We arrived late Monday night in Chiang Mai, which is the second largest city in Thailand after Bangkok. Chiang Mai is located in the north of the country in the more mountainous part of Thailand. We were staying in the old city part of Chiang Mai, which is still surrounded by a moat and remnants of the ancient walls and gates which were surrounding the city back in the 14th century or so when the city was founded.

The next morning, after much needed rest following an afternoon of travel the prior day, we decided we would spend our first day in Chiang Mai exploring the old town and visiting some of the temples in the city center. There are over 300 in the city and surrounding area – including the one directly across the street our hotel, that we could see from our window.

Our first stop was Wat Phra Singh, also know as the Gold Temple. We wandered around the grounds taking in the beautiful architecture. This temple was built in the 14th century and contained many gold and copper designs.

Next we went to Wat Chedi Luang. One of the temples on the grounds contained the city pillar of Chiang Mai. However, it was only allowed to be entered by men – since according to legend of a person who is capable of menstruation would enter it could mess up the balance of the city. Fred took care of the pictures on that one… The rest of the grounds of the temple were beautiful and we spent some time walking around and enjoying the atmosphere.

We had a delicious lunch which included the northern Thai dish of Khao soi, the famous curry noodle soup in Northern Thailand. After lunch, we went to Wat Chiang Man, the oldest temple in Chiang Mai. You could certainly see this from the stone in much of the architecture. In addition to visiting the three temples, we also made a few other stops throughout the day as we explored the town including the three kings monument, Tha Pae gate, and looking at the many other beautiful temples we passed along the way.

That night we decided we would go for the more authentic Thai street food experience than what we had at our hotel on Koh Yao Yai and planned to have dinner at one of the night markets in the city. There are quite a few night markets which run every evening from 5pm – midnight, where many street food vendors are gathered in one place, in addition to the vendors scattered all across the city. We decided to take our favorite Fred & Christina approach to markets / food stalls… get a little bit from a few different ones and share them so we can taste many different things. It was a great strategy. We had many delicious meats, spring rolls, gyoza, and (one of the highlights) the full squid grilled right in front of us. Everything was delicious and we left very full.

We woke up the next morning and had another hearty breakfast of eggs and the Thai dish of mango and sticky rice. On our second day we planned to visit Wat Doi Suthep, which is definitely the most famous temple in Chiang Mai and one of the most famous sites in Thailand. This temple sits on the top of a mountain overlooking the city and both the views and temple itself are said to be spectacular (although packed with tourists). Instead of taking one of the forms of public transit to the top, we decided we were going to do the Monk’s hike to the top. Before the road was built to this temple, this was how the Monks would reach Wat Doi Suthep and Wat Pha Lat (another temple in the mountains along the way). We had heard that Wat Pha Lat was a bit less crowded and more peaceful, so this strategy would help us knock out both. We made the 20 minute ride via Grab car (similar to Uber) to the foot of the mountain where the Monk’s trail began. The path was marked in some places by pieces of the orange robes worn by monks. We followed the route which had a gradual incline through the forest with thick vegetation and lots of bamboo. After about 40 minutes we came to a clearing where we crossed a little bamboo bridge and saw Wat Pha Lat in front of us. The best way to describe this temple was peaceful. Right in the middle of the forest, overlooking the town with the sound of the babbling stream certainly added to the atmosphere. The few people that were there were walking around in silence for the most part, admiring the stillness of the place we were at.

We stopped for a while and enjoyed the peacefulness before continuing on the second half of the hike. The second half was a much steeper incline and not marked but straightforward nonetheless. We reached the top in just over an hour. It certainly made you appreciate that the monks did this in sandals, while we were in our hiking boots. The hardest part was not the incline but the heat – it was pushing 90 at this point, and we were wearing pants to visit the temples. Luckily we had stocked up on lots of cold 7-Eleven water before we left (3 liters for about 75 cents). We met up with the main road and headed toward the entrance, where 300+ stairs stood between us and the temple. The staircase however was extraordinary, with dragon heads at the bottom and the body making up the railing along either side. After the hike, this ascent was nothing in comparison, and we climbed to the top and with a quick iced coffee break to cool down before entering.

Compared to the peacefulness and stillness of Wat Pha Lat, when we reached Wat Doi Suthep it was full of tourists, but beautiful nonetheless. We spent some time exploring the grounds, entering the temples, listening to monks chanting, and enjoying the views over Chiang Mai. You could even make out the square moat which circled the old town in the distance.

Instead of hiking back down, we decided to catch a Songthaew, or red truck taxi, back to the old town so we could have some more time in the early evening there. These red truck taxis are found all over Chiang Mai. They are essentially a pickup truck where the back has been converted to have a bench on both sides and a roof on top, and can hold around 8-10 people in the back and two more in the front with the driver. They tend to wait until they are fuller before heading off (since they are a shared taxi) so we sat for about 10 minutes until some other passengers joined and we headed down the winding road to the old town. It came to 60 baht each for the journey (about $2 a piece). It was apparently rush hour on the way back and what would have taken around 30 minutes normally was closer to an hour.

We got back into the old town and were dropped off near the northern gate and first checked out the night market there that was just getting up and running, as we arrived around 5pm. This was a different one than we had been to the prior night. We watched as the vendors set up their stands and started to sell their goods. The food looked delicious and we were getting hungry since we had only taken a few snacks along for lunch, so we headed to a restaurant for dinner and our last Thai meal (until technically Bangkok in a few weeks where we spend the night before flying out the next day to Japan).

On our last day we had a few hours to explore the old town and do some last minute shopping before heading to the airport. Our luggage was certainly starting to get heavier after the few additions but we still managed to keep it in carry ons. Chiang Mai is known for some of its textiles and we made out with some really cheaply priced clothing. We definitely have enough elephant gear for a while. We really enjoyed our time in Chiang Mai – both exploring the streets of the old town and hiking in the footsteps of the monks, and enjoyed our time in Thailand overall. Next up is a week in Vietnam.