How to Get To Nan? BY BUS BY TRAIN BY PLANE Where to stay in Nan? GUESTHOUSES HOTELS Where to Eat Out in Nan? BARBECUE ROAST DUCK VEGETARIAN NOODLES CLASSIC THAI / CHINESE COCONUT CREAM CURRIES NORTH & N-E (ISSAN) FOOD MARKET / SIDEWALK SNACKS LIVE MUSIC BUFFET SUKIYAKI PIZZA Outstanding Attractions JUNGLES RIVERS TRIBES CRAFTS TEMPLES Exchange Rates Border Crossings & Visas General Travel Advice How to Get To Nan? BY BUS 9 hours from Bangkok ’s Northern Bus Terminal (www.transport.co.th - Select English Version + North) 5 hours from Chiang Mai (www.passplanet.com/thailand - Select The North + Chiang Mai, then scroll down) 4 hours from Sukhothai ancient city BY TRAIN 9 hours from Bangkok by overnight sleeper/ day-train to Denchai (www.railway.co.th - Select English flag + Timetable + Northern Line), then 2 hours by local bus 4 hours from Chiang Mai to Denchai, then 2 hours by local bus BY PLANE 1 hour from Bangkok (www.thaiair.com – Select Booking + Timetable - OR www.pbair.com). Currently there are only flight links with Bangkok. We offer free transport into town from the Bus Station or Airport Where to stay in Nan? RECOMMENDED GUESTHOUSES Nan Guesthouse (central) Amazing Guesthouse (quiet) RECOMMENDED HOTEL 4-star / spacious / luxury swimming pool / tennis / tropical gardens – Room rates: standard single ABR bath/shower - 800 Baht standard twin-share / double ABR bath/shower - 1000 Baht deluxe single ABR bath/shower - 1200 Baht deluxe twin-share / double ABR bath/shower - 1400 Baht You can book your hotel through us at local walk-in prices!

Nan offers a huge variety of delicious inexpensive local eating-out places – here are a few: (2005 prices)

BARBECUE

• Special do-it-yourself barbecue, called ‘Moo Gata’, is very popular in Nan. For 59 Baht, help yourself (buffet-style) to raw seafoods, meats, fishballs, vegetables & chili/lime sauces. Then, using chopsticks, cook it on metal barbecue-plate, with trough around for making soup. Try Janjow Moo Gata (on right after market on Anantaworarittidet Road), Anajet Buffet (near Morning Market/Sombat Tour on Kaluang Road), or Oy Moo Gata (near Amazing Guesthouse on Rat Amnuay Road)
  
  
• Look for sidewalk cooks, barbecuing in half-oil-drums….. for fish stuffed with lemongrass, marinated chicken, rice/noodle/plain-meat sausages (‘priow’ for sour garlicky variety) & long rolls of ‘Chiangmai sausage’, eaten with sticky rice.

ROAST DUCK

• Hot Pot Restaurant in Nara Department Store. Order delicious Roast Duck (with pickled young ginger & soy sauce dip) as side-dish to main-line sukiyaki soup (see below). Lunch or dinner.
  (Directions: on Sumonthewarat Road, on right after Suan Tan Road)
  
  
• Various Chinese lunch-shops. For 20-25 Baht, try Pet Yarng (roast duck) & ginger, or Moo Grorb (crispy pork) & tamarind sauce.
  (Directions: There is one beside Morning Market, opposite gold-shop, & another on Mahayot Road on left before airport, short walk from Amazing Guesthouse).

VEGETARIAN

• Vegetarian restaurants (1 serving Vietnamese also) on either side of Nan Travel office.

NOODLES

• Guitiow Pin Pin Restaurant. Try Bamee Jiow Pow (Crab Wonton Noodle Soup) 20-25 Baht & many types of Thai Noodle soups for lunch.
  (Directions: go North on Khaluang Road from Morning Market, it’s on left)
  
  
• Guitiow Mar (‘horse noodles’) lunch-shop. For 15-20 Baht, try Pat Thai (Stir-fried Thai noodles with pork, dried shrimps, tofu & bean-sprouts)
  (Directions: turn left off Mahayot Road to airport, it’s on right)
  
  
• Giutiow Rua (‘boat noodles’) lunch-shop. ‘Beef’ (buffalo?) noodles soup with morning glory & pork cracklings, served out of a canoe
  (Directions: near Nan Guesthouse, opposite Nan Technical College - look for the boat)

CLASSIC THAI / CHINESE

• Ruang Kaow Restaurant for peaceful Nan River outlook. Try Harm Ok Talay (seafood coconut cream soufflé in a coconut) or Tord Man Koong (fried prawn-cakes). English menu. Singers in the evening.
  (Directions: Near hospital & short walk from Amazing Guesthouse)
  
  
• Rim Bung Restaurant on a fish-lake in the rice-fields. Good for fish (Plar) & seafood & view of lit golden pagoda. For 70 Baht, try Panang Koong (prawn coconut curry in peanut sauce) or Koong Op Winsen (steamed prawns, squid & pork with glass noodles in casserole). Partial English menu.
  (Directions: Cross bridge towards Chae Haeng Temple, right before petrol station, then left at Thai sign after 100 metres. Go by motorbike taxi & walk back.)
  
  
• Nan Ochar Kowtom for delicious late-night ‘sit-out’ restaurant with draft beer. Try Gy Met Mamuang (chicken stir-fried with cashew nuts & sun-dried chili), Koong Pat Gaeng Pong Karee (mild Indian-style curry with prawns) or Pak Boong Fy Daeng (water-spinach fried in flames with lots of garlic, & chilies according to order – ‘pet’ hot / ‘my pet’ not hot). Eat with bowls of Kow Tom (rice soup) or Kow Jow (steamed rice). (Directions: on road to Payao on left between bus station & Nan Guesthouse - 10 mins walk).
  
  
• Cluster of night sidewalk-restaurants for romantic atmosphere along riverbank promenade, right of bridge. Try Yum Pla Takai (spicy sour salad with river-fish & lemongrass), or Tom Yum Koong (spicy sour soup with prawns & lemongrass).
  
  
• Ahhan Tarm Sang (‘Anything you want to order’) - Excellent night sidewalk-tables. For 20-25 Baht, try Hoy / Plamut Tord (flour omelette stir-fried with bean-sprouts & mussels &/or squid). If ordering Pat Grapow Ky Dow (meat or seafood stir-fried with holy basil & chilies, topped with fried egg), say how many chilies you want – Prikinoo sorng met (2 chilies), prikinoo har met (5 chilies!)
  (Directions: outside Nan Travel office on Mahayot Road)
  
  
• Also you can try out Krua Garndar, restaurant on Suan Tan Road (Turn left off Sumonthewarat Road), & Miw Miw, food-shop opposite Dhevaraj Hotel.

COCONUT CREAM CURRIES

• Lan Naim Sonee food-shop serves great Kow Soy (Chiangmai curried noodles) 15 Baht & Quidiow Rote (like spring rolls) 10 Baht. Go before 12 or after 1 PM!
  (Directions: from Nan Travel on Mahayot Road, walk 10 minutes towards airport, on left before 2nd intersection)
  
  
• Wan Dar Restaurant has delicious Gaeng Kiow Wan (sweet green coconut curry), as well as best-in-town Som Tam Thai (papaya salad with lime, shrimps & peanuts) - chilies according to order (3 to 5 chilies should be plenty, but Thais think it is lucky to put 11!). Or if you are brave, try Som Tam (‘Papaya Pok-Pok’) with smelly fermented fish & field-crab! But if you prefer a lovely smell, order Kanom Chin Nam Yar (noodles with sweet basil & coconut milk sauce) & Satay Moo (pork barbecue sticks marinated in peanut coconut sauce). Popular with the locals - so go before 12 or after 1 PM.
  (Directions: on Ka Luang Road, on right between Morning Market/park & Nan River)

NORTH & N-E (ISSAN) FOOD

• Poo Som Jow Gow Restaurant is like cowboy saloon-bar, with creepers-curtain entry, buffalo skulls & handle-bar-moustache patron. Try Larp Issan (spicy mince meat salad) with Kow Niow (sticky rice) & draft beer.
  (Directions: from Morning Market go to end of Ka Luang road & turn right towards the river into Kam Yort Road, it’s on left)
  
  
• Larp Pet food-shop. Try Larp Pet (spicy minced duck) & Nam Tok (spicy beef salad with mint)
  (Directions: on Mahayot Road, on right between small park & airport turn-off. Short walk from Amazing Guesthouse)
  
  
• Sooan Issan. Try Kor Moo Jarng (barbecued pork throat with tamarind sauce dip) with draft beer.
  (Directions: near Nan Travel – go towards airport on Mahayot Road, turn 1st right into small lane before intersection)

MARKET & SIDEWALK SNACKS

• Kanom Krok (coconut-cream cup-cakes), Kanom Barbin (coconut-corn-sticky rice cakes), corn-on-the-cob, sweet potato / banana fritters, Salapow (Chinese dumplings), mango / durian sticky rice with coconut cream, steamed coconut rice-puddings in banana-leaf, banana-coconut-blackbean barbecued in banana-leaf, Indian ‘roti’, crispy rice-cakes with sugar-cane topping & abundance of seasonal exotic fruits (tamarind, lynches, jackfruit, ‘golden oranges’, star-apple, pineapple, mangoes, custard-apple, mangosteen, longon, langsart, pomelo, rambutan & many varieties of banana).
  
  
• Prickly, yellow, creamy, very strong, very smelly, love-it-or-hate-it……. gorge yourself on Durian in the Hot & Rainy seasons! ‘Morntorng’ is the smoother milder variety. Get the vendor to select a small uncut fruit by tapping – ‘por dee por dee’, ‘my suk kern by’ (just right, not too ripe). By the way, don’t drink alcohol with the King of Fruits (heart-attack!) or take it in a house or on public transport (ultimate anti-social behavior!)

LIVE MUSIC

• - Wirachon Pub, on Nan River promenade. Live band daily from 9 PM until early hours (Thai & Western soft-rock / country / songs-for-life). Try Koong Sot Gratiam (raw prawns with raw garlic)
  (Directions: from Pumin Temple, straight ahead past prison to river. Look for 100 Pipers lit sign)
  

BUFFET

• Dhevaraj (‘Tayvarat’) Hotel. All-you-can-eat buffet for 59 Baht, Mon-Fri lunch-time
  (Directions: in town centre, opposite evening market)

SUKIYAKI

• The best place to eat this Chinese/Japanese-style ‘do-it-yourself’ soup is Hot Pot Restaurant in Nara Department Store. From menu of color photos, order sets of exotic Chinese & Thai ‘goodies’, such as seafoods, seaweed, sesame pork, fish-balls, tofu soy-bean cakes, several types of sweet mushroom/fungi, morning glory, Chinese celery, glass-noodles etc. You can spice up your soup with tasty chili-lime sauce.
  (Directions: on Sumonthewarat Road, on right after Suan Tan Road)
  

PIZZA

• Tip-top2 Restaurant. Try Seafood Pizza 60/80 Baht & Caesar Salad 40 Baht.
  (Directions: from Nan Travel walk 5 minutes on Mahayot Road towards airport, across intersection on left)
  

JUNGLES IN NAN

• Wild rivers in deep valleys…. Mega-waterfalls…. Giant trees…. Banana forest… Wildlife….. Fantastic adventure….. Swimming in the wild……. The ‘Empty Quarter’ is a spectacular unoccupied jungle, stretching between the Wa River & the Lao border.
  
• Primeval palms & fern-trees…. Highest mountain (2000m)….. Ocean of mists…. Banana forest…. Hilltribe villages…… Ancient sea-salt mines….. Pu Ka Mountain is perhaps the most special of Nan’s 6 National Parks – great for touring by car & trekking.
  

RIVERS IN NAN

• Over 100 rapids, many world-class…….. Deep remote valleys…….. Beautiful towering jungle-banks…… Sand beaches……. The Wa River is terrific fun for rafters (beginner to expert), kayakers, trekkers, swimmers & Nature lovers.
  

• Mlabri Hilltribe
  Shy jungle hunter-gatherers just out of the Stone Age, who wear only loin-clothes & leave their dead on the tree-top for the birds. Thai call them ‘Spirits of the Yellow Leaf’ because they lived in banana-leaf shelters until the leaves turned yellow (2 weeks) & they vanished into the jungle like spirits when anyone came to make contact. Of the Mlabri who migrated long ago from Laos, only about 200 survive in Nan & recently the government has tried to ‘settle’ some of them in Hmong-style village. Even though they seem most primitive & are like lost sheep when brought in contact with the modern world, Mlabri are light-years ahead of modern science in terms of their astounding knowledge of jungle plants & herbal cures!
  
  
• Hmong Hilltribe
  Tiny frail-looking people, who migrated long ago from Tibet & Mongolia. Hmong language is similar to Chinese. Hmong traditional embroidered clothes with coins look so striking & ‘classic’ that they are often adapted for popular designer fashions & trendy teenager-wear for local & export markets. The Hmong celebrate a colorful Harvest Festival with courting rituals in Nov/Dec, which is great fun to join in, & is joined by an influx of US Hmongs. Hmong are numerous & widespread, with distinctive culture, popular Hmong singers, Hmong movies & Hmong radio stations in Laos & USA.
  
  
• Yao Hilltribe
  Come from China, have their own unique writing script (Chinese-looking) & celebrate Chinese New Year in Jan/Feb. Yao wear turbans & coats with red ruffs & silver trappings.
  
  
• Tai Lü Tribe
  From China, live in the Nan River Valley & famous for colorful weaving on wooden looms beneath their wooden stilt-house. Traditionally, Tai Lü & Tai Yuen men covered the lower half of their bodies with tattoos.
  
  
• Tribal religion
  The Nan tribes, like the indigenous Lanna Thai villagers, are superstitious & worship ancestor spirits & other forest & village ghosts. Typically, they communicate with these spirits in trance-like séances, which may go hand-in-hand with heavy rice-whiskey drinking. Missionaries preach in most Thai hilltribe villages, so there are also a lot of Christian converts nowadays.
  

CRAFTS IN NAN

• Beautiful Tai Lü ‘flowing water’ weaving……. Fascinating traditional Hmong & Yao embroidery…….. ‘Classic’ Hmong & Yao silver neck-torcs, necklaces, anklets, bracelets……… Charming Htin, Khamu & Hmong woven bamboo huts…….
  

TEMPLES IN NAN

• Famous ‘Lan Na lifestyle’ murals……… gold Buddha…..….. elegant pagodas…… long snake-like dragons, called ‘Naga’ (believe it or not, a real one of these was caught in the Mekong River by US soldiers!)………. Nan has several fascinating rebuilt temples dating back to Million Elephants Kingdom (Lan Xan), Million Rice-fields Kingdom (Lan Na) & Burmese occupation (14th - 16th Centuries).
  

• Nan Province:
  Ban Huay Kon border crossing is open for Thais/ Laotians or arranged tours. By road from this border it is 45 kms to Mekhong River (boats-landing), 150 kms to Luamprabang world heritage city, 300 kms to China.
  
  
• Chiangrai Province:
  International border crossings (where most nationalities can buy visas on the border) at Chiang Kong for Laos & Maesai for Burma. Buses go there from Nan via Chiangrai, taking 7 or 8 hours.
  
  
• Tak Province:
  You can also cross to Burma at Maesot.
  
  
• Nongkhai (Issan):
  Cross to Vientienne in Laos here (see www.mutmee.com).
  
  

Bangkok Bank exchanges rates

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