Chiang Mai Road trip.

Next month is my annual holidays . well you've got to have one even if you do nothing the rest of the year
So instead of going overseas I am giving in to the wife's suggestion for exploring a bit more of Thailand and she wants to see Chiang Mai. Now I have been there many times but not for 15 or more years, and to be honest I was never very impressed, but I was single then and possibly looking for different sources of pleasure than I will be as a family man .
So I would like some advise from those with more recent experience . I am driving up and taking my 12 year old son .I like driving but don't want to make a marathon of it so I am looking for a small town or place to stay for a couple of nights on the way . Prefer something scenic/peaceful, dare I say, romantic .Then about 3 nights in CM same scenario but within striking distance of the market. Got to keep the little lady happy . After that moving over to see Chiang Rai, never been ,so don't know what to expect , for another 3 nights. We will be returning from there . Will it be the same road I went up on ,or is there a fairly simple alternative? So another place for 2 nights R&R about half way .Any suggestions or recommendations will be sincerely appreciated.

Not too far from Udonthani you can stop at Loei, which is a romantic place with numerous lovely lakes and forests nearby, and the temperature will be cooler this time of year.

Closer to Chiang Mai, about 90 minutes away, is Lampang. They have many historic wats (Thai, Burmese and Shan style), horse-drawn carts, a thriving silk industry and an elephant hospital. It is up in the hills and just after leaving Lampang on the way to Chiang Mai you come to what I call Baan Phi. It is to the left-side of the road and there are hundreds of these spirit houses. Apparently, this is because there are many accidents at this bend of the road.

Okay, the latter is not very romantic, but it is a point of interest. You must keep your eyes open to see it, in particular, at night.

One last point to attract you to Lampang, and I know you will be thrilled to learn this - my eldest daughter, Noy Naa (Sarisaa), was conceived at Lampang many years ago.

that's pretty much what i did last mar/apr, same trip, though ended up in golden triangle, and then down myanmar border. i bypassed CM, as being there before, and didn't do anything for me either.

travelogues are on this site. loei is always a good 1st stop, whether in town, or couple days in phu rua area, phu rua resort was nice place to relax for 2 nights. i tried to keep it under 3 hrs a day on the road, stopped for one nighters, unless something interesting, or nice guesthouse for R&R. such as the one in playao, very relaxing, though not much there, except gh was across from nice lake. should be much better traveling this time of year, as it was slash and burn time when i went, so long distance visibility of hills behind hills were limited. it's a bit further up the road, but really nice 'hall of opium' museum in chiang saen/golden triangle. wife and son should enjoy that, and eccential for a learning experience, as no the usual thai white wash of history, fairly accurate and not complimentary of thai drug history. though it's pretty much one way up, and back. unless deciding to return via river.

if this is just going to be a xmas break holiday, 2 weeks, then maybe not enough time for golden triangle. chaing rai was a bit of a disappointment for me, though wasn't expecting that much, but much worst than i imagined. if i was to do an out and about, and not been there before, but now know, would head to golden triangle, then return via khiang khong and continue along he river, back via loei again, then up to chiang khan and again along the river back via nong khai, or you could actually head back to nong wa so via sri chiang mai, turn south there or tha bo if not wanting to go via nong khai, as sure you've been there enough.

do you have laptop, and have i given you my mapping software, comes in very handy for self drive.

agree, uttaradit and phrae were not worth stopping at, but was curious and had too much time, can easily bypass both, and stay at playao for couple days rest up. then continue on. just before chiang rai, interesting wat, easy access from road, and farang oriented restaurant across street, if needing a break of local food, or order thai. wat rung khun, hard to miss, should have signs by now, was just opening when we passed by. all white with unique them, i'm not a wat person, but that was different.

if having laptop, let me know if you already have or need mapping software, and still have a copy for you bob, sooner or later. haven't been out much myself, still nursing sore throat/no taste buds/no motivation. though think heading to nobi's and 652 within next hour, if out and about. no cook at 652 today, so no burgers.

Well thanks all for the quick response. Looks like there isn't much after Loei then, surprised at that. As Bob said Loei is hardly warming the car and I was hoping to get a few more kms under my belt before stopping. I have had a PM from JimboLV with a nice link to what looks an ideal place to stay in CM
http://www.wanidaresort.com/main.html so I may alter my schedule a bit. Just one night stops on the way for food and relaxing. Extend my stay in CM and cut out Chaing Rai,as LA confirmed what I had already been told , not much there and it adds a considerable extra mileage on .The resort looks to have enough going to justify a longer stay and hopefully my son can keep himself amused in the grounds .So thanks once again to everyone for the invaluable advise. Just one further question. On the map it doesn't look much different mileage wise between going via Loei or Khon Khaen, both eventually picking up the same road .Which is better, bearing in mind I am 40kms out of Udon towards Loei anyway ?
Thank you La for your offer but I don't have a modern laptop and I don't think I could read your programme anyway, you've seen what I am like when it comes to computers. Now if you were to offer the services of the delightful Ree as a guide we could be talking .

Hi Trubrit,

Cannot help with the stopovers on the way to Changmai as we tended to stay at budget accommodation. I can recommend going to Chiang Rai and specifically Doi Tung Doi Tung & Mae Fah Luang Garden, Chiang Rai ...
10 min - 1 Mar 2008 www.youtube.com If your family enjoys seeing magnificent gardens then Doi Tung is a must see,

Whilst in Chang Mai a visit to the Doi Inthanon National Park which features the highest mountain in Thailand along with 2 beautiful monuments honouring the King and Queen is quite breathtaking. In Chiang Mai, the Zoo and Doi Suthep are both well worth a visit.

you really need to see the map software, it really helps on a self drive. CM has a couple interesting things, but it did nothing for me, though the zoo is supposed to be ok, so little one might appreciate that, along with little lady, lot of tourist wats at high elevations for nice photo ops, but i'm tapped out on tourist wats, don't do anything for me. many enjoy it, but thai culture/tourist sites, just don't interest me, though i do like any occasional khmer ruins now and then, such as phimai/phanon rung. don't know why, but they will get me out and walking around. but i'm more lazy R&R lately, since seeing most of things that interested me, or not. but i prefer just to laze around a nice lake or watch the river flow by. this of course will have no interest for the little one, so bring the play station. depending on your time schedule, as stated, if doing again, and not knowing, but knowing what i know, i would do what i said above, loei/playao/triangle, then back along the river. very nice, especially this time of year, still a lot of green, and not slash/burn. depends what you are looking for, obviously since CM is a busy tourist town, many enjoy and rave about, but just not me, along with CR. You and loved ones may enjoy it............but you really do need to let me show you my map software, has saved my butt couple times. worth taking with you, small program, so no problem on vintage machine

Here is a short video about Lampang in which you can glimpse the horse-drawn taxis, cottage industries, wats and so on.

To all those that helped me plan my recent holiday. Thanks very much, we had a wonderful time. Took too many pictures to upload on here so here is a link to my album.
http://picasaweb.google.com/valsthelad/ ... eat=email#

BobHelm wrote:Glad you enjoyed it TB.
Some nice pictures there...your thought on where you stayed would be nice.
I am doing similar (about 20th. Jan is the current plan) but will be giving the Loei step a miss - with Uttradit taking its place, for family reasons.

The hotel in Lamphaeng. Lamphaeng Wiengthong. This was only a short stop so I didn't really choose it for any other reason than its location, The horse buggies were right outside and it had secure parking. However for its price range(1.000bht per ngt, inc breakfast) It was surprisingly good . 3* rating . http://www.lampangwiengthong.co.th
In Chiang Mai I was staying longer so looked for something different. The Raming Lodge advertised itself as a boutique 5* hotel located within 6 minutes of the night market.Built in traditional Lanna style www.raminglodge.com .It was everything they said but I failed to realise that Lanna style rooms don't have a window , or at least they didn't in this hotel.This made the rooms very dark and one needed to have the lights on whenever in there .I found this to be rather oppressive so spent more time in the rather nice reception area .I couldn't praise all the staff higher . They were very friendly and went out of their way to help .It has a nice pool area, good restaurant with music nightly and the rate of 2,500 pn included two buffet breakfasts .(good) Its location made it for me as I could laze by the pool with a drink while the wife went shopping just round the corner .I refused to drive once I got there .A general warning on transportation in CM. There is a new Central Plaza which has a lot of so called meter taxi"s waiting outside. Not once did we find one prepared to go anywhere using the meter . The somtiels charge per person, normally 20bht each including children, not expensive but beware when the driver holds two fingers up at you, he means per person . I think .Overall my previous impression of Chiang Mai hasn't improved. Lots and lots of farangs, mostly of the young backpacker variety but with a very generous sprinkling of the older, rocker wannabees, who frequented the many multi nationality bars, all over the place .
For me the real highlight regarding accommodation was undoubtedly the Rungyen Resort nr Phuruea. Loei http://www.rungyenresort.com . Sheer magic. Beautiful scenery, good food and not another farang in sight .2,00bht a night including 3 breakfasts, Thai style .If I tell you I filled a 2GB memory card in my camera just in that area, you will understand the depth of my enthusiasm .Shame you won't be going that way Bob .Have a nice trip.