Hello... This post is a review of our first trip, and it's also our first time visiting Chiang Rai.

Who says you can't travel far with just 2 days off? I used to think that way too, but now I'm just happy to have a Saturday and Sunday off! 555 For this trip, I planned it months in advance because it's not often that I have a Saturday and Sunday off. At first, I was afraid that the trip would fall through, but to prevent that, I decided to book my accommodation and bus tickets in advance. 555+

Let's start our journey...

[Day 0] September 18, 2015

The first day of the trip, the author started their journey on the evening of September 18, 2015, from Khon Kaen to Chiang Rai. They chose to travel with theสมบัติทัวร์ bus, departing at 7:30 p.m. (boarding at the Khon Kaen Bus Terminal 3).

[Day 1] September 19, 2015 6:30 AM. Looking out the car window...hey hey hey I see mountains..... so excited

8:00 AM. We have arrived in Chiang Rai! The bus dropped us off at the new bus terminal, which is located outside the city. We need to take a bus to the city center to get to our accommodation.

Then take a blue songthaew to the old bus station. It's parked near the bathroom. (You can ask people at the bus station, but we don't understand the northern language, so it was quite difficult to understand each other. 555+)

After that, we took a bus to the old bus terminal. The fare is usually 15 baht per person, but since there were only 7 people at that time (normally the bus leaves when there are 10 people), we had to pay 20 baht. It took less than 10 minutes to reach the old bus terminal. After that, I walked to my accommodation, which was Happynest hostel. It is a small hostel located opposite the Community Health Center of Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital. It is about a 5-minute walk from the old bus terminal and is on the left-hand side. There is a small sign indicating the hostel.

Inside the lobby, there are many seating areas, including a relaxation area, a photo corner, a tourist information corner, and a relaxation area on the mezzanine and 2nd floor (a common area with a TV and free drinking water).

A seating area on the mezzanine floor.

This part is on the second floor.

Note: We slept in a room on the 2nd floor, but we didn't take pictures of the bedroom or bathroom to show you. This hostel is small but very cute. The owners are very friendly and even let you choose your own breakfast menu from about 3-4 options.

After that, we rented a motorbike for our entire trip! We asked the owner of our accommodation to contact the rental shop for us. It cost 200 baht per day, but since we were returning to Khon Kaen in the afternoon, we only rented it for half a day. After we got the bike, we set off on our journey!

9:00 AM. We started our day with a cup of coffee at Roast Coffee, a small cafe located at the corner of Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital intersection (recommended by our host). The coffee was delicious and definitely on par with more expensive cafes.

After that, we set off to our first destination, the Black House Museum. Leaving the city towards Mae Sai, there was a signpost about 1 kilometer away. When we arrived, it was like, "Wow, it's so beautiful..." (I can only say it's beautiful, but if you ask me to critique it from an artistic perspective, my skill level is 0, haha.) We took photos as we went along, and there were tourists coming and going all the time, especially Chinese people.

I saw a couple wearing matching shirts and holding hands the whole time. I'm so jealous!

After taking photos for about half an hour, we continued our journey to the next destination, which was.... Doi Tung!!!

We continued driving towards Mae Sai. About 20 kilometers before reaching Mae Sai, there was an entrance to Doi Tung. The road up to Doi Tung is beautiful and the atmosphere is very good. It is a very easy road to drive and not very scary. Along the way, the owner of the post stopped to take pictures.

Until we reached the viewpoint at km 12. Oh, they said it was a viewpoint. Let's try stopping by to take a picture first.

I'm not sure if the white stuff is fog or rain clouds (it was a storm when I went) 555

12.00 p.m. and we finally arrived at Doi Tung. It was drizzling a little, but it didn't stop us from enjoying our trip! It's not often that we get to come here, so even if we get sick, it's okay!!!

Then, let's buy tickets to visit the Mae Fah Luang Garden and Doi Tung Royal Villa (at that time it was raining, so we decided not to go up to Doi Tung Pagoda, which is about 10 kilometers away). We got two tickets, 90 baht each, and then we went to see the garden first (the Royal Villa opens again at 12.30 pm).

Walk down the stairs....oh my god, where are the Thai people??

After that, the owner of the post spent time taking pictures of flowers until almost 1 pm. Meanwhile, the rain started to fall steadily. 5555

The rainbow umbrella steals the show from all the flowers in the garden! 555

After that, we walked up to Doi Tung Palace and finally met some Thai people!

Another couple? I'm so jealous!

Along the way, I met a lovely family with a father, mother, and child. They looked so warm and loving.

When we entered the palace, the staff did not allow us to take pictures. At that time, we were all soaked because it had been raining continuously. 5555

This is a scenic view photo taken from the front of the palace. The view is very beautiful.

Since you're already here, take a jumping photo....

Oh, I forgot to mention that there are coffee shops, restaurants, and souvenir shops at the information center. (I didn't stop by at that time because I was in a hurry to go somewhere else and it was crowded.)

Let's move on to the next destination... After driving down from Doi Tung, I drove back to the city. You can probably guess where I went next. Take a guess....

The answer is yes! We are going to Choui Fong Tea Plantation, located in Mae Chan district. We need to drive back to Mueang Chiang Rai district. The author just kept driving, following some signs and using GPS.

2:00 p.m. We arrived at Choui Fong Tea Plantation. The sun was blazing hot, a stark contrast to Doi Tung! 555

Let's take a quick picture! The sun is so strong!

This place is so crowded! Since we're already at the tea plantation, let's try some tea products! The prices are very affordable.

Let me sit and slow down for a bit! I haven't been able to sit still since this morning. 55555

After that, I went back to my accommodation to sleep and recharge before going out on the town tonight!! 5555

At 7:00 p.m., it was time to go out and find something to eat. I was starving because I had been so busy sightseeing during the day that I had forgotten to eat lunch. (Why did I just realize this now?) Anyway, I decided to go to the walking street to find something to eat. I asked the staff at my accommodation for directions, and they told me to just drive straight ahead and I would eventually get there. When I arrived, wow! There were so many people and it was so long! I drove around looking for a parking spot for a while before finally finding one in front of the "Chiang Rai Ram Luek" restaurant. It looked so inviting, but I decided to walk around the walking street first. At first, it was okay. There were even some local cultural performances. But I wasn't focused on that. I was focused on the food! Because I was so hungry! I didn't take any pictures because it was so crowded that I couldn't even lift my camera. As I walked, I realized it was almost 8:00 p.m. Let's go see the clock tower change colors! The Chiang Rai Clock Tower was designed by Professor Chalermchai, and it's considered a signature landmark of Chiang Rai. I stood there waiting for a long time... until the lights around the roundabout started to go out. Then, music started playing. I stood there for about 5 minutes. At first, I was so excited! Wow, it changed from gold to pink... and then it stayed pink for the whole 5 minutes... until I started to wonder, did I come at the wrong time? I checked my watch and it was the right time. Maybe there was some kind of mistake! I wasn't going to give up, so I decided to come back at 9:00 p.m. But it still changed to pink and stayed pink for the whole 5 minutes. I started to think that the lights must be broken. (Why did they have to break now? Oh, no!)

Note: The usual times for the clock tower to change colors are 7:00 PM, 8:00 PM, and 9:00 PM every day.

After being disappointed by the color-changing clock tower, I decided to sit down and have a cold drink at the Chiang Rai Ramluk restaurant. The music was great, and I ended up staying there until 11 p.m., enjoying the music. I then returned to my accommodation to prepare for my departure the next day, when I had to visit two more places before returning to Khon Kaen.

[Day 2] September 20, 2015

At 7:00 am, I woke up and went down to have breakfast at the hotel. I planned my trip for the day and decided to visit Wat Rong Khun and Boon Rawd Farm. For breakfast, the hotel allowed me to choose my meal during check-in. I chose the fried egg dish, which was very filling.

At around 8 am, I checked out of my accommodation and left my luggage at the hotel. Wat Rong Khun is about 12 kilometers from Chiang Rai city center. I rode my motorbike towards Phan District and took a small left turn to reach Wat Rong Khun.

We continued taking photos around the temple until 10 am, then we set off for Boon Rawd Farm, which is about 6 kilometers from Wat Rong Khun. We went towards Khun Korn Waterfall and found a 3-way intersection before entering the waterfall. We turned right towards Chiang Rai for about 1 kilometer and saw a large golden lion in front of us. We went in to take a look!

Here, you can rent bicycles to ride around the farm. However, due to limited time, we decided to take the tram tour of the farm, which you must contact the public relations office first. Don't forget!!! (At first, I didn't know and was sipping coffee without a care in the world, so I missed the 10:30 am round. I had to wait another half hour because the tram leaves every half hour.) While waiting for the tram for another half hour, I went to take pictures with the lion statue in front of the farm to kill time.

Let's jump for a picture instead….

Then we took a tram to see the view around the farm, which was during the preparation for the annual event. They planted various kinds of flowers. The event will be held every November. There is also a beer garden and a band playing for 5 days and 5 nights.

This family came all together...

There is also a zoo zone with zebras, giraffes, and some kind of cow that I can't remember. There is also a service to feed the animals, which I bought so that I could feed them myself and take a close-up picture of the giraffe. But I didn't have the courage to do it myself, so I gave the food to a little boy nearby. I don't know whose child it was, but I gave it to the giraffe and then took a picture of it! 5555

After that, let's go up to the restaurant at Phu Phraram to enjoy the view of the farm.

After that, it was time to eat, so I rode my motorcycle around until I found a coffee and steak restaurant called "Suan Dok". I saw a lot of cars parked in front of the restaurant, so I thought it must be delicious! 5555

This is a very cute shop, shady and located by the lake. The atmosphere is good and the food is delicious. This shop is not far from Chiang Rai city center. It is on the road from Chiang Rai to Boon Rawd Farm.

After that, we went back to the accommodation to pick up our bags and prepare to return to Khon Kaen.
Just looking at the time...oh my, there's still an hour left. Where should we go? Oh, I remember, let's go to "The Ordinary Life" cafe. But how do we get there? Let's open the GPS then. Hopefully we won't get lost! 5555
Finally, we arrived at The Ordinary Life. It's a very beautiful cafe decorated in English style, located by the Kok River. The atmosphere is so good! I love it! If I had more time, I would sit here until the evening! 5555 But since I have to catch the bus at 4 pm, I have to say goodbye for now...

It's time to go back... I don't want to go back..... As for the car I borrowed, the owner called the rental car shop to pick me up at the bus station in the city at 3 pm. Then I took a blue songthaew to the bus station 2 as usual. But this time there were a lot of people so I got a price of 15 baht. When I arrived at the bus station, the bus was just arriving. We took the bus back to Khon Kaen. I was so tired. I don't know when I fell asleep. The next thing I knew, we were in Phitsanulok. We stopped for lunch and then arrived in Khon Kaen at 5:00 am. The trip ended safely....

For the total cost of this trip
- Bus fare 1,155 baht
- Accommodation 350 baht (including breakfast)
- Motorcycle rental 300 baht + fuel 80 baht
- Other expenses 1,000 baht
Total 2,885 baht, which is very good value!