The first thing I noticed about Chiang Mai was how much greener the city was than Bangkok. When we landed, there were beautiful mountains covered with trees in the distance. The city itself has a lot of trees and gardens and it felt really nice to be surrounded by nature rather than dust and old buildings.
The city was way more low key than Bangkok and also very easy to walk around. It was very funny to see "western" restaurants everywhere, with mexican, italian, and american food. While we were in Chiang Mai we treated ourselves to burritos, nachos, and I even tried their version of buffalo chicken ! We had a good mix of thai food as well but it was nice to mix it up and eat some familiar foods from home. There were so many tourists in Chiang Mai it was shocking to see so many 'farangs' walking around because here in Salaya, everyone stares at us for being the only foreigners.
Our first night in Chiang Mai we walked around and explored, and went to the backpackers square of bars and restaurants. It was nice to hear live music and we chatted with some other travelers. We had a long day ahead of us though because we wanted to make sure we did as much as possible during our stay. So the next day we woke up and headed for the main gate where public taxis wait to take tourists to some of the famous spots. Our first destination was Wat Doi Suthep, a very famous temple located on a mountain outside the city. The temple was a beautiful structure and had amazing buddha statues everywhere. We also had the privilege of being blessed by a monk during our visit which is very good luck here in Thailand.
After Doi Suthep, we visited the Chiang Mai zoo, whose main attraction is panda bears!! I don't think I have ever seen a panda bear before, so I was extremely excited. There were also Koala bears and a bunch of other cool animals like white tigers, panthers, jaguars, and giraffes. It was so hot walking around the zoo but it was so fun to see the animals- especially the pandas!
Sunday was a very busy day, after the zoo we went to the Chiang Mai Walking Street which is a huge night market with tons of souvenirs, food, jewelry and clothes. Alexis and I stayed from open-close and loved looking at all the different stands. We had really great street food for dinner - my personal favorite was the banana-nutella crepe that I found !! One of my signature favorites :)
Monday was another busy day! In keeping with the animal theme, we visited Tiger Kingdom, where you get to play with tigers inside their cages! Alexis and I chose to play with the baby tigers because they were sooo cute... it was a little sad because the animals were sleeping the whole time (I think they were given tranquilizers :( ) so I probably wouldn't go back, but it was a once in a lifetime experience to pat a baby tiger! Towards the end of our visit, our little guy woke up and was walking around- he had the cutest little baby face ! It was really cool. After the tigers, Alexis and I walked around the Old City and at night, Alexis got a traditional Thai tattoo using bamboo instead of a tattoo gun. She says it didn't hurt, and watching the tattoo artist use the bamboo was actually very interesting. She got the number 5 in sanskrit because there are 5 members of her family, and the number 5 is said to represent travel, independence, and new experiences. No tattoos for me !!
Tuesday we ventured outside the city and did a nature hike at Mae Sa waterfall. It was really cool because the waterfall has 10 levels where you can stop and admire the river and the surrounding nature. Some of the levels were flat with lots of rocks, and others were very steep with beautiful trees and bamboo surrounding it. Again, I was dripping sweat so level 10 was very refreshing to stop and put my feet in the cool water. It felt really good to be in nature, although some of the bugs we saw were terrifying !!
Tuesday nigh we visited the famous night bazaar, which is another huge outdoor market in Chiang Mai. After our hike, we were tired and didn't really have the motivation to shop, but in one of the buildings we saw an ad for a free "Cabaret Show" and Alexis and I were sold- Thai drag queens? What could be more entertaining??! The show was hilarious, with Whitney Houston and Beyonce impersonators and some very crazy outfits. It was very entertaining.
Our last day in Chiang Mai, Wednesday, we decided to take a Thai cooking course. This was probably my favorite activity of our trip. Our cooking instructor, Ann, was very funny calling spicy food "sexy food" and making some sexual innuendos about mashing curry paste. Her english was excellent which made the cooking course that much easier. We made friends with 2 older british ladies and 2 women from Vermont. The cooking class was great because Ann gave us an overview of Thai spices and even took us on a tour at the local market to see where you could buy the ingredients.
As a group we chose to make curry, stir fry, and soup. Within each category we had 4 choices of what meal we actually wanted to cook. I chose Panang Curry as my curry- which is a sweet curry with a peanut and coconut base. The curry was absolutely delicious- probably my favorite thing I have eaten so far here in Thailand. The soup I chose to make was kind of bland... everyone else who chose my soup was disappointed but it was still interesting to learn. The stir fry I chose was pad thai with chicken and tofu (I have become a big fan of tofu because a lot of things here are made with seafood and I needed to mix up my chicken and rice routine). The pad thai was very good and it was interesting to learn how to make such a traditional Thai dish. Overall, the cooking course was great and I learned that I am very good at chopping and dicing vegetables. As a souvenir, we got to take home a cook book of everything on their menu so maybe when I return to the states I can practice my new skills.
Wednesday afternoon we headed to Chiang Mai airport and headed back to Bangkok. We got home at around 8:15 and had to start preparing for school the next day. So far Chiang Mai has been my favorite place in Thailand. With its natural beauty and historic temples, it was really cool to see a new region of Thailand and become familiar with a new city. I definitely want to return to the northern areas of Thailand, and look forward to seeing more of this amazing country.
View from the plane when we landed in Chiang Mai.
Wat Doi Suthep
Monk blessing at Doi Suthep
Pandas!!!!
Baby Tiger at Tiger Kingdom!
Mae Sa Waterfall
Thai Drag Queens- Hilarious
The Pad Thai I made at Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School
Just making some curry
Panang Curry and weird soup I made at Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School
Just a Thai passerby.
ReplyDeleteLOL. When your friends said "cold", they meant cold for Thai standard. Also I have to tell you. I've live in CM for 40 years and the winter is becoming warmer and warmer every year.Global warming? I'm not sure. Anyway, during that days, the weather would be like a spring day (with low temp.) in the States. Now? Even I'm Thai I also have a lot sweats as you did.
The reason for many "western" restaurants is because CM have LOTS of expats. I mean, if you're a tourist, it's likely that you tried local foods, but if you live in a place far from your home for such a long time, you would miss your foods (and also some western friends who can share experiences overseas), right?
From my vague memory, last year CM was voted as one of the top five cities you should spend you life after retiring by a traveling magazine. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the magazine, but you can search for the news in Google if you're interested.
Anyway, Enjoy your travel but plz remember that Chiang Mai and Thailand always welcome you back anytime! :)