Southeast Asia Adventures: Chilling in Chiang Mai

Anxious to check out the culture center of the north, we hopped on a purple-clad bus and booked it to Chiang Mai.

Along our way we encountered Dillon, a backpacker from Chicago. Dillon had just finished teaching english in Korea, and subsequently, traveling for a month through India. He and had plenty of stories to tell about the crowds, the culture, and the general lack of hygiene there.

Upon our arrival, we found Chiang Mai utterly overrun with backpackers. In fact, we probably spent an hour searching for a place to crash. Once situated, we headed to Nimmanhaemin road for some night life, Chiang Mai style. Pictured below from left to right: Dillon, us, Guy, and Luca.

We woke up early the next day to try and book our next couple of nights. As it turned out, we spent a total of four nights in Chiang Mai, each at a different guesthouse on account of the crowds.

Day 2: What trip to Chiang Mai would not be complete without some Wats? The Wats in the north are highly ornate, covered in colorful glass pieces that glitter in the sun.

Then it was rime for the Sunday walking market. This market was enormous, featuring plenty of hand-made crafts, and far less of the gimmicky souvenirs and counterfeit brand name items found in Bangkok. Here a street performer sits in the middle of the bustle.

Day 3: A self-guided trek past Montathan and Sai Yoi waterfalls, climbing up towards Wat Doi Suthep, a temple standing watch over the city.

After a long jungle climb, we arrived here only to find that we had more climbing to do before reaching the Wat!

Ahh finally, Wat Doi Suthep!

The central golden chedi

Here on this decorative stair railing, a dragon gives birth to four little ones from its mouth! Or is it eating them?

Hey we found some jack fruit! Or is it durian?

The dogs here really know how to beg.

We descended the mount by bus, and heading for even more Wats in the old city. Here is the centrally located Wat Chiang Man.

Wat Phan Tao, with its rustic teak composure

Wat Chedi Luang...one of the few ruins, aside from the ancient wall surrounding the old city.

Here we found a charming story about this portly Buddhist monk.

Day 4: Time to learn how to whip up some tasty Thai grub. Our first stop in the morning was at a Thai food market, where our instructor explained how to find typical ingredients in Thai food.

We then proceeded to the location of cooking operations, where they provided us with an apron and these fun hats. The hats turned out to not be that useful in the kitchen...

Our instructor explains the ingredients in the on-site organic garden (which, by the way, did not provide us with the ingredients for our meals, as we were led to believe...oh well)