The Jewel of the North - Chiang Mai

February 7-13, 2023

Sawasdee khrap,

Hi friends and family, this post is about Chiang Mai, my last (but not least) stop in Thailand and Southeast Asia as a whole. Mel and I arrived in Chiang Mai on February 7 after a long travel day from Koh Phangan. We got into the airport at 11pm and took a taxi to the Eco Resort hostel we were staying at. We originally only booked it for three days, thinking we might visit Pai, a village a few hours northwest of the city, for a couple days. On second thought a few days later, we felt like it would be overly ambitious to get over there since transportation would be a bear. Plus, we were enjoying our time in Chiang Mai, so we extended at the Eco Resort until February 13, when we were flying out of Thailand.

On our first full day in the city, we explored by foot. We picked up some bubble tea and pastries at a shop in our neighborhood before going to the more touristy part of the city. Most of the city wasn’t very walkable, but we got to a nice moat that was easy to walk along and had cute bridges to cross into the popular Old City neighborhood.

We ate lunch at a very local Thai market where I tried frog for the first time. It was delicious, and, surprisingly, virtually indistinguishable from chicken in taste with only a slight difference in texture.

After walking around all morning, we went back to our hostel to relax. For some reason it had an enormous swimming pool that must have been nearly Olympic-sized. We relaxed by the pool in the afternoon, swimming some laps and lounging in the chairs.

In the evening, we decided to go out to a hip neighborhood called Nimmanhaemin, which had plenty of trendy malls, restaurants, and bars. We started out at a wine bar that was part of this kind of European-style beer garden with multiple beer and wine vendors serving on the outskirts of a courtyard with seating and a nice ambiance.

For dinner we went to an upscale, Western restaurant called “Why Not? Italian Restaurant and Bar”. It was one of the nicest restaurants we went to all trip and we indulged, each having wine, a pasta dish, and sharing a charcuterie board and boozy gelato for dessert. The food was delectable and the dining experience was lovely. It was quite expensive for Thai standards, but it still cost less than it would in America.

Mel and I wanted to continue our night somewhere fun so we looked for live music and accidentally found a very local bar with a live band. We walked in and immediately noticed we were the only white people in the whole place. We weren’t sure whether tourists were welcomed or frowned upon here, so we shuffled to the back of the bar where there was a bit more space and gazed around awkwardly. A bartender quickly saw us and invited us to sit down, assuring us that we were welcome.

We stayed at the bar for a few hours, drinking several Changs, the local Thai beer, listening to the music, people watching, and talking to the bartender. The bartender was one of the first locals I felt like I got to talk more in-depth with and I appreciated hearing his perspective on tourists in Thailand and about what local life was like. He told me he had a second job as a tour guide and offered to show us around. We tried to link up with him later in our stay, but it didn’t work out, unfortunately. Still, it was cool talking to him and getting the inside scoop on life in Chiang Mai.

He was also a great bartender, filling our cups from the pitchers we ordered whenever our cups dropped below about two-thirds full. Chang is really light and drinkable, which makes it dangerous when your cup is being refilled constantly and the bartender is also drinking. We accidentally drank more than we intended but it only added to the fun of the night. When we weren’t talking, we were listening to the live band. We couldn’t tell if they were playing American songs with Thai lyrics, or if the songs were authentically Thai. Regardless, they were excellent. I’m really glad we stayed because it was a fun bar and the bartender was affable and kind.

The next day we woke up early and got in a songthaew (a Thai taxi that’s been converted from a pickup truck) to go to an elephant sanctuary near Doi Inthanon National Park. The road was really bumpy and curvy and the seats in the back were pretty uncomfortable so it was a tough ride there, which wasn’t made any easier from our being out late and drinking the night before. The winding road led us up a mountain, and when we finally arrived after nearly two painstaking hours, we had a great view of the surrounding hills and forests.

The day at the elephant sanctuary consisted of three adventures, the first of which was a hike and lunch. Our group for the afternoon was Melanie, me, our tour guide Pon, and two French people. Shortly after starting the hike, Pon resourcefully made us hats from dried leaves. He made the technique look simple, but I’m sure I would’ve butchered it if I’d tried to make a hat out of any of the leaves.

(I'm not sure why I got the tallest hat as the tallest person in the group already. It certainly didn't make it any easier to duck under branches on the hike.)

Protected by the sun with our new, innovative hats, we walked through the forest along a trail until we arrived at a big, wide waterfall where we dipped in and hung out for a while. The water was chilly, especially for Thai standards, but it was refreshing after the hike.

There was a picnic area right nearby where we cooked lunch like local villagers, making sticky rice in bamboo and cooking chicken skewers and soup over the fire. The chicken skewers and mango sticky rice were scrumptious, but the soup was kind of funky. It had this bright color from the purple onions, and none of us knew how to eat it because Pon had cooked it all in one bowl that we weren’t sure if we were supposed to share. We ended up passing the bowl around and sharing germs, but I don’t think there was too much contagion because none of us ate it for too long.

Our next stop was bamboo rafting. I didn’t know what to expect because I hadn’t fully heard what they said we’d be doing. I heard bamboo and imagined we’d be weaving baskets, but rafting was way better. Mel and I sat on a roughly 8-meter-long raft comprised of six chutes of bamboo. We sat back and relaxed while our guide steered us down the river using a bamboo oar. The ride was serene and beautiful.

The landscape was breathtaking in an understated way; there was nothing flashy but it was all idyllic with the golden hour lighting emphasizing the beauty of the lush green plants alongside the river. There were plenty of diversions as we rafted, including locals welcoming us to Thailand in loud, funny voices, and cows, horses, and elephants. It was a relaxing and amazing experience. I think not having any expectations for the raft ride made it all the better.

The third and final adventure of the day was the main event: the elephants. Pon led us down to the elephants and their caretakers and we spent some time feeding them and taking pictures. They’re massive animals and they ate relentlessly. We fed them bananas and sugar canes and they wolfed them down like nobody’s business. It was a great way to get their attention; if anyone held food nearby the elephant would try to nuzzle in and get it with its trunk, which they use like a humungous, versatile arm.

It was my first time seeing elephants in person and I was struck by what they look like up close. Their trunks are insane and look like something from the age of dinosaurs. Luckily, the elephants are treated very well at the sanctuary we were at, which is not always the case in Thailand, and they were gentle giants, happy to play with and nudge us, always in a friendly way.

After feeding them nonstop for 20-30 minutes (though I’m sure the elephants could’ve eaten for hours longer), the caretakers took them down to the river and we got to bathe them. They have playful attitudes and didn’t mind getting splashed with water and returned the favor by spraying us with water from their trunks.

After the elephants, we said goodbye to our guide Pon, who’d been a great guide all day. We rode in a songthaew back to Chiang Mai with the French duo we’d been on the tour with and an American guy and Russian girl dating, who we talked with the whole ride back. They’re travel bloggers who have been travelling all over the world for the last 3.5 years to places like Mexico, Moscow, Central American, Nepal, Bali, India, and more. They had fascinating stories and I was intrigued about their lifestyle, curious if they ever grew tired of traveling and how difficult it was to find and keep community. It was a really fun day with lots of adventure and meeting cool people.

The next day was more laid back. We got a late start and taxied into town to eat at a hip café called Blue Diamond the Breakfast Club. I had a big brunch with fruit salad, tea, a banana coffee smoothie, and a full breakfast with bread, butter, jam, hash browns, eggs, and a garden salad.

The rest of the afternoon I explored a temple in the city and hung out by the pool. In the evening, Mel and I went back to the Nimmanhaemin neighborhood for massages and dinner. We hit one of the 7-Elevens after dinner and loaded up on a bunch of crazy Asian snacks we’d never seen in America for a taste test at a later date.

The next day we got another big breakfast at a place called Sukhi Shake then rented a motorbike in the city. We felt experienced enough with our moped backgrounds and newfound experience biking in Thailand to just get one bigger bike for the two of us. We rode an hour north to Dantewada Land of Angels Waterfall Park, a man-made park with pretty waterfalls, flowers, and caves.

On the way back home, we stopped at a farm with gorgeous flowers. We showed up around 4pm and it was lovely walking around the flowers at golden hour with live music in the background. It was peaceful and beautiful. We even saw some wedding photos being taken there.

In Chiang Mai, we ate at a chic place on the riverside and listened to more live music. The restaurant was a good mix of Western and Thai food and it had a lovely ambiance.

We’d spent an hour or two talking after eating at the restaurant, so we had a bit of an appetite when we got home and did a sampling of all the snacks we’d bought at 7-Eleven the night before. Some of them were surprisingly good (kebab flavored chips and Snack Jack’s pea flavored Cheetos puffs) and some weren’t so good (pho flavored chips and blueberry energy bar).

Sunday was our last full day in Chiang Mai. I had some time to kill in the morning so I walked around a nearby university campus before meeting Mel at the mall for brunch. In the afternoon, we started planning some logistics for our upcoming travel in New Zealand.

That night for our last proper meal in Thailand, we went to a comforting restaurant called Mama Thai kitchen and devoured some really cheap and delicious food. We celebrated our time in Thailand with a couple of big Changs each at the restaurant before walking to the Night Bazaar, which is basically a night market with places to shop, eat, and drink. We hung out at the Night Bazaar for a while, having some more drinks and people watching. When the market closed, we found a driver and got one final tuk tuk ride home.

Monday, February 13 was our last morning in Thailand. It was also when the Super Bowl was on so I scrambled in the morning to get the game on, which was surprisingly difficult because both our phones’ data plans and hostel Wi-Fi connections expired the night before, and we got back late so nobody at the hostel could get us the Wi-Fi. I walked some nearby streets trying to connect to a public network so I could purchase additional data on my phone, but to no avail. Eventually I found a security guard at the resort who was able to help me get on the Wi-Fi and watch some of the game before we taxied to the airport.

The flight timing was devastating, with us boarding with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. I watched the rest of the game after landing in Singapore, and although it wasn’t the result I wanted, the Eagles had an incredible season and I’m glad I could still watch some of their games in Asia in the early mornings. We had a six-hour layover in Singapore before catching a ten-hour flight to Nadi, Fiji, which I’ll write about next post.

We were sad to be leaving Thailand after an incredible month. We had an amazing time there and loved the beaches, food, people, massages, and more. We also knew everything was going to be more expensive in other places, especially New Zealand and Australia. In Thailand, we’d eaten almost all of our meals out and it was still so affordable. We knew we were going to miss it. Still, I was grateful to have explored a good chunk of the country over the past month. Thanks for reading all about Thailand, stay tuned for more posts soon on Oceania!