The train that will take us from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is beautiful. Two people have so much sitting space that you could fit four. When the sitting space is converted into beds, they are large and comfortable. Too bad the trip is only 13h.

Chiang Mai

We pull into Chiang Mai train station around 7am and after a ride with the only Grab driver who doesn’t know how to use google maps, we arrive at our hotel. It’s of course very early for check in, but we only have to wait a couple of hours until our room is ready. It’s large, has a beautiful terrace and even a kitchenette (no stove, but a big fridge, plates, cutlery, a microwave…). After a nap, we are ready to venture out and explore the immediate neighbourhood. We are staying a bit outside of the old town and it’s great. One of our favourite discoveries is the Siri Wattana Market. Here, you can buy ingredients but also ready made food for you to take home. Big bowls and pans are displayed and we are excited like little children (and since our mums aren’t there to stop us, we buy a bit too much). Noodles, mango sticky rice, papaya salad, veggies from the salad bar, some tofu… we take all of this to enjoy on our terrace and try to remember the last time we did that. Actually, never on this trip besides breakfast in our first hotel in the Philippines, where they had a great communal kitchen.

The next morning we are ready to discover the Old Town, neatly located in a square inside the old wall. Chiang Mai is full of the most beautiful temples, some are well known tourist attractions, others just sneak up on you when you won’t expect it. We stroll through the streets, turning here and there, with no particular destination. Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second city but it feels more like a big village. Distances in the city are short and it takes you about 20 minutes to cross Old Town.

We have delicious Banh Mi for lunch (as you do in Chiang Mai) and then attempt to ride a Songthaew back to the hotel. Our hotel is a bit out of the driver’s usual radius and there are some misunderstanding so we don’t really get as far as we wanted to, but end up in a nice street with shops and bookstores. Walking our way home from there, we discover a temple that for us was the most beautiful we saw within the city, Wat Hua Khuang. It is beautifully decorated and even if we couldn’t enter, we spent a good 20 minutes walking around.

We stop by our favourite market to get a few things to accompany our leftovers and finish this very hot, lovely day on our terrace.

The day after, we have another cooking class. We are picked up at our hotel, and together with three other students, are driven to a market (ha, we didn’t miss it this time), where we spend about 10 minutes looking at some ingredients and then continue on to the cooking school, which is situated in a beautiful garden.

The difference with the cooking class we did in Bangkok is that everyone gets to choose their own menu. This means some more personal attention for each of us by one of the staff. Glass noodle salad, Tom Yum Soup, Massaman Curry, Kao Soy, morning glory, black sticky rice pudding, fried banana spring roll… we don’t leave with empty bellies! And this time, we got to make our own curry paste, something we missed a bit in Bangkok.

Given the amount of food we ate, you may not be surprised that afterwards we went to lay down for a while. For the evening, we head to the night bazar, a huge market to the east of the old town. In high season, it must be pretty crazy here, but now it’s nice for a little stroll.

The next day, we have a scooter lined up and are ready to venture out further. First stop: Huay Keaw Waterfall. At this time of the year, the waterfall is not at its fullest, but you can still hike on the trails and enjoy some lovely views of Chiang Mai.

Afterwards, we drive to Wat Phu Lae (you can also hike there, but it’s so hot and we decide we have hiked enough at the waterfall). This temple is located in the middle of the jungle (or that’s what it feels like, as it’s really just a short drive from Chiang Mai) and it’s one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen. It’s so peaceful and quiet, you could while away for hours.

It’s already way past lunch time, so hunger drives us back to the city. After a well deserved dip in the pool, we need to complete one important task: have pizza in Thailand. The place recommended in our guide is closed for renovations so we decide to trust google. We were right to do so!

On our final day in Chiang Mai, our destination is Bo Sang. This village east of the city is known for the production of colourful umbrellas – all handmade. This also must be one of those places that is buzzing with tourists in high season, but now we’re almost the only ones. There are a few other people visiting the factory, the rest of the Main Street is quiet. Most restaurants only display their menu in Thai, so it takes us a bit of time to find something vegetarian for lunch, but this is quite a nice contrast to most Chiang Mai restaurants.

On the way back to the city, we stop for a book exchange, and for a coffee, and get some rest before we take our scooter out one final time. We’re indecisive on what to eat – many places around the hotel seem pretty meat oriented. On the way to a vegetarian place, we stumble upon a street full of food stalls – score! This was the perfect culinary ending to our stay in Chiang Mai.

Activities

Wat Phu Lae

This temple located just on the outskirts of Chiang Mai was our favourite and we highly recommend going there. It’s about 20 minutes by scooter from the centre, or you can take a Songthaew or a Grab. You can also hike there on the monk’s trail.

Other temples

You can’t really walk very far without stumbling upon a temple in Chiang Mai. Wat Phra Sing, Wat Lok Moli, and Wat Hua Khuang were among our favourites.

Huay Keaw Waterfall

Nice escape from the city. We were there end of May and the waterfall wasn’t particularly big. It was still a nice hike. About 20 min by scooter. If you want to hike, best to wear trainers.

Night bazar

Good place for souvenir shopping, but be prepared for crowds. Several food courts with mix of Asian and western cuisine.

Bo Sang Umbrella Village

About half an hour by scooter on a pretty busy road. You can visit the factory and see how the umbrellas are manually produced. If you are feeling artsy, you can paint your own umbrella. You can buy umbrellas of different sizes and materials (mulberry paper is the traditional material), as well as other souvenirs.

Siam Garden Cooking School

We chose this cooking school because they proposed a menu different from most other schools. We already did the cooking class in Bangkok and had done classics such as Pad Thai, papaya salad, and red curry. Here, everyone could pick their own dishes and there was a wide choice, so we didn’t have to cook anything that we already knew. The school is in a lovely setting in a garden a few kilometres outside is Chiang Mai. You are picked up in the morning, there is a short stop at the local market before arriving at the school, visiting the garden, and getting started with the cooking. We were only five people in total that day, which was great.

Food

Thanin (Siri Wattana) Market

Great place to shop either ready made food or ingredients. Very local. Some places have a specific dish (papaya salad), others have many pots and pans full of delicious curries and stir fries. Was a bit difficult to find vegetarian food.

Vegetarian at Thanin Market

As the name promises, a restaurant right next to the market serving vegetarian food, eat in or take away.

Nana’s Bakery

Café and bakery, super delicious. We tried their bread, pain au chocolat, muffins, and pizza. They also sell peanut butter and other condiments. This was the first place where we found good bread and pastries on our trip – more to come in Laos!

Free Bird

Vegan restaurant, organic shop, and second hand clothes and books. Proceedings go to charity. Good place to try the veggie version of some Thai classics like Pad Thai or Kao Soy.

Imm Aim Vegetarian

Western and Thai vegetarian food.

Bahn @Banh Mi

For some reason, this place is not on google maps, but it serves delicious Banh Mi. On Prapokkloa Road, just south of Wat Fon Soi.

By Hand Pizza Cafe

Amazing pizza, the best we’ve had on our trip so far. Can hold the candle to some of the pizza places we like at home.

Street food stalls

Marked in Google as “Late Night Street Foods and Noddle”. Chiang Mai is full of street food stalls, so no need to make a detour for this one, but perfect if you’re in the area.

YN Cafe

Cute coffee and tea place just across from our hotel.

Where to stay

We stayed at The Odyssey Serviced Apartments (about 18€/night) and loved it. We had a spacious room with balcony and a kitchenette with microwave and fridge. It was a bit outside of the centre, but we enjoyed that the area was a bit more local and there were plenty of places to eat, especially the Thanin Market (see above). They also have bigger apartments with full kitchen, which would be a great option if you stay longer. There is a small pool, which is much needed in the heat. There are washing machines where you can do your laundry for less than 1€, but as anywhere else, you can also drop your laundry and have someone else do it for you. The Opium is in the same building as The Odyssey (not quite sure what the difference is between the two), when using Grab you need to put The Opium, as it won’t find it otherwise.

Getting here

You can fly to Chiang Mai, but we took the night train from Bangkok. The 18.10 train is one of the most comfortable trains ever. You can have set dinner and breakfast, or at least order a cup of coffee for the morning (the lady couldn’t quite believe that we would really drink our coffee black). This train takes about 13h and costs 28€/person.

Getting around

You can walk many places, especially in the centre. Otherwise a bike or motorbike can be useful, or you can use songthaews. Note that Chiang Mai police is known to fine people who drive a motorbike without an international driver’s license. Apparently they will issue a ticket that will then cover you for a few days so you won’t get fined again. The lady who rented us the bikes pointed out a couple of spots for us to avoid as police is known to hang around there. We didn’t see any police during our two days of driving around, might be different in high season. The fine is 500baht/15€. If you don’t have a license at all, it’s a different story.

Chiang Rai

After a last lazy morning in Chiang Mai, we take the 13.15 bus to Chiang Rai, about 4 hours away. The route is scenic, going through jungle and villages. We check in to our last hotel in Thailand (sniff) and shortly after, we are ready to discover Chiang Rai. The receptionist had pointed out the Sunday Night Market, which sound like a place for us. And we are not wrong! As far as night markets go, this one easily shoots to the top. One reason for that is that it isn’t only made for tourists – not at all, actually. Locals do their shopping, they have dinner, and they dance. There is a huge section for shopping (mostly clothes), a whole side street full of food, and the big area with tables where you can eat and watch others doing some kind of a square dance – with a live band, of course. This is a pretty great start to our stay here.

We only have one full day, so anything we want and need to do must be done on this day. True to our style in the Philippines and Malaysia, we send postcards on the last day in the country (we already bought the Laos ones, but they are yet to be written…), so our first stop is the post office. Then, we are off to see the White Temple, probably the most famous one of Chiang Rai, despite (or because of?) being very recent. It is (surprise, surprise) completely white and has been built since 1997. Construction is meant to be ongoing until 2070 (!). For some reason, this is the only place where we encounter crowds since our arrival in Thailand. Large groups of Chinese tourists stream into the temple and it is difficult to enjoy this weird construction. We only stay for a few minutes before we escape.

Next stop: Singha Park. This giant complex owned by the famous beer (and other beverages) producer has a lake, a zoo, a few restaurants, and a tea plantation. We are interested in the latter and surprisingly, you can admire the plantations free of charge and access them with your own scooter.

After this pleasant view, we are off to Wat Huay Pla Kang. From the giant Buddha, accessed via an elevator, you have a great view of the surroundings.

In addition, there is a restaurant there working based on donations for the monks. You can fill your belly with a bunch of different dishes and give as much as you like. And you have to do your own dishes!

After lunch, there is time for one more temple, also a fairly new one – guess what it’s called!

The Chinese tourists from the White Temple now all seem to be here, so we make this visit short and head on to a well deserved coffee break.

This is our last day in Thailand and there is one more important thing to do: Julia wants to have a Thai massage. There is a massage place right next to our hotel and they have a slot just an hour later, enough time to take a dip in the pool and shower of the dust of the day. More about the massage experience below.

For our final evening, we are headed for the night bazar. After the amazing experience of the Sunday night market the day before, this is a bit of a disappointment. This place is definitely aimed at tourists, and Chinese tourists in particular, indicated by the number of stalls selling hotpots. We still have a nice dinner and walk around a bit. One more mango sticky rice to go, and we are off to bed.

As always, it’s been a great pleasure to be in Thailand. We were happy to be able to explore the north a bit, and we remain curious for more!

Activities

White Temple

About 20min south of Chiang Rai by motorbike. Very busy and honestly not our favourite place. Cost about 1.50€ entrance fee.

Blue temple

About 10min north of the centre. A bit kitsch but worth a stop if you’re in the area.

Wat Huay Pla Kang

About 20 min northwest of the centre (we drove there from the White Temple, takes a while but you go through some pretty landscapes and villages). Huge Buddha, you can take the elevator up to the head (about 1€). Restaurant based on donations (for monks).

Singha Park

Huge complex with restaurants, zoo, lake, tea plantations… we just had a look at the plantations and enjoyed the view, but there are tours organised if you want to see everything. You can rent bikes as well.

Orrachan Thai Massage

At this massage place right next to our hotel, Julia had her first Thai massage ever. The massage therapist was really good and all staff was very friendly. The place is nothing fancy, but clean and there are individual rooms. The massage only cost 200 baht for one hour (about 6€). Now about Thai massages… they are different (which we were aware of before, but obviously you are never sure until you try). You get specific clothes to wear and the massage is partly active also for the massagee. It’s not really a relaxing massage, it goes deep into your fascial tissues, and if you’ve ever used one of those foam rollers, you know that this is a bit painful. It’s probably really good for your muscles, especially if you do it regularly. But if you want to just relax, definitely opt for something else.

Food

Sunday Night Market

This was the best night market we visited in Thailand. We loved that it was a place for locals, the food was delicious and the atmosphere great. If you’re in Chiang Rai on a Sunday, don’t miss it.

Night Bazar

It’s fine for food, but the place is aimed at Chinese tourists and the atmosphere isn’t great. If you’re looking for hotpot, this is your place.

Doi Chaang Coffee

Doi Chaang is one of the most famous coffee brands of Thailand and we were curious to try it. There café in Chiang Rai has a wonderful, lush garden where you can relax away from the heat. Coffee is good, too.

BaanChivitMai Bakery

Situated right next to the bus terminal, this is a good place to stock up on snacks for your trip (sandwiches, cookies). Also looks nice for breakfast. They also sell peanut butter (you notice that we often look for that).

Where to stay

We stayed at Huen Chan Thip Guesthouse (18€/night). The location was good, you could walk to most places in the centre (about 15min to the bus station). The room was fine, just a little dark, which is fine for a couple of nights but not for a longer stay. There is a nice pool, unfortunately not a lot of space to sit by the pool. Breakfast is very basic, coffee and fruit are available all day for free. There is a coffee place right next to the hotel, if like us you like your morning coffee a bit stronger. You can rent motorbikes or bikes from the hotel.

Getting here

We took the bus from Chiang Mai, about 3-4h. Greenbus is the best known company for those trips, leaving from bus terminal 3 in Chiang Mai. They stop at both Chiang Rai bus terminals. There are three different classes of busses, A, X, and VIP. We took X for the air conditioning. It cost 5€/person. You can reserve the tickets online and then pick them up and pay at any 7-11, or you can pay online and print them. You can also take busses from other destinations in Thailand and abroad (Laos, Myanmar). You can also fly to Chiang Rai.

Getting dollars

As our next destination was Laos, and you have to pay for the visa in dollars, we wanted to ideally have dollars before getting to the border. There is an exchange booth and an ATM at the Lao border, but we wanted to avoid queuing there (FYI, it wouldn’t have been a problem that day). We asked a few banks in Chiang Rai but they didn’t have dollars. One finally pointed us to the “yellow box”, which is an exchange booth on Phaholyothin Road, close to Boots. It was closed in the afternoon, but open in the evening, and we got our dollars.