Lanta Islands - untouched part of Thailand

Ko Lanta Yai. The name of the island that is off the western coast of the infamous Krabi island and probably best known for it's clear clean waters on it's white beaches. The Lantai Yai island is actually the largest of the over 50 small secluded group of islands; hence, Lanta IslandS.

What's accommodating about the Lanta islands is that there are all sorts of budget travels u can choose from, with the cheapest u can find around to the top notch ones, which r of course super exquisite. When i mainly go there i just go to the ordinary ones but from time to time there r special rates available. There's lots to choose from, check out http://www.tourismthailand.org/7wonders/ for a handful of selections

An activity that i must suggest for all visitors is fishing, u'll see a lot of fishing boats known as the 'long tail' boats that the local fisherman use. It's a great experience, especially if u go with ur friends.

Oh yeah, and of course snorkeling and diving are main attractions of these islands as well. Many diving schools use the Krabi area as the place to practice or do professional diving because of the nice corals and clear beaches.

Give it a try!

Nan, Little green mt. city in N. Thailand

Nan, a northern city in Thailand is a common place for local and foreigners to go, especially with the increasing popularity of touring the north of Thailand. This small city is rich wtih historical monuments, especially temples and the nature is very green with the national forest of Nan being visited by many from all over the country.

The most famous museum here is the national museum of Nan in the temple called "Wat Phumin" and you can ask anyone in the city and they'll easily point out where it is. The national museum itself is actually a former palace of the previous feudal lords back in the old days, and it is kept very well and maintained very well.

Nan actually borders Laos so there's a lot of history there, considering how Thai and Laos are historically.

The historical sites in Nan are just everywhere, naming a few would be: Wat Phra That Chae Haeng, Wat Hua Khuang, Wat Suan Tan, and the list would just go on and on. All of these places can be found at the 7 Wonders Thai website that went to ( http://www.tourismthailand.org/7wonders/ )These are all temples that are very very well ornate and richly done so as well. Many people go there to visit these temples because of their significance religiously and architecturally, and for people who just want to meditate peacefully, these temples really do it.

Since there's the Nan river close by, many activities go on by the river, especially rafting, and the historical and traditional boat racing where people dress up in traditional clothes and help race the long boats, which is a tradition dating back centuries. Oh yeah, if you guys like mountain hiking or biking don't miss out too because it's a mountainous region, over a thousand meters above sea level so the weather's pretty nice as well.

This city is really worth a try if you like to take pictures with temples and the forest and the river. Otherwise, for those of you who love the beach more, i doubt it u'd enjoy it here, but hey, always worth the try, i really enjoyed the peaceful life there, especially when i'm close to the mountain or the river.

Cheers

Montblanc Cake – homemade awesome bakery in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Heading up north again, they're countless restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, etc. opening up in Chiang Mai and they're all just very unique shops that are just so worthwhile checking out, so i went to one of them and decided to do a review on it. I got it from the 7 wonders website ( http://www.tourismthailand.org/7wonders/ ) and they’re many other places to go (or stay) at in the website, just search for it, pretty simple stuff.

The bakery that i went to is called "Montblanc Patisserie" which is located in the Niman Hemin road, a famous road filled with hip restaurants, cafes, clubs, and loads of shops. This shop has been around for quite a while and has grown in its popularity ever since. They also have their own home made icecreams that i find very fascinating, aside from the cakes, and also the cookies.

Their signature Montblanc Cake is always high on demand and runs out pretty quickly. There's also a seating area right outside the shop and the weather's usually cold (colder than bkk) most of the year (although hot for many country's standards!!)

The interior of the shop is very well decorated with many sofas and cool paintings (prints as well) in comic forms. you can park your car right next to the complex, and get a stamp for ur car so that you don't need to pay for parking! The shop is located in a newly built complex, i think it's called the "cotto complex" or something because the "cotto" company is in there with their own showroom.

Bon Appetite!

Hat Yai – S. hub of Thailand

Many people my only recognize southern Thailand as being the Phuket or Krabi, but actually there are many cities in the south that are very interesting to visit, Hat Yai being one of them. Hat Yai is a very lively city in the Province of Songkhla province, which is almost bordering Malaysia.

Hat Yai is argued by many to not be the most interesting city in Thailand. yes i must agree. But Hat Yai's importance to the southern region and Malaysia makes it always filled with tourists within the region and from far away. There are plenty of hotels in Hat Yai for this very reason, and many people like to stop in Hat yai to enjoy the local market, because it acts as a hub for the rest of the region. As for restaurants, seafood is very famous in Hat Yai as well, and also fried chicken, which you can find in almost every corner of the city.

The details on where to stay or where to eat exactly can be found here --> http://www.tourismthailand.org/7wonders/ and just search for it, pretty easy to find.

Transportation there is plentiful as well, with the Hat Yai international airport, railway transportation, or bus, whatever suits you best.
The markets i'd suggest you to go to are: Santisuk (peace) Market and Kimyhong Market, you can ask any local and they'll point it out for u very easily.

For natural sight seeing, you can go to the Tone Nga Chang waterfall, which is famous for it's seven layers, or the Public Park of Hat Yai which is well known for its serenity, and the Hat Yai temple, which is the main temple in the city, a very beautiful one too.

Lots more to check out!
Enjoy!

Pattaya - legend of Thailand

Pattaya itself used the be the highlight of attractions for people who want to head to the beach or enjoy a day trip to beach. But nowadays, Pattaya has been overlooked by the further away islands and towns down south such as Phuket or Krabi, but i had the opportunity to go to Pattaya the other week and i found the place to be very developed.

I stayed at the Dusit Thani Pattaya Hotel, which is close to teh Southern Pattaya area, and very close by the Hard Rock Hotel down the beach. It's a 5 star hotel but every now and then, there are promotions so you should check it out if they're any updates on promotion. My stay was awesome for the fact that it was a five star stay!!

I was surprised after not going to pattaya for so long to see how developed it became. I enjoyed the Hard Rock Cafe' which every now and then has foam parties in it's pub which is just a blast. The restaurants are just always popping up so you never really get enough of the food there, and it's just great, especially the seafood. For the restaurants and the places to stay, there's a load of details you can get from this website > http://www.tourismthailand.org/7wonders/ in the "beaches" section.

Need i remind you of how exciting Pattaya is at night because this tourist hot spot is filled with discos, a hi-tech extravaganza filled with flashing lights and anything you can imagine, so go and enjoy it!

Good luck!

Touring the little northern town in Thailand - Pai

The northern part of Thailand is becoming a more and more famous trend each year for locals and foreign tourists to visit. I mean, it's not very surprising for its popularity to rise so much, because the city is just engulfed in a relaxed atmosphere, especially during the winter.


There are many types of resorts or hotels/guesthouses there as well, from the low budget ones for backpackers to the top end ones that people just get envious for you to stay there. there are lots to choose from, but i'm not very particular about any, maybe some other time i'll do a review on the places to stay there, try going to http://www.tourismthailand.org/7wonders/ and search for it there.

What people love doing there is just being rejuvenated from city life and kicking it back and relaxing. What most people do when they go there are: enjoy a cruise on a raft down the river to enjoy the scenery and greenery of course, then a lot of people like to go try riding on the elephant and rent bicycles to tour the town on their own, since it's not a very big town, you can enjoy it for a few days.

Sometimes, many people just go there to just detox themselves by enjoying the fresh air, some people just enjoy teh vegan restaurants there as well, it's really up to you, but i must say that what all of you should do is try touring the mountains and the river to really let the nature sink in, because it is truly something special that's hard to find anywhere else, so give it a try!

enjoy!!

Restaurant on top of mountain - Chiang Mai Thailand

During the winter season, most Thais head up north, likewise to many tourists. Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Pai are the common places to go these days and i couldn't agree more that i visited Chiang Mai myself.


During my visit, i had the opportunity to go to this one particular restaurant, that i must say is one of the most memorable places i've been in Thailand. It sits on top of a mountain and is very cozy, a restaurant by the name of Palaad Tawan Ron. This restaurant is a very well known restaurant that many visitors and locals of the city of Chiang Mai love visiting because of its spectacular view.

The food here is also great, although many people say the food is not so exceptional compared to the flabbergasting view of the city of Chiang Mai. Right below the restaurant, hovering the view of the town is a beautiful lake and lots and lots of trees, so you feel very much in the green.

For dinner, i ordered fried fish, tom yum goong, mixed vegetables, crab fried rice, and a nice cool beer. The price was around 800 baht, which is very ordinary, especially considering the location. Overall, i was very pleased with the dishes, they also came quite quickly, but they also became cold quite quickly, because the weather up there is a lot cooler than in the city.

To get there, you can rent a truck, taxi, or you can drive by yourself up the mountain. The path is pretty steep so driving is actually quite fun, around 10-15 minute drive up the mountain.

There are more of these types of restaurants and places if you like these types of places, go to http://www.tourismthailand.org/7wonders/

Try it out and enjoy!

Cliff pointing to the heavens - Thailand

"Phu Chi Fa" = literal translation from Thai to English is --> pointing to the sky.

And if you go to the top of this mountain on the summit in Chiang Rai Province, you'll really be "pointing to the sky" because of the shape of the summit, the cliff, pointing towards the sky.

The location is in Chiang Rai, which is the northern most part of Thailand, up in the mountains where the cliffs are locations for tourists to go enjoy the scenery.

What tourists love to do is to go there early in the morning and watch the sun rise and you can see the fog from the valleys below slowly uncover as the sun rises. When the sun totally rises, the fog disappears and what you see is the Mekong River, one of the lifelines of this region. Also, you can see deep into the country of Laos. The greenery is very very refreshing and the air is very pure, a must for nature lovers.

To get there from Bangkok you can either go by train, car, or airplane. I'd suggest the airplane because it's only a bit over an hour (around 1:30 hours) but if you want to take the bus or car, it'll be around 9-11 hours.

When you're there, the method to get up to the cliffs can be either by mountain biking, hiking, or take the car to where the road ends, then walk or rent bicycles. There are a few places for you to stay as well, for best advice or info (which is where i also got part of my info from), go to http://www.tourismthailand.org/7wonders/ in the 'nature' section then click on the 'beauty sports' section and you'll find this.

The weather is cool and refreshing all year round, so you'll see a lot of beautiful greenery, from flowers, plants, to trees that are quite rare.

You'll enjoy this one for sure!