The best thing about this city was you had the option to do a ton of activities, or you could do nothing at all; either way was fine. I booked a couple nights at A Little Bird Guesthouse, inside the Old City. Good choice too. Not necessarily for the comfort (the mattresses were wrapped in plastic), but the staff was awesome and it was a great place to meet other backpackers. I ended up staying there for 10 nights! The longest I had stayed in one place, that's for sure.
So what did I actually do there? Well, here's 10 things...
1. Got my teeth checked and cleaned.
It was only 600 baht (20 USD)!
2. Tried Thai cooking at the Asia Scenic Cooking School
Som Tom by me!
Thai food is pretty easy to cook if you have all the ingredients! This was a fun class, but the full day with 7 courses was pretty exhausting (should have gone with the half day/5 courses). Our group couldn't eat everything we cooked, so we took our last two courses in take out boxes. We received a nice recipe book in the end, which I have not put to use yet in the States.
3. Visited Several Wats
Wat Umong
I liked this one because it was in a forest, with some pretty interesting spaces to wander around. There were meditation buildings, a fish pond, underground tunnels with Buddha statues and wall drawings, and some funny dog posters illustrating vices to avoid.
Remnants in the Forest
Buddha in the Tunnel
Emaciated Buddha
Did You Get That?
Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep
This is the wat to go for the view of Chiang Mai city. Really nice, but super crowded. It was one of those temples that had vendors lined up along the front and the path to the temple. Touristy = yes.
A Little Dance Performance in the Wat Area
Inside with the Stupa
View of Chiang Mai
Mystery Wat
I can't remember the name of it, but most notable was this fake Donald Duck statue in front of the temple. Oh yeah, he's eating noodles!
4. Got Massages
SO worth it. Especially after walking all the time. I meant to get one every other day, but I only went three times.
5. Ate Muesli with Yogurt and Fruit
Papaya in Your Muesli and Yogurt? Yes, You're in Thailand!
This was a big deal, because western breakfast food was usually more expensive, and after eating mainly fried eggs for breakfast in Burma (probably 20 out of 25 days), it was refreshing to eat something more tasty and healthy.
6. Went to the Sunday Market
Nicolai Takes a Look at the Awesome Wooden Frogs
This was the mother of all markets in Chiang Mai. It spanned...I don't even know how far it extend, but it's HUGE. Great place to by some unique souvenirs, clothes, and food too. I went with 3 other friends, but ended up losing them amongst the crowds. I made out like a bandit though, with some goodies to take back to my family.
7. Ate McDonald's
Yeah, yeah I know. I had McD's breakfast in Singapore. And now, Fish-O-Filet in Chiang Mai. But I was with other Americans! We all caved in!
8. Jungle Zipline
I tried zip-lining in Nicaragua before, but I had more fun with this one. The guides from Jungle Flight were nuts! You can tell they have fun doing at their job and love doing it. We zipped to about 22 platforms...it was pretty rad. I felt so free up there doing the Superman move. At times, I kind of forgot how high up we were, but then I'd look down below and quickly up again. It's friggen high.
Our Crazy Guides
The Gang
9. Doi Tao Lake and Bua Tong Waterfalls
I kind of ended up in these places by accident. Some backpackers at the hostel were going to Doi Tao Lake, and ended up having an open spot, so I tagged along. It was about an hour motorcycle ride to get from Chiang Mai to Doi Tao Lake, but unfortunately, we got pulled over by the cops for not various reasons (not having a helmet on, no motorcycle license, and probably just being farang). Once we got to the edge of the lake, we had a little boat waiting for us to take our group to to these simple, but charming, floating bungalows. We only spent a night there, which consisted of kayaking, lots of food, beer, and skinny dipping under a bright moon.
Little Bungalows on the Lake
View of Doi Tao Lake
Dining Area
The next morning, we shipped off, but stopped by along the Bua Tong Waterfalls before heading back to Chiang Mai. I've never seen such clean, clear waters, rolling over limestone rocks. It was pretty amazing. We walked to down to the first series of falls, and it was great. And then we followed the stream down to an even better spot. It just got better and better each time we walked down to the next section.
So Clear!
Moto Caravan on the Way Back to Chiang Mai
And last, but not at the most least...
10. Met Some Awesome People!
My experience in Chiang Mai would not have been great if I hadn't met these people...
Nicolai (Denmark)
I met him in my dorm on my first day and after late night conversations of design, music, and life in general, I felt like he's a homie. I'm glad he was there for pretty much the whole duration of my stay in CM.
Carmen (UK)
A cool lady from the UK who had similar traveling/backpacking style as I did. She was laid back and up for whatever. We went to Doi Suthep together, but some how along the way, we got dropped off at the zoo and then ended up in a tourist village, thinking we were going to see a real Karin tribe. Ah well. We eventually made it to Doi Suthep and had a good laugh about it all.
Jesper (Sweden), Carmen (again), and Debi (UK)
Jesper was the most ambitious person I met on the trip. He biked (as in bicycled) all the way from Chiang Mai, Thailand, to Malaysia! That's at least 1,000 miles. He was a total sweet heart too. On our last day in the dorm room together, he surprised Carmen, Debi, and me with slices of cake from the bakery. How sweet is he?
Debi was a burst of energy and totally fun to be around with. She was a good shopping buddy in the markets; but too bad we never made it to the vintage stores!
Dave! (UK)
Dave worked at A Little Bird Guesthouse while I was there, and he was great at making everyone feel welcomed and like they were already a part of the guesthouse community. He was nice enough to let me tag along on the lake/waterfall excursion.
Sam (Belgium) (Ok, not his best picture. He looks maniacal here.)
Sam is definitely an interesting fellow. I couldn't guess where he was from initially, because he had an accent, but I would have never guessed he was from Belgium. He's really good friends with Dave, and for a second, I thought he worked at the guesthouse too, but he was just a long term resident. But he was a great resource on where to go in Chiang Mai - actually took me and another friend, Kyle, up to Wat Umong.
Jason and Kyle (US)
Alright, I already had an affinity for these fellas when they said they were from California. I had a blast hanging out late at night with these two, in search of a good hamburger in Chiang Mai...only to end up at McDonald's. How American of us. But seriously, McD's fries never tasted so good.
Other than these activities, I spent my time just walking around the city or hanging out at the guesthouse. I'm sure I could have done a lot more, but after 5 months of backpacking, I was pretty over doing stuff. Chiang Mai was the perfect place to end my backpacking trip.
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