Suzanna

With help from you, I decided on the itinerary for our 30 day SE Asia trip starting on Nov 16, got airline tickets for all segments and made hotel reservations. I am starting to look into details for activities.

I'd appreciate some info for Chiang Mai.

- do you know if the cable car up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is a reliable, safe option to get up?
- would you know about how much it costs to get a cab to the cable car from the center of the city to the cable car OR a cab two ways (up to the temple and back)?
- one of you mentioned that it is easy and cheap to send home a package - if one buys things in Chiang Mai. Do they provide boxes and help w. taping too?

Thanks

Kathie

For Doi Suthep: The cable car - it's almost more like an elevator - is a safe and reliable way to the top. I love getting there early in the morning.

Taxi from CM to Doi Suthep? It's been a while and I don't remember the exact amount. Note that all taxis have signs in them showing the standard rate for taking you there, also, if you wish, all taxis have an hourly rate as well. I'm guessing it was maybe $25 round trip to Doi Suthep, but it has been a few years.

What are you planning on buying in Chiang Mai? Many places will ship for you, and those that do not will point you to a place that will package and mail things for you. Even the Thai post office does pretty well at this. There are storefronts for UPS and DHL. Your hotel can also help you with this.

Suzanna

Thanks for the quick and helpful reply, Kathie.

If the cable car is reliable, I will use that and walk down. So I only have to get to the cable car and back. We will be staying on the street where the Sunday market takes place. How far away from there is the cable car? I assume that probably one needs a tuk-tuk or a taxi to get to it.

If I buy something probably it would be small hand made textiles for a new room in our house or be presents, if they are reasonable priced and fit what I envision. I do not know yet before I see it, but it is good to know that it is easy to ship them, as I do not want to carry additional things all over the place (Chiang Mai will be the first stop after a short stay in Hong Kong).

We will need safe and reliable drivers from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai and then from Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong. On the way to Chaing Rai we want to stop at Wat Rong Khun ( The White temple ) and The Black House. Based on the advice on the forum I contacted Jermsak but I have not yet heard back from him.

Can someone who might have been there recently tell me what's a reasonable cost for a driver/safe car for these two one way drives?

Thanks.

Kathie

That is the way I've usually done it as well. You do want to walk down that magnificent stairway!

Doi Suthep is located on a hilltop outside of CM. You will definitely want a taxi, not a tuk-tuk. The tuk-tuk exposes you to the dust and exhaust fumes.

sartoric

I sent a package home from Chiang Rai, and yes, they had boxes and tape etc.
You get a tracking number, and Thai post were pretty responsive to my questioning emails when it hadn't arrived by the suggested time. It did arrive intact a week or so later.

We talked to a lady taxi driver in CM about going to CR next day, she quoted a price we accepted, (maybe $40 or $50, can't quite remember). I thought it a bit strange that she turned up the next day in the front passenger seat with a young man driving...anyway all was fine. I think it is fairly easy to find transport around this area without prearranging much.

From CR to CK, we had spent the previous day with Jermsak, and although he couldn't take us, he knew someone that could, again, maybe $40 or $50, with a stop at the White Temple. The driver was fine.

I found the drivers to be safe and reliable.

yestravel

We have sent pacakges home from Thailand several times and had no trouble. The people at the Post Office helped with the packaging and the packages arrived in a timely manner. Prices were very inexpensive. If you are going to Luang Prabang, they had beautiful textiles. Textiles from Laos were actually our favorite.

We took the Green Bus from CR to CM and it was an easy trip in a comfortable bus. In Chiang Khong we got a taxi to CR. Its been a couple years and I don't recall the price, but the driver was fine. Our hotel got the taxi for us.

Hope you hear back from Jermsak -- he's great! have a good trip.

MmePerdu

I can't think of a place of any size in Asia, mailing purchases on many trips, where the post office didn't do the packaging as well. Always check first before resorting to more expensive private options.

Suzanna

Thanks a lot for the good info. Will use the post office.

We will be going to Luang Prabang. Yestravel, did you see the beautiful textiles in stores or a market? Are they more expensive than in Chiang Mai?

yestravel

I don't recall the prices - but they were definitely in the same price range as textiles we saw in CM and elsewhere.
Here's the excerpt from our TR about the LP place. However I think I recall reading in someone's TR that the little footbridge is no longer there, so you would have to go around to find it. I'm sure our hotel could tell you how to get there if the footbridge is gone.
"Our morning meanderings then took us down Sakkaline Road to the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers. There we followed a little trail to a rickety narrow bamboo footbridge that spanned the Nam Khan. We paid the 5000 kip toll - $1.25 for the two of us – and took the bridge to the far shore and followed a sign directing us to a Hmong weaving village 600 meters down the trail. We soon found ourselves going from show room to atelier to show room – all of them either making or displaying incredibly beautiful and intricate silk scarves, runners, hangings, pillow slips and other items in an array of colors and patterns. All of it was head and shoulders in quality above the silks we’d seen in Cambodia and Bangkok. We were particularly taken by a workshop/showroom called “Patta Textile Gallery,” which produced particularly exquisite (and modernist-influenced) designs. "

crellston

For relatively up to date info on textiles in Lao see http://www.travelfish.org/feature/354

yestravel

That's where we went, Ban Xienglek and Ban Xangkong, as described in the article crellston provided.

Suzanna

Thanks a lot for the great pointers. I appreciate yes travel for you spending the time to go back to your TR to quote. The pictures and links in the travel fish article are very helpful. Gorgeous colors, I will have a tough time over there....