Chiang Mai was definitely my favourite city in Thailand. Try to make sure that you are here for the weekend. Their Sunday markets are remarkable and the food is the best in Thailand by far. Street vendors all sell different handmade crafts unlike the repeating fake designer bags vendors in Phuket and Bangkok. We shopped, ate and walked a lot. It took us 4 hours to walk through the Sunday market and I’m sure that we’ve missed some streets.
Elephant camps are everywhere in Chiang Mai, but do some research and make sure that the one you visit don’t abuse the elephants. We went to Ran Tong and we had a great time. We had a full day to feed, walk and bathe the elephants. Definitely check one of the camps out.
We were hesitant to visit the Tiger Kingdom because of the mixed reviews, but I think it was totally worth it. When would you get another chance to touch a tiger? We took a Songtew and it costed us 300 THB for a round trip (the driver waits for you outside). There are different packages that you can take. We chose the one with Cubs + Teen cats + Big cats for around 1200 THB/person. You can hire a photographer for 300 THB/ cage, but don’t take that because we have seen people complaining about waiting for 1 hour just for their photographer to get there. We tipped the guard before visiting each cage, and he gave us a bottle to feed the cubs milk and took many pictures for us.
Finally, we booked a thai cooking class that includes 7 dishes of your choice. Although I found it long because we had breaks to relax between every two dishes, it was really fun going to the market to learn the different ingredients used in thai cuisine. They also taught us how to make our own curry paste from scratch. All we did was cook and eat so we were super full and satisfied at the end of the day. They gave us at the end a graduation certificate with a recipe book of everything.
We also checked out “Art in paradise” the 3D museum. We had a lot of fun taking silly pictures, we did this at night since they open until 9pm and we just walked to the night market afterwards that’s 5 min away.
padthai
roasted quails
sausages
BBQ
papaya salad
mango salad
sunday market
khao soi
cooking class
visiting the market
cooking class
cooking class
cooking class
drunken noodles
making curry paste
ingredients
khao soi
certified
3d museum
3d museum
3d museum
sleeping on cubs
feeding milk
number 2
big cats
cleaning his paw
fighting teenagers
night markets
mango wood bracelets
elephant camp
walking around the camp
mud bath!
washing him clean
How to avoid scams in Chiang Mai:
Chiang Mai is a lot less touristy than Bangkok and Phuket, therefore, less scam. But again, avoid tuktuks at all cost. Taxi drivers here tend to refuse taxi meters. The best way to get around in by Red Songtews. They have a flat fee of 20 THB/person and can get you around anywhere around the old city. If you want to go to Tiger Kingdom, you can negotiate a price and they will wait for you while you visit and give you a ride back afterwards. Songtews are the way to go.
Chiang Mai Chiang Mai was definitely my favourite city in Thailand. Try to make sure that you are here for the weekend.