Thailand - Chiang Mai - Something for Everyone

It is no exaggeration to say that there is something for everyone in Chiang Mai. We were nervous that nothing could follow up our time in Malaysia and Borneo without suffering in comparison, but Chiang Mai in Thailand blew us away. It has so much going on! Sample of activities: meditation retreats, language classes, spas and massages, cooking classes, elephant training/riding, trekking, boat trips to Laos, tiger and panda parks, custom tailor shops, night markets and more!



This is possibly the longest Mehr and I have stayed in one city in our travels together so far, and with so much to do and our favourite hostel so far (Green Tulip - amazing owners, spotlessly clean and cheap!) it's no surprise. We checked out the Chiang Mai Zoo, its newly born panda baby and the greatest use of parrots I've ever seen:



We climbed the 306 step staircase (they like to brag about the obscene number of stairs they have) to Wat Doi Suthep which overlooks the city - beautiful. And less physically demanding than the 272 steps at the Batu Caves in Malaysia.



And we took full advantage of the cheap spas, doing a 3 hour package our first afternoon here that involved Thai massage, hot compress herbal treatment, facials, foot reflexology and more. We also went again for manicures and pedicures later in the week, all at a fraction of the prices in North America.



We then indulged in an all day cooking class in Thai food and learned how to make: pad thai, spring rolls, green and red curry, cashew chicken stirfry, sweet and sour stirfry, papaya salad, spicy glass noodle salad, sticky rice with mango and bananas in coconut milk. Delicious! Sadly, I still haven't learned to make banana honey roti, which is our current favourite street food.



We also had three piece suits and dresses custom made at a local tailor's over the past two days, which took about two days and three fittings to get right, but wow! We feel like high rollers wearing them! And I found my own slice of heaven - a whole street alley of second hand bookstores and the selection is amazing. I'm hard pressed to keep to my rule of traveling with just one book at a time when the getting's this good.

We found there are way more tourists here than Malaysia, although we've been told it's frighteningly low compared to how many would usually be here. Right now, even though it's high season, the number of tourists is more like lowest of low season. The political unrest has diverted all of them to neighbouring countries apparently, which is a shame because it's the usual case of 5% of malcontents ruining things for 95% of the population.

We can add Chiang Mai to the list of places I would go to again - I feel like I could easily spend another week here exploring, but Cambodia's a-callin'...