HK Independent Traveller Blog

It's the last night of our stay in Chiang Mai.  After a day of walking, we arrived at the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Centre for a sumptuous  Khuntoke dinner and dance show.  It cost 520B per person for a meal, beautiful traditional and hill tribe dances.  Best to reserve earliest as possible to secure a table at the front.  We called in the morning and could get only the position of the second row. It is called Khuntoke meal because it is served on a wooden pedestal tray.  Khuntoke dinner is a tradition for centuries, dating back to the establishment of the Lanna Dynasty. It is dinner or lunch served by a host to its guest at various ceremonies or parties.  Authentic northern Thai delicacies are served.  Our dinner menu: Pork curry, fried chicken, fried pork skin, pork tomato chili paste, chicken soup, crispy rice noodles, fried pumpkin, fresh/boiled vegetables, sticky rice/steamed rice.  It ended with ...

  We had our first visit to Chiang Mai in January.  Nice change of temperature from the freezing Hong Kong.  The view before the landing was patches of green fields, trees and the Ping River.  Very nice! Let's this article focus on the practicalities. Transit from the airport and in Chiang Mai A Chiang Mai travel book advised to register at the airport taxi counter.  I tell you, don't.  It took an hour to be picked up.  Very chaotic!  Just go to where people arrive, wave hand to any red car (Songthaews), ask for the price and get go.  Our taxi cost 150B for 2 persons.  Red car can be 80B.   For travelling within the city, red car costs 20B per person.  It drops you anywhere.  Tuk tuk costs 30B per person. Accommodation The price range can vary much.  We stayed at 20 Lodge .  Price at Agoda is 2100B.  Walk in is 3000B.  We cancelled the Chiang Rai trip and needed to...

3-4 April 2012 Walking straight from the railway station, one will reach this beautiful square.  Go straight behind the status will lead you to shopping and daily life of the city.  From there, you can ascend to the university.   From there you can spot the Arco de Almedina, leading through winding streets to reach the university.  Or take a break at the main square famous cafe, sip a coffee and save the energy to walk all up.   You can't find it?  No worry.  There are many cafes or resting places on the upper town that you can relax, take a rest and then set forward.  Cafe and snack bars for the eldery, youngster and someone requiring silence and loneliness. Visiting the University is the highlight of the day.  It will take you 2 to 3 hours to see the key spots.  Approaching the evening, you may opt for an one-hour Fado show, costs around 10 Euro with a sip of Port Wine.  Or browsing the upper town...

3 - 4 April 2012       For dinner, we went to Ze Manel dos Ossos Beco do Forno . It is a very small family run restaurant. We read about it but randomly walked in the small street and saw people queuing up for the restaurant to open. Well, 5 minutes waiting. The food was not pretentious. The chief waiter was friendly and funny. We were served with different sorts of cheese and bread, then stewed lamb and pork, with beans, huge portion of potatoe and vegetable. Including house wine and chocolate it cost 30 Euro. The great joy here is the atmosphere, rustic and authentic and jam. The best food in Coimbra is roast pork sandwich by Antonio  (Porto Larga at Rua das Padeiras 35). Wonderful flavour of juicy pork with secret sauce. Yummy! The vegetable soup is also a must-try. Porta Larga - Rua das Padeiras 35 We went to Restaurant Ze Neto, recommended by trip advisor and Lonely Planet but were disappointed. The ...