Hi everyone

Last time I told you about the relaxed backpackers village Pai. This time I'll take you with me on a journey to the beautiful city Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a city in Northern Thailand and is famous for its relaxed vibe and many temples. It's the second largest city of Thailand and you could easily spent at least one week here without getting bored. There's so much to do! Let me tell you about what I did and what you defenitely shouldn't miss.

Rent a bike and visit all the temples

The old part of Chiang Mai is surrounded by walls and contains a lot of temples. You can rent a bike and easily visit the temples by cycling around the old part of town. If you just arrived in Thailand I defenitely recommend doing this. Did you already see (too) many temples during your trip, then it's still fun to cycle through the old town on your bike, but instead go for a nice meal somewhere or cycle to the Nong Buak park to rent a mat, buy some fresh fruit and relax!

Visiting Doi Suthep and hiking back along the monk's trail

A must see if you are in Chiang Mai is the Doi Suthep temple. This buddhist temple is found 15 km out of town and is visited by Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world. You can take a bus or taxi up hill. You'll have to walk 290 stairs from where the busses and taxis stop. On top you have a beautiful view over Chiang Mai. When i was there it was a bit foggy unfortunately. We walked around the (crowded) area, enjoyed the view and then went back down. From there we took a taxi to Wat Phat la. This is a small temple near a river from where you can walk the monk's trail back down to Chiang Mai. I didn't take many pictures along the way, but that's only because it was such a nice trail with beautiful nature along the way. Don't forget to wear good shoes and bring water and some food.

The markets of Chiang Mai

There are several markets in Chiang Mai, but i only visited two. The one i liked the most was the Anusarn Night Market. This market is the place to get some good food at night. You can find lots of delicious and cheap vood here: vegan, vegetarian, lots of meat, fruit, drinks and desserts.

Not far from here you can find the Night Bazaar. This market is, just as the other one, found in the old town every evening from 7 pm till about midnight. You can find all the souvenirs you want here and also have dinner at one of the food stands. Both markets are not far apart, so you could have dinner at the first one and then take a tuktuk to the other one to go shopping.

The student area Nimman

This area is close to the old town and found at the food of the Doi Suthep hill. And as the name suggest, this is the area where most schools are located. Because of this there are many young people around. You can find coffeeshops on every corner, many bars, shops and a lot of trendy restaurants. We spent one day in this area and ate a lot of good food, visited some western shops and had the best pie in a long time!

So, this is how we spent our time in Chiang Mai. Of course there's many more things to do and see in and around this beautiful city. Did you every visited Chiang Mai or is it on your list maybe? And how did you like this city if you did go there? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Lots of love

Marleen