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Chickens at a temple in Thailand

While walking at the Wat Phuket in Pua I saw this chicken with her kids. Exactly like cartoons show a chicken with her kids. I love it!  For more information about the beautiful Nan province in North Thailand see Destination Travel Guide Nan - Thailand. I have a small serie of photos of animals in Thailand, have a look at Animals.

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A fishing village at Koh Kut

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While on our scooter trip over Koh Kut island we did go on recommendations to the fishing village Ao Yai located in a beautiful bay at the south-east side of the island. This village, build above the sea,  is home to fishing families and is famous for its seafood restaurants. We had late lunch at Chonthicha Seafood. Delicious food, great location and service with a smile. Highly recommended! After our late lunch we did make a walk thru the small village. Following are some photos I made.








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A fighting mountain beetle as welcome sign in Pua

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Along route 101 at the entrance of Pua town and at the park in Pua town you will see this 2 fighting mountain beetles (Kwang or Xylotrupes gideon) as symbol for Pua district. As once a year at end September there is the famous Hercules Beetle Festival where local people do fighting games between the best & strongest beetles. The festival is aimed at conserving the local tradition, particularly Hercules’s Beetle fighting. During the festival are also shown other local community traditions like silverware production and local woven textile from nearby mountain villages.

Remark : I mention this festival because it is part of all festivals in Nan province. But personally I have never visited this festival as I think it is a kind of animal cruelty.
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A temple party in Pua

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The first posting of 2020, in Thailand 2563, is about a temple party at Wat Don Keao in Pua district, Nan province, North Thailand. At 31 December 2019 the village Ban Don Keao and a some nearby villages celebrated the renovation of the temple grounds of Wat Don Keao. It is just a small temple in a small village, but the celebrations did begin with a procession of a representation of each village. And as most villages are from origin hill-tribe villages (like Tai Lue and Hmong) people are dressed up in traditional hill-tribe cloths. Besides traditional dancing there was also loud music and some local folkore (like a man dressed like a baby). Following are in random order more photos I did shoot the last day of 2019.
















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A few days in Hanoi, Vietnam

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Back again in Hanoi for 4 days, my arrival was a kind of extra-ordinary flashback from the first time I arrived in Hanoi in 1995. I did fly from Bangkok to Hanoi with Air Asia and did get my Visa On Arrival. Outside the airport it was busy as the the TET festival (Vietnamese New Year) was about to start. My taxi-driver took the long way and used the old bridge to cross the Red River. And that triggered a flashback, it did feel like I was frozen in time. Driving thru the chaos of Hanoi in the evening scared me ...... I felt like coming home. I did visit the Museum of Ethnology where you can see the origin of the cultural society of Vietnam. Highly recommended to visit! Following are a few photos I made while in Hanoi.






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Travel Tips : Air quality in Thailand

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Photo above is a screen-shot from the website Air Visual at 6 February 2020 and shows the air quality of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. And as you see it is not very good. And it is not only not good in the area of Chiang Mai but actually all over Central Thailand (Bangkok), North-East Thailand and North Thailand. And to make it worse the air quality is not only in Thailand unhealthy but also in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. And it is basically already like this for  at least 2 months. All we can do is waiting for rain, what is unlikely in February to happen. Actually more likely somewhere end of April.

According to the AirVisual app as of 6 February 2020 * the air quality in Thailand is :
Nan province = 155 (Unhealthy)Chiang Mai = 122 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)Chiang Rai = 129 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)Khon Kaen = 144 ((Unhealthy for sensitive groups)Udon Thani = 157 (Unhealthy)Bangkok      = 74 (Moderate)Pattaya        = 101 (Unhealthy for sensitiv…
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Staying at Lotus Hotel in Hoi An, Vietnam

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The Lotus Hotel is located not far from the famous old city of Hoi An and with nearby shops and restaurants. The rooms are situated in a tropical garden setting and with a swimming pool between the tropical trees. The rooms are a bit old fashioned decorated but clean and spacious. Each room has private balcony and private bathroom with shower. And of course each room has air-conditioning, TV and a fridge. And in room is served drinking water in a refill-bottle that you can refill in the lobby, so no waste of plastic bottles. Lotus Hotel offers bicycles, but they are not free (rental). Lotus Hotel also offers a very good breakfast buffet and has a restaurant for lunch & dinner. All together a nice hotel and good value for money. Photo above is not my photo but looks like the room I did stay in. For more information see : Lotus Hotel Hoi An.
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Staying at Pha Tang Meihua Resort at Doi Pha Tang in North Thailand

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Stunning location! I did stay here 1 night in November 2019 and I loved it! And as usual I always write a short review of all places I stay, now 259 Hotels, Homestay's and Guesthouses in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Have a look at Accommodation where I did stay. I have been a few times at Doi Pha Tang but did never stay overnight there. And I always passed this hotel of what I thought should have a stunning sunset view. So this time I did stay here. OK the rooms are a bit old but nicely & recently renovated. All rooms have private balcony with stunning sunset view. And all rooms have a private bathroom with toilet, shower with hot water. In the room is a fridge and free drinking water. The hotel has a restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But breakfast is served at 8:00am, what is a bit late for me so I left before breakfast. The room is a bit overpriced but it is all about location and as said the location is stunning. Staff speaks a little bit English and is …
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