Had a short holiday with my wife at Chiang Mai (Thailand). Here are some of the photos that I took highlighting some of the places we visited.
Covid is basically no more an issue in Singapore and Thailand. So there is no quarantine requirement and people can largely go without a mask.
Flew to Chiang Mai directly from Singapore to Chiang Mai and back directly too. No issue with the flight.
Language is not really an issue as a lot of people speaks some English. Otherwise there is always Google translate.
We stayed at the Warehouse Hotel. It was a former warehouse but the rooms and people are nice. The owner and her family are very friendly and I definitely recommend staying there. It is also located near the Old Town and Chinatown.
However Chiang Mai is not really that big so location of the hotel is really not an issue.
I must say that it is not really a full-fledge hotel with restaurants. However you can easily find good food in Chiang Mai.
Below are some pictures of Chinatown (Warorot Market). It is much more busy that what is shown in the photos.
Our first lunch in Chiang Mai - local food.
The photos below is The Goodcery where we had coffee. It is just 5 minutes from the Warehouse.
Below are some photos that I took walking around the Warehouse.
The first night market we went to - just a small one - think it is the Pavillion.
Kalare Night Market is near to Pavilion. At Kalare, I had my first scorpion. It is actually tasteless and the texture of the meaty part is like chicken. In summary, it is like eating chicken breast meat in a shell.
The Ploen Ruedee is one of the bigger night market with plenty of food. There is also live music. It is very popular with tourists - I think 90% of the visitors are tourists.
Below are some of the scene around Chiang Mai. Naturally a lot are pictures of temples since Buddhism is the provincial religion.
Local breakfast food
Below are pictures from the Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Centre.
After lunch we went to Wat Phra Singh. You can see wax statues of monks meditating in the temple. They look life-like.
Visited Wat Chedi Luang next (about 20 walk from above). Some parts of the temple is under renovation. However there is a chat with the monks corner and I had quite a long chat with them.
Then we walked along the street and went for dinner.
The next day, we rented a car and drove up to Doi Inthanon, Doi Pui and Doi Suthep. Doi Inthanon can be chilly though it was ok for me when I visited.
The car rental only cost us 1200 Baht. And we spent 500 Baht on petrol. So it is cheaper than joining a tour group - but we missed out on certain sights and places of interest. We navigated using Google Map and there were some places we could not connect to the Internet. In that case, we just follow the road signs. Driving in Chiang Mai is like driving in Singapore - we drive on the left side of the road.
Below are some pictures and videos of the various places.
This is the highest point of Thailand. We are actually above the clouds.
On the way down from Doi Inthanon, we visited Wachirathan Waterfalls.
Below are pictures of Doi Pui. Actually we also drove further up the mountain just to see what is up there. I do not recommend going up in a car as the road is basically single lane. You have to really move to the side to let another vehicle pass.
Doi Suthep is very touristy. From there, can see the whole Chiang Mai city.
The next day, we visited the Sacred Heart Cathedral where we had Mass on Sunday.
We had our first Tuk Tuk ride for this holiday.
By the way, you can also travel in a Songthaew in Chiang Mai. We did not try it.
It seems that there is no more public buses in Chiang Mai after the Covid. You can get around using Grab and I did not notice any taxi plying in the city. There taxis available from the airport and vice-versa.
Below are pictures of Wua Lai Night Market. We only saw stalls selling local food. We bought some local food and ate in the hotel.
This is outside a bookshop on the way to Wua Lai market.
We visited the Jin Jai Market on Saturday morning. I am impressed with this market. It looks like those in Europe.
A view of the Ping River.
We had mookata dinner at a place near the Ping River.
Below are pictures from the wholesale market near to our hotel. It looks like Singapore in the early 1970s. Actually I like the atmosphere. The only thing I think they should address immediately the the discharge of waste water into the drains. Otherwise, I like the "messy" feel.
Below is a picture of the Tha Pae Sunday Walking Street. It is pack with people and we did not even finish walking. There are lots of local craftmen displaying their products and plenty of food around.
It was a pleasant visit to Chiang Mai. The hotel was nice, it was relatively affordable for Singaporean, the weather was nice (not humid), most of the places in the city can be reached by walking, communication was not an issue and the people are nice.
Can visit again - maybe to other towns nearly.
