Since Chiang Mai is known for its Buddhist temples and its shopping, we decided that most of our time there would be focused on those two things. We were in Chiang Mai for four Days, and most days we went shopping, explored the local wats, watched movies, went to markets, or went bike riding.
Our first day in Chiang Mai, we slept in, ate a late breakfast, and spent the morning exploring the city a bit. Like typical tourists we had a map out in front of us and had camera ready to document anything and everything, as we slowly made our way around the "Square" of Chiang Mai. We headed along the northern side of the square, figuring we would try to make our way toward one of the shopping malls. It took us about 20 minutes to walk there. We spent the afternoon browsing though shops, getting food at the mall bakeries, and eating a very North American meal – pizza at "the Pizza Company". Unfortunately, when we decided we were done with shopping, it was pouring rain. Thus, we decided to take a Tuk Tuk (our first time going in one!) back to our hostel. We then changed into dry clothes, and spent the rest of the night relaxing and watching movies on my mini laptop.
SIDENOTE: What is a Tuk Tuk?
A tuk tuk is a sort of hybrid vehicle. It combines the best of a motorbike and a carriage. It usually carries 2 people and the driver comfortably. It is one of the most inexpensive and efficient types of transport for tourists. Usually no tourist would take a taxi to get around (and really there are not a lot of taxis in Thailand – only the rich would maybe take a taxi), tourists either take a tuk tuk or rent their own motorbike. It is not the greatest form of transportation ever invented but it serves its purpose and is good for those on a budget.Day 2
Our second day in Chiang Mai was again very similar to our first day. The day was slightly different as we decided to rent bicycles and to visit some of the Wats that were located within the square. The bike rental place was across the street from our hostel, and they only charged 80 Baht (less than $3CAD!) for a full day rental. We had mapped out a "Bicycle Tour Plan" the night before on our map, so we had a rough idea of which temples we wanted to see and which areas in the city we wanted to hit. The plan was to spend the morning visiting the famous Wats, then hit up a local yoga studio to get a schedule/price list, and conclude the bike tour with a trip to the other mall at the south of the city. For the most part, the plan worked well.
We stopped at several different Wats, one of which was in a huge complex. The complex contained 2 huge Wats – the original 12th century one and a newer one, dozens of small Wats and shrines, and housing areas for all of the monks. It was a relatively big and busy Wat. We also visited a couple of the smaller Wats in the area, which was nice, because we were the only tourists there. After getting a yoga schedule, and dangerously making our way past the square area to the mall, we arrived at our destination, locked the bikes, and headed into the air-conditioned complex to once again do some shopping. We ate lunch at the local food court (See textbox below for info on Thai Food courts) in the mall basement, and then went up to the movie theatre on the top floor to get popcorn for dessert (Ali was going through some serious popcorn withdrawal by that point in time haha!). Overall the mall was more upscale, and most shops were out of a backpacker’s price range. Ali bought a pair of converse running shoes, but that was our only large purchase of the day. We also got some small ceramic butterflies from the part of the mall dedicated to local craftsman.
SIDENOTE #2 – Explaining Thai "Food Courts"
Thai food courts are often where the local people eat – they are not that much like North American food courts. Instead of the usual 8-10 North American restaurants, Thai food courts usually contain dozens of small stalls. People are everywhere, and stall owners are constantly trying to get you to eat at their place. The food is cooked directly in front of you, usually on a small wok. In general, the stalls are usually pretty specialised. Ali and I always look for the stalls that offer the cheap vegetarian food – usually fried noodle/rice and vegetables. In a food court we usually pay about 30Baht ($1CAD) for a meal. I consider it risky now to eat in food courts because about 50% of the time it makes me sick haha! – it’s not that it’s unhygienic but its that my body just isn’t used to the local spices, sauces, and water that they use!Late afternoon we began to tire of shopping, so we grabbed dinner at the mall, and the decided to head back toward the hostel. Once again we exited the mall to pouring rain. We had our bicycles so there was no way of taking a tuk tuk. Thus, we doned our raincoats (we came prepared today!), got on the bikes, and began to pedal our way through the rain and puddles. Navigating the traffic of Chiang Mai is even crazier in the rain! Cars still zoom past, and motorbikes come out of no where, thus Ali and I drove super slowly and were constantly on guard. At one point in time, we experienced something unexpected – dogs! Ali was in the lead on the bike and suddenly a dog came out of no where and began to chase Ali and bark. It followed her for quite some time, and she clearly did not know how to handle it! Eventually the dog tired of chasing her, and the situation diminished back down to a normal level of crazy – a dog chasing you, pouring rain, darkness, honking motorbikes, driving on the wrong side of the road – all of these things can make you go crazy! Haha! Finally we decided to get off the main square, and go through the sidestreets back to the hostel. We slowly made our way back to the hostel. At one point Ali crossed an intersection to the wrong side of the road and nearly got hit by a passing car. I yelled at her to be careful! Finally we arrived back alive and soaked at the bike rental place. We returned the bikes and crossed the road to the hostel. We changed out of the wet clothes and once again showered, relaxed and watched movies. Day 3
Our plan today was originally to rent a motorbike and drive up to the famous Wat on the hill. We got up early and walked down to the rental place. Since we had not driven a motorbike in Thailand before they refused to rent us one, so instead we changed our plans a bit and went to a yoga class in the morning. The class only consisted of 4 people so it was very intimate and relaxing. It was a two-hour basic yoga class. During the class it once again started to pour rain so we decided it was probably for the best that the motorbike rental did not work out. After the class we grabbed lunch, and walked back to the room to relax for a while. This was to be our last full day in Chiang Mai, thus we decided to check out the famous Night Bazaar. The night market runs daily from 6pm-11pm, so we decided to get dinner and then proceed to the market. It was a very successful shopping experience. We were able to buy a bunch of gifts for friends and family, we got a whole bunch of cheap souvenirs for ourselves and we were able to again get some good Thai food. Our purchases included such things are fisherman pants, purses, bookmarks, scarves, hats, pillowcases and covers. Most objects were handmade and, after haggling a bit, cost us very little money. It was 11:00pm before we knew it, and stalls were starting to close. We didn’t realize it was so late, and were disappointed because we were not done all our shopping! We grabbed a tuk tuk back to the hostel and decided to complete our shopping in Bangkok.
Day 4This was our final day in Chiang Mai. We woke up early, packed up all our clothes and souvenirs, checked-out of the hostel and grabbed a tuk tuk to take us to the bus station – the Arcade Bus Station – at the other end of town. We ended up catching a 10:30am bus that was scheduled to get us to Bangkok by 7:30pm that night. Since all Thai transport is pretty unreliable, we ended up leaving late and arriving late. We got to Bangkok around 9:30pm, lost and clueless about where to go, we got a tuk tuk to take us to Khao San Road and found a hostel there. Our time of relaxing and experiencing spiritual Chiang Mai was over – we were now on the craziest, most touristy, never-closing street in all of Thailand!
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