Thailand - 5th Stop: Chiang Mai

The city in northern Thailand was lower on the list of places I wanted to see in Thailand. What a big mistake. It surprised me in a positive way. There are hundreds of artistic temples that date back to the 13th century. Unprepared as we are on our travels, we did not research enough and didn't plan enough time. Learn from our mistakes. We took a 13-hour night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. All paying passengers in second class, mainly backpackers, received their own bed including bedding. It was a great way to travel and I would recommend it to anyone. We arrived in Chiang Mai in the morning and had the rest of the day to explore the city. There are many nice cafes and restaurants scattered throughout the city. We even visited a gluten-free and vegan pizzeria, which is rather difficult to find in Thailand. Due to our poor planning, we tried to visit as many temples as possible on the next day, our only full day. Unfortunately, we only managed to visit three. I particularly liked the temple Wat Pha Lat, which is located a bit outside the city center. This temple (built between 1355-1385) is located about 1000m above Chiang Mai in the middle of the jungle and seems to be abandoned. It is said that it was built hidden in the forest because that was the place where the former king and his elephant rested on their way up the mountain. The elephant died at that spot. The buildings and statues are old and covered with plants. In the middle of nature, it is something very special and seems to be from another world.

Our flight back to Phuket was the next day. I would have liked to spend a few more days in Chiang Mai to see the rest of the temples and hike the Monk's Trail.