It worked out that I would only have 1 weekend free while I was at Mirror so I decided that I would explore a bit more of the northern areas and head to Chiang Mai.
One of the other volunteers and I went together. We caught the VIP bus from Chiang Rai which cost a whole $12.50, it took three hours to get there but they fed us water and a bakery snack and the seats were the best - they reclined at least 45 degrees and I could have fit two of me on the seat. The tuk tuk that took us from the bus station to our accommodation was a fun experience - the fresh air in our face and the perfect view of the streets of Chiang Mai.
We spent two nights at Darat's Guesthouse (located right near Tapae Gate). It was recommended to us by another volunteer - it wasn't the greatest but for $10 for two nights I thought it was perfect. The atmosphere of the city at night is fantastic - we walked past Tapae Gate and around the roads the water separated roads and it was absolutely gorgeous in the night lights. I am totally in love with this area - there are food places everywhere, taverns, lights and music, there's a reggae bar just down the road and it's only a few blocks to the night markets. Darat's have the best breakfast I've ever had - banana pancakes and hot chocolate.
Saturday meant it was time to explore, first visiting the Wats (or at least some of them) located inside Tapae Gate. Chiang Mai has the most wats per square km than any other city in Thailand - so there was definitely plenty to see. My favourite off all was Wat Chedi Lueng. It was enormous and reminded me of the kind of stone structure you would expect to see in somewhere like Rome or Greece.
It was here in the grounds of Wat Chedi Luang that we found Mr Noi, who offered to be our personal taxi driver for the day. For 500b (approx $25) he would ake us to Wat That Doi Suthep, The Umbrella Factory and then back to Tapae Gate. Little did we know our trip would end up being somewhat of an adventure to WAYYYYY more places than we planned.
Sticking to the game plan we went to Wat That Doi Suthep ('the wat on the hill'). It's one of the biggest drawcards of visitors to Chiang Mai and for good reason - it is absolutely stunning. Even with the 600 odd steps we had to climb to get to the top, it was everything I imagined it would be - but completely overrun by tourists (not that we minded much). There were people praying, essence burning, photos being snapped, bells being rung and tiny gold bells hung all over the temple grounds.
The start of the steps to Wat That Doi Suthep.
Next stop was the umbrella factory (or at least it was suppose to be) but little did we know that Mr Noi was about to take us coupon collecting. In Thailand many taxi and tuk tuk drivers not only make their wages from their travel fares, but they also receive discount coupons to be used on petrol and food by bringing their travellers to specific shops. We didn't have to buy anything for him to receive the coupons, however it was quite difficult to go into a shop when you really didn't want to spend your money buying anything. Here's where I should mention another thing about Thailand regarding shopping - in western areas we're used to being able to wander aimlessly through shops without being annoyed or pushed to buy anything. In Thailand its COMPLETELY different - as soon as you walk in the door you are bombarded by a salesperson and you can't even glance at an item without them trying to sell it to you and basically pushing you for your money. It's even harder to leave the shop you are visiting because they follow you everywhere and basically are throwing items at you until you have managed to get out the front door.
With that said our next stop actually turned out to be the International Fine Creation Co Factory - a huge jewellery store that took us about 45 minutes to get out of. They showed us the process of making jewellery before taking us into an enormous showroom. They had some gorgeous jewellery there (i'll give them that) but it's not a place that we really wanted to visit and I managed to keep hold of my money. I've now dubbed this experience 'Adventure for Coupon #1".
We did make it to the Umbrella Factory (which was next on our list). We watched the making of the umbrellas, including the enormous detail put into painting them, and then went through to the showroom. Many of the umbrellas and fans weren't as intricate as I expected them to be.. and that was Ticket #2.
To collect Ticket #3 we stopped at a lacquerware workshop and display (where we managed to get out in about 10 minutes - go us!!)
Ticket #4 was right next door at a silk shop, where we managed to get out in 5 minutes.
It was definitely lunch time by then and Mr Noi took us to one of his friend's restaurants. It was probably one of the best meals I had while I was in Thailand - the peanut satay and cherry smoothie were delicious and oh so cheap! (Somehow though I didn't manage to get the actual name of the restaurant)
Our next few stops saw us at a few more silk factories and outlets and we were exhausted. After our days worth of adventure, side tracks and coupon collecting we really did end up having a pretty good time. Mr Noi was a fantastic guide, making hilarious imitations of different accents and telling us all about the Buddhist religion.
We were told that while in Chiang Mai we HAD to visit the Saturday Night Bazaar. It was only a 20 minute walk from Darat's and was absolutely massive - filled with jewellery, clothes, bags, DVD's, silk scarfs and lanterns.
Our main part of the Sunday in Chiang Mai was spent at the Zoo. Compared to an Australian Zoo it wasn't that fantastic and the animals weren't kept in anywhere near as healthy or humane conditions - but we managed to feed giraffes and see all the major animals. The zoo did have a few disadvantages though:
- Seeing the Pandas, Adventure Park, or the Aquarium were an additional cost.
- The map was complicated and we ended up walking about 4km further than we needed to.
- I felt sorry for some of the monkeys that were kept in dusty cages with no vegetation and hardly any space.
I had my first ever Thai massage in Chiang Mai and had no idea that I was that flexible. We finished the day by walking around the Sunday Market (conveniently located right outside Darat's), and then caught the VIP night but back to Chiang Rai.
Chiang Mai has such a fun, relaxed and funky vibe - I would honestly come back to explore more of the city and chill out.
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