Chiang Rai, in my opinion, is one of the must-visit cities in the whole of Thailand. This city also plays an important host during the “floating basket” festival, otherwise better known as “Loy Krathong” This festival is also hosted throughout Bangkok, Phuket and Sukhothai but Chiang Mai is one of the biggest!
Located up north in Thailand, it has a much cooler weather to begin with (comparing to Bangkok) The city is less busy, with roads you can walk along without worrying too much about getting hit by a bike/tuk tuk. Though the tourism level has gone up a lot. Just be weary of the tuk tuks and the like as per my previous Bangkok post. The main areas of Chiang Mai can be divided into: Old City, Night Bazaar or Riverside. We had a hard time deciding where to stay, and since Thailand is always full of tourist, there are just so many hotels around! However, we finally made a choice and stayed in between old city and the night bazaar, very near to the Tha Phae gate. The Tha Phae gate is what surrounds the old city, in a square manner which is what you can see on Google maps.
The hotel we stayed at, Thaphae Boutique House was an excellent location for its price! Good service and friendly staff. Just outside the main road, Thaphae road, it is close enough to the old city and also in walking distance to the night bazaar area. I’ll definitely recommend you stay anywhere near Tha Phae road for convenience.
Food
Just outside our hotel, we explored Thaphae road walking towards the old city. Before crossing the river, along Chaiyapoom road, on the right there is a restaurant called Daret’s House. They serve delicious northern Thai food, one famous being the “khao soi gai“. It is basically a curried noodle soup with chicken. It is interesting to note that the curry up in the north tastes slightly different. Make sure you also try the northern Thai sausage, “sai oua” These dishes are heavily influenced by the Burmese. I couldn’t believe that sausage was one of THE dishes to try up here in northern Thailand! Amazing! The sausage can be found in markets, don’t miss your chance and grab one! Don’t expect your typical german/hungarian flavours but instead more of lemongrass, coriander, chilli, and garlic!
Walking out to Thaphae road, you’re bound to stop by a food cart for some snacks. You can always find food at anytime of the day here in most parts of Thailand. I can’t imagine myself not stopping and trying all the food! I might not finish walking the whole road, stopping by every food stall to eat. If you walk all the way, towards the Ping river, on the left, look for Chang Moi road. Head towards Chang Moi road and nearer to the river, you will come across Nararwat Market and Warorot Market. Here, it is similar to Chatuchak market, only it is all around, in between lanes and not as organised as Chatuchak. On the right side of Thaphae road is the Chiang Mai night bazaar along the Changklan road. After visiting most markets in Thailand (whether in the night or day) they seem the same after a while. I do have a preference to the one in Chiang Rai though. It is less taxing (not as many tourists) and less pressure to buy.
Chiang Mai does well when it comes to night-activities. Though I think Thailand does a good job with partying in general. There’s a bar called Zoe in Yellow, it offers a good space to dance, good ambience and music. We found that along Ratvithi road to have a good selection of bars/pubs. Again, I recommend to stay anywhere along Thaphae road for a good coverage of Chiang Mai’s little city.
Besides exploring the inner city of Chiang Mai, we’ve managed to head out a bit to visit Maya shopping mall. There is a little bit more development happening on this part of Chiang Mai. I assume that in due time, Chiang Mai will be blooming with malls and tall buildings like they have in Bangkok. If you venture further outside, Chiang Mai is well-known for its elephant sanctuaries. I’m not a big fan of tours but it would probably be the best/safest thing to go for if you’re keen for an elephant ride. There are many packages you can choose from, I recommend you book while you’re there, instead of doing it online as it is said to be much cheaper. Most tours will include bamboo rafting and hiking.
Loy Krathong
When i was deciding to visit this city, I took an opportunity to coincide with the “Loy Krathong“ festival. The festival goes for a period of 3 days. It involves a parade, lanterns and the floating of Krathongs along the Ping river. Definitely a good way to embrace the Thai culture by taking part in this beautiful festival. The lanterns are released into the air as an act of ‘releasing your sins‘. These lanterns come in 3 different sizes: small, medium and big. My boyfriend was trying to amuse me by purchasing the biggest size, saying I’ve many sins to release. RIGHT. The lanterns are released everywhere as long as you’re within Chiang Mai’s inner city. The parade took place on Thaphae road. Follow it and you will come across a huge area lined up with a stage and food stalls. Get on with it! Celebrate the festival with everyone else!
There were SO MANY people on the streets! I respect the Thai people so much for carrying on with the parades even though it was raining! Even I was contemplating to just sit in my room during the rain. To the Thais, it is important to carry on with the celebration no matter what happens and so, I’m amazed by the commitment and the determination. At the time I went, it was raining for two days straight, everything went on as usual. Much respect. :)
Chiang Mai is a big city. Take your time to explore and eat (of course!) To get a better idea Chiang Mai, I found this map really helpful. Chiang Mai is less of a busy city if I were to compare it to Bangkok. Though it really felt like I was in a town more than a city. I was only there for five days but I can safely say it is my favourite city of Thailand so far.
Eat, Sleep, Travel, Repeat 