AndSheXplores

Chiang Mai is one of those places where days can turn into weeks and weeks into months. In our case we prolonged our trip  and ended up staying for almost 3 weeks.

One can truly understand the large expat community in Chiang Mai who made this place their new home. The city itself has a cool vibe, with many coffee shops, street food corners and a great organic eating scene. There are plenty of vegan and vegetarian food options at every corner. We were also delighted about the fact that you can get fresh vegetable / fruit juices at nearly every restaurant!

If you are coming from Bangkok like we were you will immediately notice the slightly cooler climate and better air quality than in Thailand’s capital. Apparently it gets worse it early March till the end of May, where the smoky season quicks in. It’s a time when the bad smell and greyish haze covers the city. Many expats actually move to the South in that time, so better not visit Chiang Mai then!

Here are the main reasons why we love Chiang Mai, despite not having tried all the things mentioned below! 🙂

#1 Temples at every step

Chiang Mai is also well-known for its many temples. Wat Doi Suthep being the most famous one, while our favourites  are Wat Suan Dok and Wad Chedi Luang.

#2 Relax and meet interesting people

Chiang Mai is a good place to relax, read a book or reflect on your recent adventures. There are many yoga and meditation classes at every step. Besides having many expats, many fellow travelers visit Chiang Mai. Go talk to them, share your  life stories and exchange travel tips!

#3 Saturday and Sunday Night markets

We just admire Thai people since they are always cooking something. There are a few spots with food many stalls around the old city where you can always grab a bite, such as the Pratu Chiang Mai. If you want more choices and also want to do some shopping head to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, which is open every evening.

As a vegan or vegetarian you don’t have quite as many options as Thai dishes in most cases shrimp paste, fish sauce, chilli paste or oyster sauce. So make sure to double-check this!

The city also has 2 night markets running through the weekend. The Saturday Night market was our favorite. Situated a 10 min walk southern from the old city, it offers many local crafts and has a nice atmosphere. It is less crowded than the more famous Sunday Walking street which is in the heart of the old city. Go for the pure passion fruit juice, which will give you wings! 🙂

#4 Try vegan even if you haven’t before

If you’re vegan you know that it’s quite challenging to find proper food when traveling. I always have my last two resorts: fried rice with vegetables and french fries. Believe me, you get fed up with this pretty fast! But Chiang Mai has about 20 vegan restaurants and many more vegetarian ones which can make most of dishes vegan. Hoooray! 🙂

Our favourites were Aum (best Pad Thai),  Morning glory (best curries), Vegan Heaven (great for vegan junkfood). For those of you who are not vegan, this is also a good opportunity  and see for yourself that we don’t only eat salads 😉

#5 Go for a cooking class

To be honest I was quite skeptical of doing a cooking class, since I really prefer to do the eating than the cooking 🙂 Browsing through the web, we noticed that Cookly had many different options and generally very positive reviews. It was also very important to us that the whole class could be adapted to vegan which was not a problem for them.

We went for the 7 hour cooking marathon at Grandma’s Home Cooking School which is a new facility in a village near Chiang Mai. We were picked up from our hotel went to the local market and learned all about Thai food’s main ingredients. After getting to the cooking class facility we walked around the beautiful green garden with our chef Mike. He showed true passion in explaining all the herbs, vegetables and other ingredients that make the dishes delicious. During the day we prepared several dishes: soup, spring rolls, Pad Thai, curry (with home made paste) and coconut milk and ate them all!

I swear that the Pad Thai and the green curry were the best I’ve ever had. On top of that this experience taught me that the most delicious and healthiest foods are really the ones that are made with fresh ingredients picked from your garden. To make it the best ever, don’t forget to put in a lot of love 🙂

#6 Try Muay Thai

If you are in a good fitness condition, you should definitely try this signature Thai sport. Ziga attended the 2 hour introductory course at Chiang Mai Muay Thai Gym and it was a great experience. He learned the basics, got into the ring and hit tons of punches and slept wonderfully that night 🙂 An alternative would be to go see one of the many matches that are organized every day though for us being in the action is always what we’re going for.

#7 Meditation Retreat

If you want to take relaxation to the next level consider going to a meditation retreat. The Vipassana means you have to stay silent the entire time you are there, which is more of a challenge for me than it is for Ziga 🙂 It was our wish to do a meditation / silence retreat but at the end of the day decided not to go. Apparently the sanitary standards are well below of what we’re used to. If the minor possibility of sleeping next to cockroaches doesn’t scare you then most recommended one is at Wat Doi Suthep. These retreats usually take at least a few days. A good alternative is the Monk Chat and the 2 day retreat.

#8 Visiting the surroundings

As the hub of Northern Thailand, you can take trips to many different places around the area. Chiang Rai is a 3 hours drive and has a beautiful temple Wat Rong Khun a.k.a. White Temple. Chiang Rai is already part of the Golden Triangle area which ends in the intersection between 3 neighboring countries: Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. We decided to skip this area and maybe leave it for some other time.

If you have time go to the Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat Phrachomklao Rachanusorn pagodas which are 3 hours drive south of Chiang Mai. We were told look as stunning on photos but also left them for next time.

But we did go to Pai. Oh, Pai, one of the highlights of the trip so far! Such a vibrant town with superb landscape at arms length, read more about it in our next blog.

#9 Buat Hat Public Park

On the Southwestern corner of the Old city lies a wonderfully designed small park. Palm trees, beautiful flower gardens and a small lake are the highlights. Locals and expats come to do yoga, meditate or just relax. There are workout stations around the area so bring your A game or instead grab a coconut and find your special spot in the shade.

#10 88 Place

One of the highlights of our time in Chiang Mai was staying at this unusual but such a charming villa. How does fancy, industrial and cozy go together? Well in 9 out of 10 cases they don’t but 88 Place managed to put it all together so well. The place is a 10 min drive from downtown, right by the riverside and has 5 rooms. We loved the details in both the interior and exterior in this trendy house and the staff is super nice. Let’s not forget about the American owner Craig who sometimes stays at this villa. He’s seen the world, has many fascinating stories and great sense of humour so I can assure you’ll have a blast!

#11 Flight of the Gibbon

We noticed many posters in Chiang Mai about Flight of the Gibbon. They advertised themselves as being voted as the best outdoor attraction in Thailand which raised our interest. Flight of the Gibbon is a zipline course consisting of 15 ziplines in the heart of the rainforest situated about 1 hour drive from Chiang Mai. There are gibbons living in the area, that’s why the name. Since we read great reviews we decided to go.

We got picked up from our hotel at 6.30 AM… so early, I know! But it proved to be worth it, since if you go early you don’t have to wait for other groups in front of you.

We really liked how the rides are  integrated in the forest and when you glide in between those majestic trees you feel like Tarzan. The courses really differ one from another in terms of length and required riding and landing positions. No need to worry though, since the staff takes great care in explaining everything and we did feel safe throughout the 2 hour adventure. But most of all it was great fun.

After the rides we had a snack (vegan options available) and went down to see a waterfall further down the road. Everything was well organized and we highly recommend for you to go, despite the quite high price for Thailand standards.

Other tips

There are tons of agencies offering Elephant sanctuary trips. Based on what we read and heard the vast majority do not treat elephants nicely forcing them in some things to attract tourist. Inform yourself before taking on such tours and travel sustainably!

When renting a scooter watch out for checkpoints around the old city square. There have high affinity for tourists and will find something isn’t right which means that you will have to go to the police station to pay the fine, which was 400 Baht in February 2018.

Let us know if we forgot anything that you loved. Enjoy Chiang Mai!