Chedis and Temples and Food Oh Mai

First of all let me start by saying I'm very sorry that I haven't updated my blog in about a week. I did about 36 hours of traveling to get from Phuket to Chiang Mai a little over a week ago. The train portion of the trip wasn't too bad, but if you read my last blog post you know that the bus trip from Phuket to Bangkok was horrible, but all worth it in the end.

Chiang Mai might actually be my favorite city in Thailand. I'm so thankful I was able to make it up here.

Where ever you walk in Chiang Mai you'll run into a temple or chedi just amongst the buildings in the streets. It's amazing. I would be walking down a street and then BAM there in what looks like a driveway is a huge gold buddha, or BAM there's a temple, or BAM there's a chedi. I felt like Emril I was saying BAM so much.

When I first arrived in Chiang Mai I took a tuk tuk to a guesthouse someone in Phuket had recommended to me only to find it was closed. I asked the tuk tuk driver where to go and she took me to a place that was right near by. It was OK, but a little bit of a hole. Not super clean, but about 250 baht for a room with hot water ($8). I woke up late the next day so I wasn't able to check out and had to book one more night. During the day I walked around and ended up researching places to stay, and I'm so glad I did.

I found a hostel called the Eco Resort by Immeco hotels, or just called the IM Eco Resort, and let me tell you I felt like a king. They had a deal that if you booked over 3 nights the room was only 187 baht.

That's about $6, and when you get to the place it's amazing. The hostel room only has only one other bed which was unoccupied for 3 nights, came with a buffet breakfast, had a beautiful garden area, and had a swimming pool with 6 lanes for swimming laps. The place is immaculately clean and decorated too. It's one of the few times I felt something was too good to be true and it wasn't. I've been really happy.

I did end up getting a freelancing job on the way up so while I've been here I ended doing about 30 hours of work programming some websites, which took up some time, but it's nice to be able to have some money coming in rather than going out while traveling.

The people up here in Chiang Mai are so nice. It's different than in southern Thailand. Some times in the south I would feel like I was viewed as an ATM not a person, like people were approaching you trying to see what angle they could play to get money out of you or sell you something. The people aren't really aggressive up here, and they're very polite and kind. So I've done my part to give the same respect and love back.

I rented a motorbike one day and drove up to this temple on the hill.

It was beautiful and there were stunning views of Chiang Mai on the way up. It's an interesting temple. It was built up there after a king put a holy relic on a white elephants back, and

where the elephant collapsed and died was declared a holy place and they built the temple.

While driving the motorcycle though I took a corner wrong, going slowly, but I ran into a steel door on a wall. I ended up busting one of the plastic outer casings of the bike near the foot rest. I had got insurance, but was still worried, because I would still have to cover a huge deductible. Luckily everything is cheap in Chiang Mai. I went to store and the guy gave me a name of his mechanic shop. To fix the bike it cost 345 baht, about $11. I was shocked.

One of the real beautiful things about this city is to just walk around. They have a huge moat and pieces of the old city walls going around the original town of Chiang Mai.

The views are very striking.

Finally one of the other thing I love about this city is the price. It's so cheap, and filled with amazing restaurants, and street food. I found these street deserts they make where it's cooked cups of sweetened coconut milk with corn or green onions in it. They're amazing, cheap and delicious. I fell in love with this dish local to the area called Khao Soi. It's a dish made with curry filled with vegetables, noodles, topped with crunchy noodles garnished with lime and onions. Sometimes it has chicken, but always really crazy good.

Comparatively to the south of Thailand things are a lot cheaper here. Like 60 baht for a 1/2 foot massage ($1.50), 120 for a full hour massage ($3), food ranges, but is generally pretty cheap like around a buck / buck fifty to eat.

I'm so thankful that I was able to make it up here. After coming here I can't imagine going to Thailand and not traveling this way. I guess everything works out the way it's supposed to.

I'm leaving tomorrow night to head to Nong Khai in north eastern Thailand for the Naga Fireballs festival. I'll update you all shortly after that. I hope everyone's well.

If you want to see the pictures there at :
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4457541553293.180530.1132242665&type=1&l=a870dd5573

written by

Kirk on October 25, 2012 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Kirk's South East Asia Adventure

Send a Compliment

Kirk: Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to share your trip with you. love you Sall

written by Sally Galanter on October 29, 2012

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