Chiang Mai, Thailand: Part I

As I reflect on this last piece of my Thailand trip, I can’t help but feel slightly melancholy that it is coming to an end. 

Writing about the trip has definitely made it feel as though it extended into this wild year of 2020, allowing me to be held captive by my memories.

But I really can’t put it off any longer. 

I left a piece of my heart in Chiang Mai. 

People of Thailand Project

The culture, people, travelers, food, and views left me speechless and wildly in love with travel, Thailand, and the experience I had as it came to a close. 

This post will be in two parts. 

Part 1 will be my first adventure as I traveled up north. This was a short stay of only three nights.

Part 2 will be my second adventure as I traveled back down south. This stay was almost a week.

Here we go....

PART I

I got into Chiang Mai at night off of the train that took about sixteen hours from Bangkok. 

I spent that train ride writing the Bangkok blog post, journaling, and reading an entire book. 

**Side note: the book was called The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah and I would 10/10 recommend it. I couldn’t put it down.**

We finally pulled into Chiang Mai, and I got on a taxi truck at the station. These are pickup trucks with the back converted into seats facing each other and a hood over the top. This taxi took me to my first hostel: Lullaby Hostel. 

This hostel was nice, clean, expensive for hostels in Thailand (like $15 a night). But it served its purpose. I found a group of people in the morning who wanted to do a hike up to Doi Suthep, a temple on the top of a hill overlooking Chiang Mai. 

It was a super challenging hike! 

Hot, humid, very up.

About halfway to the top, there is a hidden temple (Wat Pha Lat) among the forest. It is secluded and beautiful, with vines and trees overgrown into and around the temples, and pools of water dispersed throughout. 

The temple was incredibly peaceful. We sat and had a snack among the trees and listened to the water. We wandered aimlessly around each of the buildings, making sure to take our shoes off at the entrances. I meditated on a rock with a view of the city. 

It was a profound peace that I did not feel anywhere else on the trip. 

Half of the group decided to catch a taxi the rest of the way up on the road in the middle, but I continued along with two others who wanted to finish the hike!

I’ll be honest, it was quite miserable!

I ran out of water and didn’t bring any food, so when we got to the top, I was dehydrated and very hangry.

However, I realized on the second half of the hike, that this was how the monks get to the temple. It is considered a pilgrimage to walk to the temple. I couldn’t agree more. It was humbling and filled with introspection.

Walking around Doi Suthep was therefore not as enjoyable as I would have liked, but it was still beautiful. 

The view of Chiang Mai from the temple was incredible, though slightly covered in smoke and smog.

**Another side note: many companies in Thailand will buy acres of land to burn their trash on since they do not have landfills. This accompanied with farmers burning their fields in preparation for the rice growing season leaves the air quality index extremely high- in some cases worse than cities in China.**

The temple itself was extremely detailed and covered in floral arrangements.

Incense burned and monks flocked from everywhere to kneel and pray. Such a sacred spot. 

Realizing that I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I’d hoped due to hunger, I found some pad thai at a nearby food cart and chowed down. 

Then, those of us who hiked found a taxi truck down to town. 

I decided that I wanted to move to another hostel that day as well. Something cheaper that would stick to my budget. 

I found the Family Home Hostel on the lower right side of the city. Joe is the owner, and he is the most kind, helpful, and welcoming man! He told me all of the things I needed to do in the city, the best food, and the best Thai massages.

After chatting with Joe for over an hour, I went out to find the famous street food of Chiang Mai. 

Street food is exactly how it sounds. Food sold on the street out of little food carts. All of it is made right in front of you by local Thai people. 

And holy cow is it delicious!! 

I happened to run into a fellow traveler who I met on the train at the food carts. We ate together, then went to find some drinks and pool, where we met another traveler from Canada. 

We ended the night finding a place to go dancing and eating “Tacos Bell.” 

The next day was an independent walking tour of the city. Designed in part by my Lonely Planet Guidebook with influences from my hostel host, Joe.

People of Thailand Project

I visited Wat Phra Singh (lion buddha temple), Wat Chedi Luang (tallest structure, once held the Emerald Buddha, which I saw in Bangkok), the Three Kings Monument and Museum, and Wat Sri Suphan (the silver temple, women are not allowed inside). 

It’s true what they say, a temple is a temple is a temple… I wish that wasn’t the case. 

The only exception for me was the white temple in Chiang Rai. 

But each is still incredibly beautiful and sacred!

The most fascinating to me was the silver temple (Wat Sri Suphan). This temple was made entirely of sculpted slabs of silver. You could walk around the temple grounds and actually watch people at work designing intricate stories and patterns on the silver slabs. 

What I was not prepared for, was the rule that women were not allowed inside the temple. We are “unclean” and “unholy” and will “humiliate and ruin the sanctity of the temple” leading to “social instability.” 

I am a highly privileged white female from America. And I can say with 100% certainty that up until that point, I had never been denied entry, or not been able to participate in something due to my sex. It was a truly humbling experience, and I feel even more grateful now that I have the freedoms I do. 

This led to the moment that I got my first Thai massage. 

It was so unexpected and wonderful, and I got about six more after! 

For around $8-12, you could go into a peaceful room filled with flat beds and the music of nature in the background, were given loose cotton clothes to change into, and for an hour, were bent and folded and massaged until every muscle was completely relaxed. 

Thailand has a very fascinating rehabilitation program for inmates. While they are still in prison, they teach them a trade- something that they can practice when they are released. 

For a lot of them, this is the art of Thai massage. 

My first massage was done by an inmate, hired by this company who hires inmates for massages as almost a tourist attraction (not sure how I feel about that part). 

However, I do think that teaching a trade to help them be successful after their release is incredible. 

After my massage, I decided to hunt for a bookstore. Since I finished my book on the train, I was in dire need. 

I found an incredible place off of a hidden street.

It was lined floor to ceiling with books. Every book you could ever want. 

I did an exchange of books there- my semi-new book for two semi-tattered looking ones that I had wanted to read. Along with multiple hours spent meandering between the piles of pages.

That evening, I went to the night bazaar just outside of the square of Chiang Mai. 

I browsed the stalls looking for trinkets for family and friends back home, indulged in some incredible vegan curry, chatted with vendors, and listened to some local musicians share their music. 

The next morning, after drinking a delicious iced Thai tea, I boarded the terrifying bus to Pai. https://www.one-thing.live/home/Pai 

Cheers, and on to Part II,

Rach