies, boiled egg and and sambal, a spicy sauce (in the above photo, it’s the red one with calamari in it). The meal is filling and is usually very reasonably priced.
Ramesh had the one on the left; Loi had the one on the right
After lunch, instead of taking a nap, we decided to rent bikes and head to the Langkawi Sky Bridge while the sun was still up.
We rented 2 scooters at RM22 (Rs. 325/$7/€5) each for 24hrs.
The bikes that were the most common were Modenas. This model is called the Karisma.
The rental shop made a note of all the pre-existing scratches and damages before handing it over to us.
It’s best you inspect the bike as carefully as possible, so that they cannot point at any scratch or damage on the bike claiming you did that when you return it.
Helmets on, we set off. Ramesh rode solo while I rode with Loi sitting behind me.
Photograph by LoiyumbaPhotograph by LoiyumbaPhotograph by LoiyumbaWe stopped to fuel up. Filled up petrol for RM8 (Rs. 118). (These are self service stations by the way)Quite a scenic drive
… and it kept getting better
This is one end of the Langkawi International Airport runwayThis is the route we took. ‘B’ is Pantai Cenang beach and ‘A’ is the Langkawi Sky Bridge.We had to stop to take a few photos. (Yes, I was aware of how big the helmet was on my head)Panorama comprised of 3 shotsHe’s fishing… not anything elseWe moved ahead and then stopped again. I don’t remember why though.Ramesh ridin’ solo
We stopped here on the bridge to take a few photos.
We moved on.
You reach a T-junction, from where you’ll see this fruit stall. Take the right.
Then, up ahead is a signal. From the signal, you have to take a left turn.
You’ll pass the Langkawi Yacht Club
The road to the sky bridge goes all around the marina
After setting off at 2pm, by 4pm we were at the Langkawi Geopark. It’s not that the journey takes that long, we just stopped on the way quite a bit.
There’s ample parking available for cars & bikes
There are stores and restaurants belowYou buy the tickets from hereTickets cost RM30 per adult (Rs. 440/$10/€7)
There are few mini-waterfalls here
This is the first station, there’s another leg to the trip to the topThe view is amazing even at half-way pointThat’s the sky bridgePanorama comprised of 10 vertical shots
We got into the cable car and continued up.
Great designOnce you get to the second platform, you have to take these steps to get down to the sky bridgeThat’s how high the sky bridge is above sea level
By the way, there are gaps in between the platform you walk on
Apparently the final scene of the Hindi film Don (starring Shah Rukh Khan) was filmed on the sky bridge. I didn’t see the film, but that’s what Ramesh & Loi said.
There were steps leading under the platform. Being curious, I took it.Apparently you can trek all the way down too. But you need prior permission.Walked a few steps down and saw this. So went back up again.
That’s the second highest observation deck
That’s the marina of the Langkawi Yacht ClubThis observation deck was closed for maintenanceSo we went to the other observation deckMe showing Loi where we were staying (Photograph by Ramesh)The first wing of the beach you see in the distance is Pantai Cenang. The one further up is Pantai Tengah.
If you want a video of the sky bridge, watch this HD capture by Ramesh:
The sun was setting, so we decided to head back down.
Ramesh took video of our journey back down:
(You can view it in HD for better clarity)
Temurun waterfall
Once down, we checked out the Oriental Village.
The Oriental Village mostly comprises of shops, restaurants and other services like massage spas. We were a bit hungry so we sat in a cafe to have something to eat.
This is what I had: Roselle flower juice (L) & beef burger (R)
It was was past 6pm, which is also closing time for the cable car ride. We wanted to make the most of whatever sunlight was available while heading back. So we set off…
…buuut we ended up stopping again near the Langkawi Yacht Club
A beautiful evening to close out a lovely first day in LangkawiThere’s a Petronas gas station near the yacht clubYes, me and my big helmet (Photograph by Ramesh)
As darkness fell, we still managed to get back to Pantai Cenang beach road in around 45 minutes. Instead of heading back to our rooms, we decided to make the most of the bikes while we had them. We drove straight, on to Pantai Tengah beach and past it as well, until we hit a dead end which looked like another docking bay for boats.
So we made our way back and decided to return the bikes tonight itself.
This is the place where we rented our bikes from
The reason why we returned them is because the next morning we had booked ourselves for an island-hopping tour which would last until afternoon. So by the time we would have gotten back to our rooms, it would have been past the 24-hour limit.
For our early dinner, we went to this restaurant which had a sizable crowdIt’s lovely place and isn’t that expensiveYumHmmm…Errrr…
(I kinda wanted to try it though)
But Loi & I ended up ordering this interesting looking butter pan-fried tiger prawns
We had a large plate of fries, some beers, and some pasta; all of which came to around RM44 (Rs. 650).
For dessert, and in my quest to try out new things, I had Kit Kat ice cream. It was okay.
With that, day one in Langkawi came to a close! We had woken up early in Penang today morning and tomorrow, we had to wake up early again for our pick up for the island-hopping tour.
I planned to ride up Doi Suthep on the outskirts of the city, which wasn’t too far away. The route is quite simple really, plus I had done last year. Chiang Mai city isn’t as complex as say, Bangkok. As I got towards the road leading up to Doi Suthep hill, I stopped again to take photographs.
I wanted to drive up the hill as I loved the ride last year. I wasn’t planning to drive all the way up to the temple, just up until the last view point before the temple.
As it neared 7pm, I packed up and left the viewpoint. I drove back down and this time, I took my jacket with me… because last year, I froze! 🙂
I headed back to Loi Kroh road.
I wasn’t hungry and wanted to know where all the major Yi Peng celebrations in Chiang Mai would be. I was told that the major gathering point would be along Ping River.
As I walked out, I saw a ‘roti’ vendor on the way out and decided to eat something as it was getting late.
The Frenchman in the above photo and I got talking, though I don’t remember how the conversation got started. Maybe I was wearing my ‘It’s Football, Not Soccer‘ t-shirt which has my website’s logo at the back and so he gave me his blog’s domain as well.
I called it a night after this and headed back to my room.
