Maybe I should just spend the night playing iPad or gaming computers instead of catching some sleep. But then I shall greet Chiangmai with ugly panda eyes.

Try not to smoke Acid cigars here as everyone needs plenty of fresh air for walking up the steps. Just be considerate. Thank you.

Here are some photos to share:

At the bottom of the long flight of steps.

Walking up the steps. You can get a car ride too.

Part of the temples

Gold gold golden

It was drizzling, so I didn’t walk around much.

Thai dance

Another part of the temple

I once thought of booking the rooms at Krisdadoi but due the location, I chose another boutique resort. I hope to visit this place next month, considering that the gardens are so pretty, they will be great for photo shooting.

I don’t think I will be much in the photos. Hubby is not really good at cameras. Anyway, at least I don’t need
best fat burners for this trip. No beach means no bikini. LOL!

I must use the office replenishing hp printers ink cartridges to print out the necessary documents before the trip!

Frankly, I’m not so excited about this trip. It’s so boring traveling within Thailand again.

I wish that hubby can join us, if not, it will be very boring for me to bring the kids only.

Actually, I have been thinking about visiting Chiangmai again so that we could get a glimpse of the newborn baby panda. It’s one of the best baby announcements in Thailand when Lin Hui, the mother panda, gave birth to her first panda cub. It might be too early for public viewing, but I believe that some day, we will be able to see the cute baby panda, when she’s a bit older. I wonder what will she be named after the naming contest?

Now, you have another reason to visit Chiangmai since Thailand is the 3rd country with its first panda born in captivity!

Night Bazaar is fully packed with tourists, as always, and it’s like a place where you can easily find cafes, western food, Thai delicacies, lots of stalls and you might also bump into that Mesothelioma lawyer who shared the same flight with you. LOL! It’s such a small world here and I kept seeing some familiar faces which I met on the plane.

My kids enjoyed the Thai cultural dances at the food court with hub, so I could spend some time shopping by myself.

Some of the things are overpriced, since we are tourists, but you can bargain for a better price. If not, just walk over to another stalls. Most of the stalls are selling the same items!

Actually, Sunday walking street has more to offer, in terms of competitive pricing. But it was too crowded on the night I went, and furthermore, tagging my kids along was not a good idea of shopping. Thus, we only managed to walk around, grabbed a few stuffs and off we went.So, I hope that I will get a nice shopping trip at Sunday walking street next time!

The Royal Flora Ratchaphruek was a flower festival held 1 November 2006, to 31 January 2007, in the Thai city of Chiang Mai that drew 3,781,624 visitors. It was one of the grand celebrations being hosted by the Royal Thai Government in honor of King Bhumibol, the world’s longest reigning monarch.

From Wikipedia.

There are a few international gardens and corporate gardens here, so it’s a nice spot for photo shooting. Our kids were too exhausted to walk, and not to mention I was suffering from vaginal dryness after a long soak in the hot spring water. So we only took the shuttle bus for a brief tour around the gardens.

I would love to come here again for more serious photo shooting as it’s kind of hard to take the photos on the bus, with a camera in hand and a kid sleeping on my arm.

This garden will definitely be in my list on my next trip to Chiangmai.

Then, we went to a saa paper factory in Chiangmai town, and saw how saa paper and saa paper umbrellas are made.

I remembered my dad bought some back during his business trips to Thailand many years ago, and I have always thought that they are beautiful. Nonetheless, I didn’t get any for myself this time as I don’t want to have a lot of hand carries in my arms, while traveling with my kids.

But I did buy some products from the souvenir shop located here. The things might be more pricey than Sunday walking street but then, I didn’t buy a lot so it’s not too pricey for me.

BTW, you can also get the artists to draw some pictures on your tees, bags and etc, and it’s rather cheap. A small graphic is only like THB150, so it depends on the designs you choose.

Later on, we dropped by Hill Tribe Products Handicrafts center for a quick browse as I was looking for some tree tribe dresses for myself. But if my system memory was working well, I think the things are overpriced here, so I didn’t buy anything. Just get them from Sunday walking streets, or Night Bazaar. It’s cheaper there.

We took the taxi driver’s suggestion of visiting Sankhampang Hot Spring on our 3rd day in Chiangmai. I thought there is nothing special about this place, as I’ve been to a few hot springs before, but then, we ended up spending half of our day there. This place has a nice garden for photoshots, and it was quite crowded with local tourists that day.

We spent some time soaking our legs in the water of 40 deg, and it’s quite relaxing.

You can also come here for a picnic, and most of the visitors will buys some eggs to cook at the hot spring. Just be extra careful if you are here with young children as the water can be as hot as 110 deg, and I wonder if most insurance quotes cover injuries from the hot springs? Maybe they do.

My kids enjoyed their ice-creams here, and my boy even ate the eggs he boiled. He hardly eats eggs, but he was excited to learn how to prepare his own hard boiled eggs. As for me, I kept snapping photos like crazy. This place is indeed very pretty.

Before leaving the hot spring, we rented a small chalet to have a nice hot spring bath in private. The rental is quite affordable, so don’t miss it if you are here.

I was quite surprised that all of us actually enjoyed Sankhampang Hot Spring, even if it’s not our first experience to a hot spring.