DAY 1     ..:.     DAY 2     ..:.     DAY 3


DAY 2 : Mike & Me awaiting for the tour van at the hotel lobby.


There is actually a tour guide service right in front of our hotel. The plan for the day is to go and visit the Meo tribe and also a visit to Doi Suthep.

Its fairly near. Around 16km up the hill. Think it cost 500Baht per person, that's around RM50 which I think is pretty reasonable and convenient.

Tour prices don't differ much from tour agents to another. But u can still ask for a discount... Not much though.

Other tours include jungle tracking, white water rafting, bamboo rafting, elephant shows, elephant rides,  a trip to the border of Laos and golden triangle. Hmmm..... an interesting tour they have was a trip to cooking school where u'll go and learn how to cook Thai dishes... yes.. yes... pad Thai , green curry and stuff... which I find to be the yummiest dishes in the world. :)
 

The weather was much cooler on the hilltop. The 1st stop was to the Meo village located further on top of the mountain. We were told that we'll go to Doi Suthep on the way down later that afternoon. The roads were a bit winding, luckily it wasn't too far. They say that the 1st yr students of the Chiang Mai University will hike the mountain as part of their orientation programme. A German, an Australian couple, a Singaporean couple :) was also in the van with us. Oak our tour guide was extremely entertaining.
 

The village seemed to be commercialized. I guess tourism and material needs had governed their life style. A pity really.
There is quite a wide selection of Thai Silk. 4 Meters. Around 400Baht/RM40. Get it there as there are more choices of Thai Silk there compared to anywhere else that we found.
 
 

The Meo tribe seems to be more tourist orientated and sells products for a living ranging from traditional costumes, cloth, silver accessories, bags, quilts, the only unique item was their black costumes with bright motives...
 
As we went up the mountain along the stalls, we came up to this beautiful plantation, kids were
bathing near a small man made waterfall.
 

There were old huts. probably replicas of huts they once lived in.

There was a huge salamander on the rock where we were taking pictures at.
 
The small man made waterfall. That's poppy flower. The ones used to make drugs... Mike giving it a thumbs up... ha ha
 
Poppy and Marijuana.... that's how the tree looks like...
Mike wif a trumpet-flower tree behind him. A Meo kid came up to me, and I didn't waste the chance to snap a pic wif him.
 
And yeah... the kid turned around and asked me for 10Baht.... grrrrrrr......... I handed it over. Sigh, am so weak wif kids.
 
That's Oak, our tour guide. Very witty and friendly, definitely people like us.
 
 
And so we headed down back to our car after purchasing some Thai silk and then headed over to Doi Suthep.
 

We all got into an .. tramp and headed up the mountain
 

That's the stairs we avoided coming up.
The Naga (Dragon) stairs leads up to the temple.
 

A lion statuette guards the entrance on either sides.
 

The Sala Tree believed to be where
Buddha was born and died under.
 

A statue of Suthep
 

Faithful devotees praying
 

The gong is suppose to grant good fortune to who ever that rings it. The sound it made was truly pleasant to the ear.
 

There was also a golden bell donated by Malaysians from Kedah.
 

There was also a small wooden temple carved neatly at the back of the Doi Suthep Temple.
 

A Mom is a mythical animal believed to be part dog, part monkey and part fish.

It started to drizzled, and we were done walking around the temple exterior walls.
 

In the temple lies the various Buddha positions. Each position represents a day. U can also check on what day u r born there to know which positions represents you.
 

Its believed that the remains(sari) of Buddha is below the golden Stupa (stipple).

A perfect shot of the shrine.
 

Donations were welcomed.
 

The astrological signs on the ceiling
 

We left Doi Suthep and moments later was back at our hotel. and from our hotel room, we could see something shimmering on the mountain.

With a 6x Zooming capability of a 6.0 Megapixel camera, u can clearly see that Doi Suthep was looking upon the city.

 

the inclined tracks headed up to Doi Suthep.
 

Its nothing compared to Batu Caves in Malaysia.
 

Suthep is the name of the hill names after the founder.
A monk that resides there in the past.
 

The tree behind me beared Jack Fruits. Tons of them.
 

Thats how the temple looked from the outside.
 

We need to take off our shoes in order to go in the temple
as a sign of respect.

A giant bell was donated by Singapore and resides there. Carved on the bell was a representation of the 12 animal of the Chinese calendar. The rat year however was replaced by the elephant. 
Even the flag pole was a work of art.
 

Me n Michael banging the gong for our good fortunes...

 

It was huge.... extremely heavy too
 

2 Mom was guarding the wooden temple.
 

The white auspicious elephant.
 

U can see the whole of Chiang Mai City from Doi Suthep.

Took our shoes off and headed into the temple.
 

Devotees are to circle the place 3 times.
 

Photographers will take ur pic but demand a high pay and it will take 30 minute to get it develop. Alternatively, kneel down on ur knees and take the pic from bottom up. It works.

Another picture perfect photographs. :)
 

There were golden bells and golden leaves all around the area.
 

Me & Mike donated 100 Baht by buying a bell and hanged it. As u come into the temple. Notice the 1st golden lamp post to ur left. Our Bell and Leaf is right behind it :) :) :)

 

We spent the nite at the nearby mall. Swensens was having a 59Baht offer. 3 scoops. Yummy....  We ate the local food outside the mall. Mike had a taste of fried grasshopper for the 1st time... :) :)

DAY 1     ..:.     DAY 2     ..:.     DAY 3