As was the case with Phuket, I had many international friends visit Chiang Mai, but I never had the opportunity to go. But unlike Phuket, which often receives mixed reviews, everyone I knew who had ever visited Chiang Mai had nothing bad to say about it. So Huy and I went there in January 2024 with high expectations.
Choosing an area to stay was a challenge since Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand, but as with Phuket, I picked our hotel based on walking distance to the gay area of town. Chiang Mai is located in the mountainous region known as the Thai highlands, up near the Golden Triangle. The old city is lined by a moat and there are still crumbling remains of the wall that surrounded the city that date back to the 13th century. Since we went in January, the weather was remarkably cool, and certainly a nice change from hot Vietnam.
The hotel I chose looked better in pictures. In reality is was once probably very grand, but now was old and run down. It was also mostly empty except for when tour groups came through for a night and flooded the halls with noisy Korean and Chinese old people. Still, the location was convenient and enabled us to walk to local markets and bars in the evening.
Chiang Mai is a city of temples, and that’s what we spent the majority of our time doing - visiting one temple after another. Fortunately we were able to rent a motorbike which made getting around the city quite easy. Since we arrived in the late afternoon, we started our adventure the next morning.
The first temple we visited was Wat Phra That Doi Kham - a large temple that includes a 17 (56 feet) meter high giant buddha. The temple is located on top of a mountain, and was a rather long drive from downtown Chiang Mai. The countryside, though, was beautiful, especially after we got off a very large highway, which was a little scary to drive on with a small motorbike.
It was a beautiful, cool day and the views from the mountain were amazing. There are many things to see at Doi Kham and we stayed a long time there. With so many shrines and buddhas, most of your time is spent taking off your shoes and going inside each shrine. And since Huy is a good buddhist, he must bow and pray at every buddha we came across - and there were many! The temple has a large terrace with rather kitshy scruples like a giant durian and stag. There is also a giant gorilla for some reason. The oldest section of the temple was constructed around 687. Since we arrived early we avoided much of the crowd, but by the time we left, the tour busses were flooding in and things grew chaotic. It was a fun drive winding our way down the mountain road.
After lunch we toured another temple, this one located in the middle of Chiang Mai. Wat Chedi Luang is the one of the oldest temples in Chiang Mai. It was constructed in the late 14th century, and took almost 100 years to build since construction stopped about halfway up - likely because they had trouble with stability. Originally the temple was 270 feet high, but an earthquake in 1545 caused almost 100 feet to fall over. In the 1990s UNESCO took over and reconstructed part of the shrine. Though you cannot go inside the shrine, the sheer size and scale of it made Wat Chedi one of my favorite temples to visit. The grounds are interested to explore, and since all temples are free in Chiang Mail, it’s certainly worth a visit.
The next day we took a break from temples and went to the national park to visit Huay Kaew Waterfall. The national park is actually quite close to downtown Chiang Mai and near the large university. You pass the Chiang Mai zoo on your way up the mountain. The entrance to the waterfall wasn’t easy to find and as it turned out we entered above the falls rather than at the base. This required us to hike down some rather steep terrain before we reached the basin. Neither Huy and I are fans of hiking, so walking down was OK, but the climb back up was not very enjoyable. Of course, once we were back on the motorbike and heading down the mountain, we saw the entrance to the waterfall and that entrance would have resulted in a five minute walk rather than a 45 minute one!
The hike tired us out so for the rest of the day we just relaxed at the hotel and explored our neighborhood. That night we did go to the night market. Chiang Mai has one of the largest and best night markets I’ve visited in Asia. I had read to get there early when they first opened otherwise it gets too crowded, and boy that information was correct. We arrived to a food plaza and were suddenly surrounded by a plethora of Thai delicacies. It was a challenge deciding what to select, but we ended up with a great meal for less than five dollars. Afterwards, we explored the market. We walked the entire length of it, and by the time we turned around to walk back, the crowd had grown exponentially and it was a sea of people. At times you almost had to push your way past folks. But unlike many night markets, this one sold more unique items, and not the same crap you can buy in any night market around SE Asia. Plus there were plenty of mango sticky rice vendors, and that makes any crowd worthwhile!
The following day we drove to an area famous for its geothermal hot springs in the Mae On district of Thailand. The springs were not close, and it took us almost 90 minutes to get there. The first half of the journey was on boring on dusty highways, but the second half took us onto smaller, secondary roads through the Thai countryside. Once we got onto those roads, the journey was beautiful. We passed farms, and rice paddies, and quaint small towns. Eventually we arrived to San Kamphaeng Hotsprings. After parking, we found out that the large public spring was closed for renovations, so the left only the private sauna rooms that were meant for larger groups. Since we drove so far, we opted for a private room for one hour. When you arrive to the room, the basin is empty, but a Thai woman comes in and turns on this fire hydrant spigot that fills the basin with scalding hot water in a matter of minutes. You then turn on the cold water to balance out the temperature. Each spa room has a toilet and changing area, as well as a private shower. Once the basin was filled, Huy and I got in and relaxed. Since each room was private, you can go naked and enjoy your privacy. The water has a strong sulphur smell, since it’s a natural spring, and felt great. Unfortunately a couple of days later my skin broke out in a rash and took almost a week to go away!
After the soak, we explored the rest of the grounds. The park was quite large with pretty flower gardens and a man-made hot springs river that locals mostly went to since it was free and a lot cheaper than our private sauna. One fun activity we did was to cook our own egg in the hot spring water. You purchase an egg and they give you small basket. You take the basket over to the spring basin and set it the water. Ten minutes later you have a hard boiled egg!
After our long drive back, we decided to try a restaurant that was highly recommended on Trip Advisor. It’s in a more modern area of Chiang Mai and located in a shopping mall. Normally, a shopping mall wouldn’t be worth exploring, but this mall was beautifully designed with large vaulted ceilings and a labyrinth of balconies and stairs. It was fun to just walk around and explore. What we liked best about One Nimman Plaza was that the stores and vendors sold unique and handmade products. We bought several items here before enjoying a more modern, upscale version of Thai food. After mostly eating local street food, it was a nice change of pace.
The next morning it was on to more temples. This time we visited Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, another temple on top of a mountain about 10 miles outside of Chiang Mai. This temple is one of the more sacred ones in Thailand; in fact ,the whole mountain, Doi Suthep, is considered sacred by the local Thai. The switchback road to get to the temple was fun to drive on a motorbike. We actually passed several bike riders pedaling up the mountain!
From the car park you have to walk 309 steps to reach the temple. Normally such steps wouldn’t be a problem, but I stupidly wore flip flops. Walking up steps in flips flops is uncomfortable, and dangerous. Halfway up I just took them off and walked barefoot. I felt like one of the monks!
This temple is sprawling and massive, with different areas that take you through the life of Buddha. Unfortunately the main golden spire was covered in scaffolding so they could touch up the gold plating. The tiers represent the level of heavens that one must ascend in order to achieve Nirvana as well as the hierarchy associated with a monarchy. Visitors walk around the structure to pray and view the different levels.
Surrounding the spire is a large wooden building with giant pillars and hundreds of small buddhas in nooks. As I mentioned earlier, when you travel with a buddhist, you have to bow and pray in front of every buddha one passes, so I’m surprised Huy wasn’t dizzy by the time we walked through that structure!
Outside along the mountain side is a series of balconies with beautiful views. There was a giant wooden pagoda that was intricately carved and decorated with gold plated animals. It was actually my favorite part of the shrine. We took many pictures from there as well as throughout the grounds since there was so much to see.
As we made our way back down the mountain, we stopped at a small temple that we had passed on the way up (picture at the top of the blog). It was completely empty - we were the only people there, but inside was a giant buddha surrounded by lush red walls. It was so peaceful and tranquil there after the crowds we experienced in Doi Suthep.
Our final destination for the day was Wat Umong. We decided to go here because I read that the temple had a cave, and we love caves. When we arrived, we realized it wasn’t very crowded. This is more a Buddhist monastery, with a school that houses and teaches students the ways of buddhism. The grounds are huge, with tree covered walkways, ponds, and scenic bridges. Built in 1297, Wat Umong is not nearly as elegant as all the gold clad temples, but its historical significance and natural beauty make up for the lack of glitz. This temple ended up being my favorite of the entire trip.
As you enter the tunnels, the temperature drops and you can strongly smell the burning incense. The tunnels run deep and off the main branch are small enclaves that dead end with shrines. Some of the tunnels are low and you have to bend over to reach the ends.
Above the tunnels is a large stupa, or spire, that visitors must walk clockwise around three times to receive a blessing. Once we completed our rotation, we walked over to the lake to feed the birds. You buy some bird pellets and walk to the middle of the bridge. There were so many birds I couldn’t believe it! The entire bridge filled with them, and we were surrounded by hungry birds and feathers! After you cross the bridge there is a small island with benches. It’s lovely to just sit under the trees, and watch the birds and the pond.
For our final dinner in Chiang Mai, I selected a french restaurant very close to our hotel. I wasn’t sure how good French food would be in Chiang Mai, but I pleasantly surprised tasty the food was, and how delightful the owner. He came out and made some recommendations, and his choices were spot on. The food was as good or better than some restaurants I have eaten at in Paris!
The next morning we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the airport. I greatly enjoyed Chiang Mai. It’s a much more laid back city than Bangkok, and it’s a very livable city. Huy found it a bit sleepy, and isolated, since there is nothing around the city other than mountains and trees. Still, I could see retiring there. We even toured a very modern, fully furnished condominium. If we didn’t already have a place in Saigon I would’ve considered buying it. It was pricy for Chiang Mai (almost $400,000 dollars), but it was large and the building had its own gym and pool. Outside the city, you could buy a whole villa for less money, but you don’t have the advantage of being able to walk to things.
So if you want an alternative to crazy Bangkok where you can enjoy cooler weather, cleaner air, and beautiful temples, I would strongly recommend Chiang Mai. If you’re looking for a place to retire where your money goes a long way, this city is for you!