 |
| Elephants - au naturel - no rides or gimmicks! |
 |
| They've got a whole lotta Wats (rock on to those now stuck in a Zeppelin riff) |
 |
| Commemorating Buddha before he died (which is why he's lying down) |
 |
| Late night Wats |
 |
| So called Monk Chats are a great way to learn about buddhism in Thailand! |
Our kids have thoroughly enjoyed having such great company in our friends - Mike, Erin and their 2 boys... and so have we ;) All told, we form a hoard of 9 farangs - Thai people call Euro-descended foreigners farangs.
 |
| Our great friends! |
Thailand is a land of clashes - yoga in the park beside plumes of exhaust fumes, police ticketing scooter drivers for not wearing helmets while ~40% of drivers don't wear one (we regularly saw toddlers sandwiched between mom and dad on a scooter, none wearing a brain bucket). Monks on cellphones, fried health food... the list goes on and on.
 |
| Night markets are so fun - this guy's blowing and shaping glass right on the street! |
Like many Asian cultures, street markets are important. Thai markets don't disappoint - from jewelry to street meat. Colours and smells are vibrant, and vendors couldn't be more friendly.
 |
| Massage, anyone (in the middle of a packed street market at 8pm)? |
 |
| Scads of people at a New Year's Eve night market |
There is a restaurant at every 2nd door on the ring road around the old city. The handful of Starbucks and McDonalds locations cater to the comforts of home tourist crowd... but they blend tastefully into the happy chaos.
 |
| The walls of the old city |
 |
| Tuk tuk rides - what a thrill! |
Tuk tuks motor along the main arteries at a saner pace than in Bangkok, but remain thrilling. Scooters are the most popular mode of transport, outnumbering all other vehicles 2:1.
There is vehicle exhaust in the air - Thailand is not known for its clean, green pollution standards or recycling!!! Many taxis, tuk tuks and scooters produce a plume of smoke as they travel... it feels a bit like the US of the 1970's... not pleasant to breathe. Given the climate, vehicles last a long time here - many date back to the 80's.
Garbage collects in many places and is not hidden from view - from waterways to sidewalks, misc street trash is just a part of the urban landscape. This said, by and large, public spaces are well kept.... but things deteriorate just off the beaten path.
 |
| Night time street decor in Chiang Mai for New Year's Eve |
Dengue fever is in outbreak mode in Chiang Mai in 2019, but locals seem unaware. Public health is not warning people! We wore 30% DEET bug spray at sunrise and dusk to minimize risk. Malaria is, apparently, not an urban concern.
 |
| Safe street food |
Food cleanliness at street stalls is dubious, but brick and mortar joints are safer. We avoided eating lettuce and other rinsed, uncooked vegetables as a precaution in restaurants whose owners we didn't implicitly trust or whose reviews online were not perfect. Water is the problem - municipal water supply is no good... rural supply is even worse... bottled water is a health must.... making for insane amounts of plastic garbage (there is no recycling).
All things considered, Chiang Mai was a wonderful, memorable and safe place from which to launch our Thai family adventure.
Culture
As is the case with most tourism, it's impossible to gauge a culture in a short period of time. I've provided a few tidbits and observations that are what we picked-up in a week or so. |
| A shout-out to our 400% accommodating friends Piak, Ning and Phram - we met them at their restaurant - the Siam Lanna Guesthouse |
As mentioned, the Thai people are mainly Buddhist, so incense and statues are a common feature in most establishments.
A big part of Thai culture revolves around eating and food... which makes for happy tummies. The Spence clan likes it hot, other farangs may not... restaurants can and do cater to both. The Thai dedication to cuisine is apparent everywhere.
Through several conversations, we learned that Thai people are generally happy about tourism and the economic opportunities it brings.
Certain subjects are off-limits - like the King - because dissing him is punishable by law. Bellyaching and confrontation are also avoided, making for a great vacation atmosphere but limiting the depth of social integration for interested farangs. The friendly Thai persona can be impenetrable - it can be tough to get 'below the surface' with locals.
 |
| Pictures of the new king are plastered everywhere, presumably by the government |
Music didn't seem a cultural 'big deal' Thai radio stations play content from around the world and give special consideration to US pop hits.
The Thai people are very entrepreneurial - small family businesses are a huge part of Thai culture.
The vibe
The vibe is nowhere near as party-oriented as Phuket or Bangkok - it's a laid-back, anything goes kind of place. Farangs roam the streets in Thai elephant pants, sipping coffee for endless hours in cafés or smoothies at juice bars during the day and they pack restaurants at night. |
| Sometimes you get to set the mood yourselves - Piak let me borrow his guitar any time I wanted! |
Though I couldn't quite put my finger on it, I got the sense that many farangs were there to take more from the place than they intended to give back to it - a bit of an exploitation mindset. You see this a lot at all-inclusive beach resorts - it was less pronounced in Chiang Mai, but still there.
Entire neighborhoods are dedicated to Yoga retreats other lefty/hippie pursuits - from organic juice bars to vegan restos.
 |
| Alleyways are tight in the old city - scooters, pedestrians (in this case us) and cars try to get along |
Inner city streets offer a combo of residential and commercial accommodation interspersed with restaurants, yoga joints, tailors, tour guide shops and other modest family-run businesses.
Small alleyways are actual thoroughfares - if it's a horizontal pathway, something is sure to drive on it at 30km/h, regardless of its wiggle room. Chiang Mai is definitely a pedestrian beware city.
Markets
 |
| The 3-storey indoor daytime Wararot market |
Street vendors crop up at 4pm all over the city - from established night markets to traveling or special occasion night markets. Vendors hawk wares ranging from the all-too-comfortable Thai elephant pants to pork skewers, and just about everything in between. It is a chaos of sights, sounds and smells.
 |
| Dusk at a Saturday night market |
Several daytime markets, like the Wararot market, offer the bustle of the night markets all day. We bought everything from fruits to footwear at the Wararot market. This market is a 3-storey shopping experience - its endless hallways and stalls make it a 2-3hr endeavour! Oh, and bargaining is a must - the asking price is just that - an ask... final discounts can be as much as 40%, so it's worth playing the game.
Massages
You can get a 1hr traditional Thai massage for 200baht (CAD$9) just about anywhere in the city. If you organize/book it through a hotel, discounts are possible, especially for large groups. Be forewarned though that Thai full body massages are thorough and border on Chiropractic. Masseuses straddle, lean on, sit on and generally do whatever is required to get enough leverage to subdue their customers. |
| Massages for 9! |
They are straight-up AMAZING - you stumble out of a massage parlour with the look of a dazed pothead, including the silly grin. Our entire group had simultaneous massages- that's 9 people. Our local massage parlour had 2-3 masseuses on duty... but they have a network and call in their pals on-demand. Thai massages are AMAZING - they were a highlight for us.
Food
As a farang, you can most likely afford to eat out at every meal - a reasonable budget for 1 person might be 500baht/day (CAD$22.50), including a few beers ;) As a result, home kitchens go largely unused... no need to splurge on a bigger place with a kitchen!You have to drink water from plastic water bottles because the municipal water supply is dubious - even locals don't trust it for anything more than showers and washing dishes.
 |
| A London Fog in Chiang Mai |
Most brick-and-mortar joints serve approximately the same menu - curries, stir fries, soups and fruit smoothies. We learned pretty quickly that farang food was spotty. Notable exceptions were barista style coffee/tea and breakfasts.
 |
| Part of the menu at Cooking Love - a restaurant we all loved |
I don't mean to trivialize the food - every menu is different. It's just that despite these differences, you can score a red curry or pad thai just about anywhere - they're that ubiquitous!
Though most food is delish and cheap, I snagged a tiramisu on New Year's Eve at an upscale joint - it tasted authentic enough, but, it was expensive and the portion size was pitiful.
 |
| Tiny-but-tasty tiramisu |
Our family of 5 ate great food and filled our bellies for CAD$40/day (900 baht). It was tight, even without booze, but was still very doable. With this budget we could even hit a few fancier joints and managed to eat healthy (often organic), delicious Thai food at breakfast, lunch and supper.
Activities
The rest of the family will be posting soon about some of the excursions we did, so I won't offer up any spoilers here! Suffice it to say that Chiang Mai has a ton to offer visitors in the way of activity. Stay tuned!New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve was a hoot in Chiang Mai. Our place was near the Tha Phae Gate - the East entrance to the old city. As it turned out, this was ideal for joining revelers for New Year's festivities. |
| Candlight photo op |
 |
| Busy, busy market |
Lanterns are also launched at the ping river - both are great locations.
 |
| Launching a lantern - saying goodbye to 2019 and hello to 2020 at the ping river launch site! |
 |
| Lanterns as seen right from our place! |
The city center square hosts a big countdown event with live music and other entertainment.
 |
| City center square |
 |
| City center square |
Chiang Mai is a great place to do New Year's!!
Comments
Post a Comment