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| Ancient walls right next to the giant sunday market in downtown Chiang Mai |
In this post we want to tell you some pros and cons of Chiang Mai. Our time in CM was 2 weeks, so there's plenty of more to see than we did. It felt like the first week was just getting used to the relaxed and happy atmosphere and wandering around. We are 100% going back there one day!
There's not really much bad to say about CM, so we'll just save it for the last, so first up, the pros.
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| Some of the spots mentioned below. |
In Chiang Mai you will find big big markets, especially the giant sunday markets starting from the Tha Phae Gate, the western entry to the city, which turns an otherwice busy street in the middle of the city in to a walking street full of handcrafts, clothes, food and almost what ever you might need.
More about the markets: http://www.visitchiangmai.com.au/markets.html
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| Busy street turned in to a walking street market at Rashadamnoen Road |
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| Handmade rice sunshades |
+Food markets
Very large food markets where you can find just about anything to eat. The prices are low and locals mainly use these places. You can have 3 courses of food for 110TBH (2,7€) that's less than 40TBH a dish! We can highly recommend the See Yaek Sanam Bin Food market, at the southern outskirts of Chiang Mai, close to The Fortune Residence which we recommend too.
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| See Yaek Sanam Bin Food market on the road 108 going south, just after the road 1141 junction |
+Temples (Wats)
There are over 200 beautiful temples to see in and around Chiang Mai, why not try to check each one out? I promise to buy you a beer if you do and can prove it.
+Transportation
It's super easy and cheap to get around in Chiang Mai. You can get just about anywhere with 100TBH, songthaew cost only 20-30TBH if you don't specify a destination. Tuk Tuk is the way to go if you want to get where ever fast. It's also easy to get to CM by plane and it won't cost you more than $50 from almost anywhere in Thailand.
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| Songthaews are easy and cheap form of trasnportation and they are easy to get in Chiang Mai |
+Uncorrupt outskirts
Rent a motorcycle and get out of town, find the small restaurants where locals eat. No tourists which is always a good sign. In one place we were so rare sight, a small boy in restaurant came to took photos of us eating. The best food places don't usually even speak English, or if they do, very little.
With motorcycle you can travel to the mountains and the national parks or just to see real country life.
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| Beautiful outskirts of Chiang Mai |
+Most tourists in one place
Most of the tourism in Chiang Mai can be found from specific parts of CM (western downtown if I remember correctly), so if you want inside tips or just to hang out with other farangs and change travel stories, you can do that too.
+Price range
The prices in CM are low and there's lots of good places to shop for clothes etc. Like said before, the food is cheap and one of the best in Thailand.
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| The food is one of the best we've had in Thailand, excluding Khanom and it's fresh seafoods. |
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| From CM you find lots of clothes and it's not that same same -shit every tourist trap sells. |
+The locals
Tourism is not the only livelihood and the locals aren't fed up with drunken farangs (yet), which makes them truly happy to see tourists and don't only put up with them for the money.
+So much to see
Wheter you like it in the city or in the quiet outskirts, you can find all this in CM. Lots of museums (bug-, butterfly- etc.), snakefarms, tigers and all that. You can also find golf courses and archery from CM.
There would be lots of more to tell you, but we want to let you discover it for yourself. The last and the least the cons. Or should I say the con, we really loved this city and can't find anything else bad to say about it but this:
-No sea/beach
If you're only looking for a beach vacation, Chaing Mai is not your place. That doesn't mean that if you don't have extra time on your beach vacation, you shouldn't go there. Like we said earlier flying to CM is cheap and takes only 1,5h from almost anywhere in Thailand and won't eat your budget much.
Book a hotel/resort (The Fortune Residence ;)) with a swimming pool. The days get really hot up there with no sea breeze to cool you down, but a quick dip in the pool every now and then keeps you up and going!
Oh wait, there's one more, but you can't really take it as a con because it's just something you have to deal with. Especialy in the outskirts.
-Big one-way streets
It's hell trying to get over these bad boys, three lanes with speeding cars and motorcycles. You might have to walk a long way to find a crossing and sometimes getting a ride from these is hard! Especially if your destination is on the "wrong" side of the road.
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| Bond with the locals in the nightlife |
+So much to see
Wheter you like it in the city or in the quiet outskirts, you can find all this in CM. Lots of museums (bug-, butterfly- etc.), snakefarms, tigers and all that. You can also find golf courses and archery from CM.
There would be lots of more to tell you, but we want to let you discover it for yourself. The last and the least the cons. Or should I say the con, we really loved this city and can't find anything else bad to say about it but this:
-No sea/beach
If you're only looking for a beach vacation, Chaing Mai is not your place. That doesn't mean that if you don't have extra time on your beach vacation, you shouldn't go there. Like we said earlier flying to CM is cheap and takes only 1,5h from almost anywhere in Thailand and won't eat your budget much.
Book a hotel/resort (The Fortune Residence ;)) with a swimming pool. The days get really hot up there with no sea breeze to cool you down, but a quick dip in the pool every now and then keeps you up and going!
Oh wait, there's one more, but you can't really take it as a con because it's just something you have to deal with. Especialy in the outskirts.
-Big one-way streets
It's hell trying to get over these bad boys, three lanes with speeding cars and motorcycles. You might have to walk a long way to find a crossing and sometimes getting a ride from these is hard! Especially if your destination is on the "wrong" side of the road.
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| Ready! Set! Go! 20m hurdles from hell! |
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