Chiang Mai

December 17, 2013 by Rachael

After a wonderful week of beachside relaxation and fun diving, we headed up north for a few days of exploring the rich Thai cultural history in Chaing Mai. Several things jumped out at us right away as we began to explore the city.

One: there are a lot of temples. Like, on almost every corner. Some are old, some are new, some are small, some are huge, but they are all beatiful!

Two: Chiang Mai was waaaay more accessible and manageable than Bangkok. Including the new areas it’s the second largest city in Thailand, but the “old” city, where we spent most of our time, is a quaint and manageable 2k by 2k square enclosed by the remnants of the original city’s walls and moat. We walked everywhere and had no problems navigating – a pleasant change from the madness of Bangkok!

Old gates into the city.

Three: the weather in Chiang Mai is much cooler than either Bangkok or Lanta, something my unladylike sweat-like-a-pig-when-it-gets-above-70F genes really appreciated as I traipsed around town in conservative temple attire. (Sidebar: men can wear shorts and t-shirts into the temples, but us ladyfolk have to cover up most of our exposed skin. And I couldn’t even go into the Silver Temple. Really unfair.)

As two people who didn’t know much about Thai history and culture, Chiang Mai was amazing. We learned so much in the 3 days we spent around the city exploring its old temples and bustling side-street markets. The rich and long cultural history of Thailand is built right into the temples, and I was absolutely fascinated by the architecture and temple decoration. Every surface of every wall, column, floor, and ceiling is covered with something. It’s an absolutely overwhelming visual feast!

Buddhas inside the Wat Intrawarorot.

Wat Intrawarorot

Wat Chedi Luang

Buddhist monks in training at Chedi Luang

Rob is an elephant.

Reflections walk at Chedi Luang

Old temple ruins at Chedi Luang

An emerald Buddha. So many temples started to run together…can’t remember which one this was! #badtourist

Colorful garlands and scarves

Wat Sri Suphan, or The Silver Temple. Most are gold — this is the only silver one in Thailand!

Inside the Silver Temple. Great photo from Rob since I couldn’t go in!

One of the temple entrances. Dragons and green men are intimidating!

Intricate design work everywhere!

Temple walls covered in scenes from Buddha’s life at Wat Chiang Man. This temple houses two very important statues of Buddha – the Crystal Buddha and the Marble Buddha, both over 1,800 years old!

Wat Chiang Man

As we had already seen in the Bangkok weekend market, this same concept permeates into the market atmosphere as well, and the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar did not let us down. Festive lights and lots of goodies to ogle…

SO MANY THINGS…the Warorot Market

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

Lights and shiny things

So many colors

Pretty “ladies” at the night bazaar

During the rest of our time in the city we even got brave and tried some street food (so yummy!), and ended our trip with a cooking class of our own on the last night. We can now proudly say we can cook a decent Thai meal in addition to a mean stack of pancakes!