CHIANG MAI 5 DAYS & 5 NIGHTS
From Bangkok you can take the bus, train or plane to Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city, which is located in the north of the country. We opted for a little more comfort and booked a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai with the local airline Thai airways.
Despite the fact that Chiang Mai is a big city, it feels a lot less busy and chaotic here. Chiang Mai has a number of beautiful temples and sights, fun activities and beautiful nature in the area. It is a lively city with many bars, restaurants, food stalls and markets. For example, explore one of the 300 temples such as the Wat Chedi Luang. Take a cooking course, watch a Muay Thai boxing match and spend a pleasant evening at the Ladyboy Cabaret. Do you have a spare day? Then we recommend doing a bike tour!
✈ Hotel: If you want a luxury hotel go to the https://www.shangri-la.com/en/chiangmai/shangrila/ Walking distance from the night bazaar.A little bit more on a budget, but still with a swimming pool is the www.mychiangmaiboutiquelodge.com
As for us, like I said we only had 2 weeks in Thailand and went for the following sights to see.
NIGHT BAZAAR
The night market in Chiang Mai is one of the biggest attractions in the city. Chang Klan Road turns nightly into a place where locals and tourists gather to eat, socialize and shop.
You can really buy everything here: clothes, beautiful paintings, handmade items and of course street food at the many food stalls. Be sure to try Chiang Mai’s pride: sticky rice. The city is also known as the best place for street food in Thailand.
✈ Tip: in addition to the night bazaar, there is the gigantic Sunday Night Market in the old city center every Sunday from 5 p.m. Pretty touristy, but super fun to walk over.
ELEPHANT SANCTUARY MAE TAENG- BAAN CHANG
Baan Chang Elephant Park is a small Thai family-run Park. The family has cared for elephants for over 30 years, with each generation learning something new about the Asian elephant and their welfare. The Park is like a typical small, rural Thai village, where sixty people live and work together with our Elephants.
Animal welfare is paramount at Baan Chang Elephant Park. They consider that responsible and ethical elephant tourism will help to save the Asian elephant, but requires the highest level of care.
They are determined to provide the elephants with the highest quality of life possible and their strong belief in human-elephant interaction is what makes Baan Chang Elephant Park so special. We were able to have a life-enhancing experience with these magnificent animals and learned about them in a natural and relaxed environment.
WAT CHEDI LUANG
Temples is one of the things Chiang Mai excels at. As said, there are more than 100. Below I have some recommendations for you.
The 80 meter high pagoda of Wat Chedi Luang is a typical part of Chiang Mai’s skyline. There are also a number of other temples in the complex that you can visit. It is a kind of mini village where you can see monks walking in and out all the time to meditate. There is also an impressive golden Buddha of 9 meters long to admire.
WAT UMONG
Interested in monk chatting? Then go to Wat Umong (forest temple) located just outside the city, at the foot of the Doi Suthep mountain. Enjoy this magical temple that not many tourists know how to find! Once we arrived at Wat Umong (which means tunnel) we were enchanted by the fairytale surroundings. We were immediately surprised by three mysterious tunnels, where the slippers revealed where the entrances were located.
STROLL THROUGH TOWN
Chiang Mai is a wonderful city to simply walk through. Along the way you will pass many temples, eateries, beautiful pieces of nature and other fun things. The advantage of walking yourself is that it costs you nothing.
And if you want to sit down for a while, you can go almost anywhere for a delicious fruit shake.
✈ Tip: The Nimman Fruit Stand, the mango shake here is really great. By that I mean full of flavor and not watery like in many other places. And that for only 30 baht!
✈ Another tip: www.thaiheritagestore.com for an authentic experience in Thai clothing. Amazing clothes, super photo’s.
✈ Reading tip: Tips Thailand Reisgids 2023
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