My First Visit To Chiang Mai In Thailand
After my stay in Bangkok during my recent trip to southeast Asia, I took a short flight up to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. This was my first visit there after hearing from several other tourists during previous trips to Thailand that this small city was worth visiting. I looked forward to a more moderate climate in northern Thailand too since the heat of southern Thailand is often just too much for me especially during mid day hours.
Upon arrival to Chiang Mai, I noticed that it was indeed much calmer of a city compared to Bangkok, sort of like the difference between Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Chiang Mai is a very walkable city with much less traffic compared to big cities. My hotel was about ten minutes walk to the old city area which is the main tourist section. Even the old city area was quite walkable with not much traffic except for the perimeter roads surrounding this square shaped area during rush hours.
Most of the Thai temples were located within the old city or along its perimeter. I was able to walk from one temple to the other quite easily. The temples in Chiang Mai were smaller compared to those in Bangkok. Some had a small admission fee while others were completely free of charge. Each temple had its own unique character.
The food in Chiang Mai much like in other parts of Thailand was awesome and cheap as I ate at markets once again. Chiang Mai has a few street and night markets where there are lots of choices cooked right in front of you. This is one aspect of Asia that I really like with its many food markets.
As an unexpected bonus, I was treated to a cultural show performed by a trio of local young dancers at one of the night markets. I captured parts of their performance on video and gave them a tip as well.
I only had two nights in Chiang Mai so the temples were my main priority. The ones I wanted to see were within or near the old city and I got a bonus one just minutes from my hotel. The largest temple site called Wat Phra That Doi Suthep was on the mountain and required a ride up there and it had nice views of the city below.
On my final evening in Chiang Mai, I returned to the closest temple which was just a short walk from my hotel to see some really cute little statues of lions they had there because they lovingly reminded me of my departed Lhasa Apso dogs Chester, Roxie, Pepper and Max.
On my last morning before going to the airport, I decided to take in a Thai foot massage for the first time as I figured I could use one after so much walking around to see all the temples. There was one massage shop right around the corner from my hotel so I was there first customer of the day. Although it was not as brutally painful as the traditional Thai (total body) massage I had in Bangkok, I would say that 20% of the foot massage was still a bit painful but usually when my massage lady worked on the calf areas. Still unlike the regular Thai massage, I would be open to trying out a Thai foot massage again in future trips if I did a lot of walking.
Overall I liked Chiang Mai as it was quite refreshing to be in a less busy but still very interesting location of Thailand. There’s another town called Chiang Rai that is a day trip which many tourists take as there are apparently really nice temples there too. Perhaps on a future trip, I’ll return to Chiang Mai and visit Chiang Rai too. This was my third trip to Thailand and I would return again but spend more time in such smaller towns like Chiang Mai rather than Bangkok. There are other smaller and more relaxing towns like Udon Thani, Hua Hin and islands like Ko Toa and Ko Samui I would be open to visiting. I still haven’t actually scuba dived in Thailand either so maybe a future trip to Phuket area might be in store as well.
