Chiang Mai, Thailand

November 18, 2018

Chiang Mai is the biggest city in the north of Thailand and it’s our first stop after Bangkok. This is where we really started to enjoy our journey.

Our first impression is that the center of Chiang Mai seems to be almost completely focused on tourism, with multiple tour operators on every street and only western faces on the street.

But overall it was much calmer and prettier than Bangkok, and it proved to be an excellent base of operations for a couple of daytrips.

Originally we wanted to stay here for just a couple of days and then do the “Mae Hong Son Loop”. But when we told a security guard about our plans, he said:

“So, you’re not staying for the festival?”

And we:

“Uhh, what festival?”

And he explained us that foreigners from all across the world came over for the festival known as Loi Krathong / Yee Peng. So we decided to stay around a bit longer, ultimately spending 6 days in Chiang Mai. We read some more about the Mae Hong Son Loop and decided to skip it for now.

And now, the photos!

Wat Chedi Luang, a gigantic temple in the center of the city that toppled over in 1545

Around Wat Chedi Luang:

Lots of colorful lanterns in preparation for the festival:

We took our first Songthaew to go to Doi Suthep, a golden temple on a mountain, very touristic.

The view from Doi Suthep over Chiang Mai.

We felt we paid too much for the Songthaew on the way up, so we wanted to hike a part of the way down via a trail called “the monk’s path”. No tourists around, except us.

The monk’s trail led us to a lesser-visited temple called Wat Pha Lat. This was the highlight of our day, a beautifully overgrown temple in the middle of the woods.