Thailand started off with a rough 12-hour layover in Bangkok. We opted against a hotel, thinking we could hop lounges until our flight. But, we were so wrong. Hard lesson learned.
Onto Chiang Mai. Our flight was thankfully a short one from Bangkok. We grabbed a taxi and went directly to our Airbnb to drop off our gear. From there, we walked in and around the old city walls until we were pretty exhausted and couldn’t do it anymore.
I’m not sure if I had an initial idea of what Thailand would be like before I started planning. All the remote bloggers paint this picture of a backpacker haven. So, I was thinking laid back, beach, locals, and overall quiet cities. Wrong again.
Chiang Mai is known for their lantern festival and elephants; however, they are closely followed by their ancient temples. We spent most days wandering from temple to temple.
The second day, we started the day walking around the old city, going to Tikky Café, which I would highly recommend! It was definitely worth the mile walk! Great Thai food at a great price!
We then rented a scooter and drove up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai’s famous temple on top of the hill. It was about a 30-minute ride up. Our host also told us about a secret temple before you reach that one, and she said it was a must see!
The temple itself was unique and had a great view of Chiang Mai. We probably spent an hour or so there. And then we headed back down and stopped by the “secret temple”. It was very secluded. Off the road you see this mini temple with a large Buddha, but you then have to drive down another path to get to the real temple.
Buddhists are still there living and training. When we arrived there were only about four other people, very different from the popular temple. They had beautiful statues, and because there were no tourists, it was so peaceful and serene; how you would want a temple to feel. They had a small river with rewarding views of the city. This made the drive worth it for sure!
We initially made plans for Chiang Mai because of their lantern festival they have each year. However, without the proper research, we didn’t realize that you had to purchase tickets ahead of time to participate in the large festival. So we were a bit bummed about that.
The following day, our host set up an elephant experience for us with Elephants at Home. I will be doing another post with more information on our experience with the elephants.
The next day, we were able to rent a scooter again to get around a bit faster. We went to the Saturday night market, which was filled with some interesting things to eat and plenty of things to buy! Afterwards, we wandered over to the completely packed streets surrounding the parade. We attempted to watch the floats, with not much luck.
After the parade, we bought our own lantern and we each got a Loi Krathong. We walked to the river and proceeded to release both. It was such a fun experience. I will post more about this in my following blog post.
Overall, Chiang Mai was larger with a lot more going on than I expected. Although tourism has taken over in many parts, you can still find plenty of family owned restaurants and shops. I would definitely recommend Chiang Mai if you ever visit Thailand.
