For us, if you want a tourist view of Thailand… you gotta go to Chiang Mai. This feels like a more approachable place than Bangkok, and it’s a historical and cultural superset (I know many would argue this). This might partly be due to “hitting our stride” in SE Asia here. We were coming from a somewhat rough week at the beach, and being our last stop before going home…. we attacked Chiang Mai with the vigor of a pack of hyenas on a lion carcas.
I apologize in advance for the number of pictures, but we had many memorable events here, and they all deserve due representation. We’ll hit’m as they came…
Firstly, we took the overnight train from Bankgkok to Chiang Mai. It was a good experience, and quite odd trying to find a taxi ride to our apartment. These drivers are used to charging what they want to the dazed and confused stumbling off the overnight train. It took about 10 minutes, but we managed to find something agreeable.
Kim had rented an apartment on airbnb, and it was quite nice. As luck (or Kim’s good work) would have it, we were staying in a white collar, executive part of town. Not over-the-top howdy-toidy, but nice. Our apartment was spacious, with a great view, and nicely appointed. We were all thrilled with it, and I have to admit that we felt like we had accomplished something when we found it, and got in with the code provided by the owners.
pics – arriving in Chiang Mai:
Once we got settled in, we set out to explore the town. One of the things high on the list was pretty close by, so even though we were all tired, we decided to check out the “world famous” insect museum. It essentially represents the lives work of a couple of entomologists, and collectors of bizarre natural artifacts.
We saw some amazing bugs, and learned a bit. I think somebody really into insects would spend multiple days here. We all ran out of steam after about an hour… all the bugs started to look the same! Worth a stop, though.
pics – insect museum:
After that, we walked around a bit in search of some of the more famous temples in Chiang Mai. We found some! The kids had a good time, releasing birds (I can’t recall what type) at the “oldest temple”.
pics – Chiang Mai out and about:
Another cool idea we heard from another family was an art class. It took a bit, but we were able to find Noina, and her studio. The kids enjoyed an hour or so in the studio under Noina’s tutelage. Kim enjoyed a massage, and Scott hung out at a local coffee shop. The pictures indeed made it home, thanks in large part to Noina’s most excellent packaging skills.
pics – Art Class with Noina:
Our fishing trip has already been documented by Kane in a previous post, but I could not do a Chiang Mai post without something on that day. It was a real highlight for all of us. What an incredible experience to fish for a day, catch 30 fish 1/2 of which were over 50 lbs each. Simply Amazing.
pics – fishing at Bo Song:
We hired a driver for the day, and mapped out several stops for a full day. Our first stop was a really famous temple north of town on a hill. You can see this temple from our apartment in Chiang Mai. It must be my favorite temple that we saw in all of Thailand. Beautiful, and quiet (we where there early just as they opened with no crowd).
pics – Temple on the Hill:
After that, the driver was confused about where we wanted to go, and actually took us to the wrong place. Eventually we figured out where Kim wanted to go… an area of farming that has been setup by the government as a place of rehabilitation (like a half-way farm if you will). It’s way up in the hills, and quite breathtaking. While we were strolling the farmland, our driver was exploring nearby. He was trying to tell us about something that sounded fun, but we had no idea what he was saying. It turned out to be little wooden go-carts, where they would haul you up the hill and let you coast down.
After 20 feet, Kane got off to save his life. It was a good call IMO. The cart was very difficult to control (using my legs), and there were some steep drop-offs on the side. Kat trusted me, and I used the brake liberally all the way down.
Then, our last major stop of the day was the Elephant Poo Paper Factory. Here, they recycle Elephant poop into paper. We learned a ton, and had a good time making our own poo paper. It was a full day.
pics – Hill Farms and Poo Poo Paper factory:
We’d planned to do some volunteer work on the trip, and it came in small doses. Kat and Kim went and spend the day working with Dogs at a rescue center. Kat LOVES dogs!
pics – Kat Dog rescue volunteering:
These pics speak for themselves. Art in Paradice is like a “museum” of interactive spaces for taking cool pictures. Some better than others and more elaborate, but it helped once we figured out that the “red x” on the floor marked approximately where to stand to take the pic! I was determined to get that flying carpet pic perfect, and as a result I had to move another display about 10 feet to hide it behind the pole! I got some nasty looks… selfish American!
pics – Art in Paradise:
We decided to clean ourselves up a bit before we left, so we went for haircuts down the street from our apartment. Unfortunately, we got ripped off by the lady, and spent probably 20 bucks too much (which is a ton here). Bummer, but lesson learned. It was kind of sad to leave our nice apartment in the city.
pics – haircuts and leaving apartment:
We moved into a boutique hotel on the river just outside of town. It was OK, but the lady that ran the place was the best. It was the best service we had in SE Asia, for sure. I hung out there for an interview that “never happened”, and my family went to take care of Elephants…
pics – elephant nature park:
Well, it was time to go, and even though we loved Chiang Mai, I think we were all ready for our journey back to St. Louis. One more over night train… a day and a half in Bangkok, and a some long flights home! I’ll say this… if I had a month to visit SE Asia, I’d do some things significantly differently…. but one thing I would not change is the week we spent in this place.
pics – leaving Chiang Mai
