Still following along. Love CM and CR. And I to look forward to hearing about your time with Jermsak. He's a gem.

A lot of women like CM. I find it very touristy and fake. Looks more like Europe than Thailand. Some Thais I know hate it too. But having said that the north is good for a driving tour.

CR is small and boring. Nothing there and its also touristy and fake. Best thing is the white temple outside town.

Prachuap- I'm sorry to hear you don't share my love for Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. But having different tastes is what makes life so interesting. I guess we love it because back home we live in the country so we are not big city people. I do agree with you about the driving tour. On our second day with Jermsak in Chiang Rai we did a lot of driving further north and the scenery and the serenity was awesome. During that part of our drive there was no traffic. In fact I can't remember seeing another vehicle other than ours on that stretch of road.

CM and CR were a welcome change from Bangkok. Later when we go south for the beach we will find that different from our prior destinations in Thailand. I guess that is part of the charm of Thailand. There is an area, a city to suit everyone.

Just out of curiosity what part of Thailand do you like best?

I can't speak too much about the town of CR itself as our days spent with Jermsak were outside of town. I would imagine like any small town anywhere there are only going to be a limited number of things to do, restaurants, etc.

The White Temple was part of one of our days spent with Jermsak. I never in my life imagined anything like what I saw. Words are hard to describe it. That's why I took so many pictures, some of which I will post when I get to that day. I admire the artist's resolve not to accept any donations from outside sources so he can create his art without any restrictions or constraints. I think it's great too that there is no admission fee to visit this place.

funkmonkey-Just make arrangements through the hotel. That's what we did. Opas and Pepsi handled everything. I hope you enjoy Baan Orapin as much as we did! Have a great time.

fromDC and yestravel- I've started working on my blog posts for Chiang Rai and I hope to have that done by the end of the week. I'll tell you ahead of time that Jermsak was the best thing about being in Chiang Rai. He is truly one of a kind. I don't think I've ever met a nicer, more thoughtful man who is beautiful inside and out. Too bad all our drivers/guides that we had on our trip weren't like him. No one else came near to his outstanding personality. His wife Da cooked us a great meal on the rafting trip. She's very sweet. but so quiet/shy maybe? And then there's Jermsak, so outgoing and going above and beyond. I consider myself fortunate to have met him and spent this time with him.

For anyone going to Chiang Rai you can't go wrong if you book a trip with Jermsak but do it way in advance as he gets booked months and months ahead. I sent him an e-mail on May 26, 2013 requesting days with him for February 2014-so 8 months ahead!

I'm still following along, Chris. It sounds like you had a great time in CM. As you know, I'm not fond of CM, I'm more of a big city girl, but I love Doi Suthep.

I love the countryside around Chiang Rai and am looking forward to reading about where you went/what you did there.

What a fabulous trip you had!

BTW, I'm interested to hear how bad the damage was to the White Temple in the recent earthquake - wait, were you there before or after the quake? That place is a labor of love.

A thoughtful and rather gracious reply Chris.

I can't wait to see your photos of CR, hopeful you went to the Black House too.

Your post makes me realise how lucky we were to spend a day with Jermsak at very short notice. I noticed someone posting on TA about him, and that he had a cancellation on one of the days we'd be in town. Lucky us !

I like lots of areas. CM is a busy city, just a smaller more touristy version of Bangkok really. I do like northern Thai food. Gaeng Hang Lay with pork belly is prob my fav curry.

Thailand does have a lot to offer though. For a warm climate holiday def one of the best in the world. Thats why it gets so many repeat visitors.

One of the most scenic drives in the north is CM to Phayao. Id recommend that for the future. Nice temples in Phayao on the hills and not a foreigner in sight.

Tham (Cave ) Lot 1 hour north of Pai is a great cave. One of the best in the country.

Interesting that Bossotel is cheaper at the hotel than online. Normally its the opposite. Some Bangkok hotels charge double walk in compared to online. I paid 1400 baht online for a hotel that was 3200 baht walk in.

sartoric-

Maybe that was me! When we were with Jermsak I had asked him if he was going to have some time to relax and he told me he had been booked but had a cancellation for Feb. 11th, 12th, and the 13th. I asked him if he wanted me to post on TA that he had those days free and he said that would be nice if I did that so I did a post on Feb. 9th. He's all about providing the best that he can for his family. That was one of the things he talked about.
Unfortunately we didn't get to the Black House. Jermsak had e-mailed me on Jan. 17th that there was a couple who could only do the rafting trip on Feb. 9th and would I mind if they joined us and would I agree to switch up our plans. Our rafting trip was originally scheduled for Feb. 8th. I agreed and then found out that this couple had their hearts set on the elephant ride part of trips that Jermsak does. I had told him in advance that we didn't want to do the elephant ride and was planning on substituting the Black House for that if we had the time. We had just spent our time with the elephants in CM and I didn't have the heart to deny this really sweet couple-Eve and Hirick-their chance so we didn't get to the Black House. (It was worth it when I saw the expressions on their faces when they got their ride!) However I've read posts/reports about it-maybe one of them was yours! If I get back to CR/CM it will be at the top of my list.

kathie-We were there on Feb. 8, 2014. I didn't see any damage though so maybe the quake was after our visit?

Prachaup-Thanks for all the recommendations. I found the cave you mentioned on my map-northwest from CM-and it looks like there are lots of things to see/do in that area. Definitely on my list. Could my husband and I do that as a self drive from Pai or would we need to hire a car/driver? I also found Payao City. To the north east of CM. Is that the drive you're talking about?

Oops - the earthquake was in May. I read that the White temple was damaged and wanted to hear from someone who had seen it since.

Chris, it would have been your post on trip advisor, so thanks a bunch ! We spent the day with him on 13th Feb, and I'm pretty sure I organised it only a few days earlier from Chiang Mai.

Kathie, the earthquake was around the 4th or 5th of May. We were in Bali for anniversary celebrations when I read the news. I emailed the lady in CR that we had spent the day cooking with to see if they were okay. Her husband replied that they were fine, the house was largely undamaged, but it was a dreadful night laying awake through all the aftershocks wondering if the next one would be the "big one". I've only experienced small tremors, which are frightening enough, can only imagine the terror of a major quake.

sartoric-

I'm so glad that you and Jermsak benefitted from my post!


Just finished our first day with Jermsak-White Temple, the raft trip and more.

Thanks Chris, your photos are fantastic. We spent a similar day with Jermsak, just us, then the boatmen and Da of course. That bridge was a shocker, but I did make it slowly across without assistance. Not sure I would have gone if I'd realised we had to also return !

We did swap the elephant ride for the Black House, it was an amazing place and a reason for you to return to CR. Did you see people cooking eggs in the thermal pools ? You could buy a fresh egg already in a basket at stalls outside the complex - after a delicious lunch we didn't try them.

We saw elephants being bathed at the end of our raft ride, very envious of the ele's with cyclists, bet not too many people have a photo like that !

Thanks again for my trip down memory lane.

Like Kathie I want to check in with the folks about the White Temple's state. I read in a Thai paper that the property is damaged beyond repair and one cannot go inside. Can just take pictures from the outside.

Could someone please provide confirmation/update? T

Funkmonkey, there's some recent reviews on Tripadvisor which suggest that people are getting inside the main temple. They are seeing the murals, along with artists working to repair the damage.

The initial reaction after the earthquake that the structure would need to be demolished, was perhaps an overreaction.

I did a search for earthquake May 2014 White Temple Chiang Rai and pulled up an article where the artist was interviwed. In that article he said he was'nt going to do any repairs.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/...beyond-repair/

Hopefully he will change his mind or maybe the damage isn't that bad??

Hi Chris

That article was written the day after the earthquake on 6 May. According to Wikipedia, structural engineers inspected the temple on 8 May, and found it to be not so badly damaged as to require destruction.

The artist said on 8 May, that repairs might take two years, but that he would make it his life's work.

The reviews on TA were from 17 June, so it seems that people are able to go inside the main temple, good news indeed.

That is good news indeed and thanks for sharing it with us sartoric. The White Temple is so unusual that I would hate to see it not be fixed so others may enjoy what we have.

I did see some pictures posted on line which showed some cracks and a broken spire. Also there was a picture showing some damage to the mural inside.

Thanks for your latest blog entry Chris - I got a mention !!!

We didn't get to the Golden Triangle area, but it's on the list for next time, hopefully with Jermsak.

I'm hoping to get back to Thailand in September, and the Northern areas will be a part of that.

I'm so enjoying your journey !

Working hard on my posts but things like cutting the grass and gardening keep getting in the way!

Finished Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai. Starting Bangkok-return from Yangon March 10, 2014.

March 11-Wat Arun, Wat Po, Royal Barges Museum.