Chiang Mai, Thailand

08. - 15.oct '18

Among backpackers, Chiang Mai is often preferred over Bangkok because the city is slightly smaller and less hectic. Consequently, you see more foreigners and Chinese people than Thais on the streets here. Nevertheless, we also found the atmosphere here very relaxed. Café hopping is very popular here because there are many cafes side by side. Our new obsession is Thai tea (available on every corner here).

We started our week relaxed with sightseeing and manicure/pedicure (for 5€) and ate our way from one street food stall to the next in the evenings.

Gyoza- fried dumplings

Furthermore, we decided to take a cooking class. Definitely one of my highlights so far. The course started with a visit to the market, where a young Thai woman explained many things about the ingredients to us in very fast, indistinct English. Then everyone could create a 5-course menu, consisting of an appetizer, a stir-fry, a soup, a curry, and mango sticky rice for dessert. We cooked and ate these dishes together.

At the end, everyone received a recipe book, all for 27€ per person!!

Our next excursion was with the elephants. We chose one of the two most famous organizations to make sure the animals are well treated. After a 2-hour drive through the jungle, we reached the sanctuary where about 20 elephants were waiting for us. Throughout the day, we fed the elephants and bathed with them in the waterfall. The skin of the elephants can hardly be compared to anything, maybe with a hard leather couch. 10/10 would do again.

Finally, we visited the Sunday Walking Street, a huge market that we walked through for a good 3.5 hours.

Like every day at 6pm, a song played here again, and instantly everyone stood up and stayed silent for a few minutes out of respect for the king. Seconds later, everyone resumes their activities as if nothing had happened.

Our expensive week was balanced out by our hostel, which cost only 1.90€ per night for each of us.

Now we are in Chiang Rai, even further north, and visiting the White Temple.

PS: We eat noodle soup for breakfast every day, but one day we gave in and went to Pizza Hut.