VACATIONS FROM HOME: CHIANG MAI

MUAY THAI AND TRINKETS AND FOOD
Teddy Bear sticky rice
at Kao Kab Kang

After the bustle of Bangkok and the frenetic revelry of Phuket and the other countless islands of Thailand, (think of the show White Lotus), Chiang Mai is a popular tourist destination. Last year 3.5 million visitors descended on Chiang Mai for her more than 100 temples, her ecotourism, her food, her nightlife and her shopping. According to Airbnb statistics, the average stay in Chiang Mai is 5.5 days. We stayed at the Amora Tapae Hotel for three nights, using it mostly as a home base for day trips in the area. We crammed a lot of activities in a short time and yet felt like we missed so much.

AMORA THAPAE HOTEL CHIANG MAI

IN OAT WE TRUST

Overseas Adventure Travels (OAT) a small group touring company took us to Chiang Mai as part of their “Discover Thailand” excursion. The company arranged so many different side trips while we were in Chiang Mai that we didn’t really have time to wander the streets of Old City, the central tourist area of Chiang Mai.

Tourists and pigeons at the Tha Phae Gate
Chiang Mai

We didn’t get to visit the lively Tha Phae Sunday night walking street market in the old city that starts at the Tha Phae Gate and runs for about a kilometer, but that was because we weren’t in Chiang Mai on a Sunday night. We also weren’t there for any of the festivals that are held on the grounds of the Tha Phae Gate, well because there were none scheduled during our time in Chiang Mai.

We were so busy that we did not get to window-shop, or sip coffee, or hit any of the nighttime spots along trendy Nimmanhaemin Road.

Tha Phae Gate Chiang Mai

We did walk through the Tha Phae Gate while on a quick orientation walk when we first arrived in Chiang Mai. The pavilion before the gate is a gathering place for people. Some, presumably tourists, wore rented period costumes and posed for pictures. Photographers snapped pictures of the tourists as an assistant would scatter the many pigeons lured to the pavilion by seeds so they could snap a dramatic shot of the sky rats fluttering by in the picture.

Apart from that short orientation walk led by our trip leader through the gate and down Rachadamnoen Street where the Sunday market is held and to briefly visit the Buddhist temple Wat Phantao on Phra Pokklao Road that was it for us in the “old city.”

We had many opportunities to go our own way while in Chiang Mai. One can always opt out of what OAT has planned for a particular day. One planned trip even cost extra and involved hiking through a national forest. We went on it and it consumed much of the day. It’s always nice to have the option, but it did leave little wiggle room for leisurely exploration.

A Baht Bus Chiang Mai
(with old city moat in background)

WHAT DID WE SEE IN CHIANG MAI?

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

The Chiang Mai Night Bazaar was mentioned several times by our trip leader while we drove to the city. He even tried to teach us a Thai phrase to barter, though every vendor we met at the lively Night Bazaar and all the vendor lining the surrounding streets spoke English and all were ready to barter and didn’t need to be cajoled with a Thai phrase.

In case you’re wondering: Lot Noi Dai Mai is what he wrote on a sheet of paper and hung at the front of the bus, which means "I have a lot." Lost in Translation?

huh?

You Can Get There From Here

The Night Bazaar is open every night and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Chiang Mai. For those who wanted to go our trip leader arranged for us to pile into a Songthaew, or Baht Bus. This mode of transportation is everywhere in Thailand. Songthaew are red ride-share pick-up trucks with twin benches in the back. Chaing Mai locals don’t call them Songthaew but “rot si daeng”, literally red truck, or Baht bus.

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

To get somewhere on whatever you want to call it, ask the driver if he’s going to your destination. He’ll either squeeze you in with others, which means many stops and pick-ups. Or, if there’s a lot of you and you can fill the Baht bus for 30 Baht each or 40 if you’re feeling generous, you get to your destination cheaply. Much cheaper than a taxi. A Songthaew is sort of like a mass transit version of a Tuk Tuk. There are plenty of them throughout Chiang Mai and around the Night Bazaar there are plenty of them circling.

Night Bazaar

Trinkets

We went to the Night Bazaar twice; our first night after an OAT supplied dinner at a local restaurant, and our third and final night in Chiang Mai. The area of the Night Bazaar is sprawling. There’s a big open area pavilion with a stage with live music and food stalls offering everything from fish, meat, mango and sticky rice, and deep-fried insects. There are lots of tables to eat your selected meal.

Inside the pavilion and lining the streets in every direction are souvenir vendors selling everything from football (soccer) kits, t-shirts (some emblazoned with remarkably bawdy things like “I LOVE LADYBOYS”, art, cds, artifacts and elephants fashioned from materials like wood and jade, and someone was making Tuk Tuks out of beer cans. There were tailors willing to make you a suit, a shirt and dresses. We saw one such tailor displaying a “fuck you” suit in their front window.

how to influence
people

All the vendors spoke English and were willing to barter.

The Night Bazaar was originally owned by Chinese merchants, whose influence can be seen at an ornate temple in a nearby parking lot. The bazaar has grown in size and in popularity and truly is worth a couple of Bahts to see it and to buy trinkets. We saw a lot of westerners at the Night Bazaar. We found an open-air bar off to the side of the stage and settled in for a drink and watched everyone from everywhere mingle in the bazaar.

Chinese parking lot temple
Chiang Mai

Muay Thai

The first night we went to specifically see Muay Thai boxing. We were fortunate that there was a fight night slated when we arrived in Chiang Mai. Inside one section of the pavilion a small arena was carved out and we got ringside seats to this extremely vicious form of martial art. Admission for ringside was 1,000 Baht, but there were other seatings for just 300 baht. We saw some great bouts and some mediocre ones, but our trip leader arranged for us to get into the ring before one bout to pose for pictures with a couple of fighters. I towered over them, but I knew they could easily kick my butt, so I kept my mouth shut.

There were a lot of tattoos on each fighter, and a lot more flying kicks to the head.

Fight nights like ours in Chiang Mai are not rare at all, and you can often find a bout somewhere wherever you are in Thailand. Later in our trip while in Pa Tong on Phuket there were trucks roaming the streets advertising the upcoming fight night matches.

Muay Thai for beginners

For those hearty and hale and perhaps silly enough to explore the world of Muay Thai there are a several gyms in every metropolitan area catering to such fool-hearty whims. Dang! Muay Thai is in the Old City, offering lessons from absolute beginner to seasoned fighter.

DANG MUAY THAI CHIANG MAI

What Is the “Old City”

In case you’re wondering. Chiang Mai translates to “New City,” though it was founded in the 1200s. The city was the capital of the Lanna Kingdom from the 13^th to the 18^th Century. “Old City” is a half-mile square section of Chiang Mai that is enclosed by a moat with the remnants of the protective ancient walls. It is a walking destination and there are little streets to explore and food vendors everywhere and countless massage parlors to choose from for a blissful hour. Just don't try getting a "That massage!"

Our hotel was the Amora Phae, which is right off the moat and a short distance away from the Tai Phae Gate, one of five entrances to the old kingdom.

WHAT’S FOR DINNER?

Influenced by its proximity to Myanmar (Burma), Laos and China, Northern Thai cuisine differs from the rest of the country with a blending of the styles. Expect to see noodle dishes influenced by China or Larb, a traditional meat salad from Laos. Restaurants back home rarely feature northern Thai cuisine. It’s less spicy than the south and coconut milk is rarely used. It is an earthier, more rustic style of cooking.

Here are some selections off the menu:

Khao Soi, a noodle dish with coconut curry broth with a choice of chicken or meat.

Naem Moo, fermented pork sausage.

Larb Khua Moo, ground pork and lemongrass and spices.

Laphet Thoke, tea leaf salad

Of course you can never go wrong eating street food, but we did eat at two restaurants while in Chiang Mai and another with a family, as part of the OAT tour.

appetizer and Kao Kab Kang

Kao Kab Kang 164, 110 Changklan Rd.

OAT brought us here as part of our tour. Great atmosphere, friendly staff, and sticky rice shaped like a teddy bear!

KAO KAB KANG, CHIANG MAI

The Swan Burmese Restaurant 48 Chaiyapoom Rd.

Just steps away from our hotel, we ate here on our last night in Chiang Mai. Meat dishes available but also vegan friendly. Nicely decorated, friendly staff.

THE SWAN BURMESE RESTAURANT, CHIANG MAI

Home hosted Dinner

rice paddies of the
family who hosted

As part of the OAT tour experience, our trip broke us up in smaller groups and arranged for four of us to dine with a farmer and his family as part of OAT’s Day in the Life program. We ate at their house, surrounded by rice paddies. The family’s dinner featured their own take on Thai cuisine.

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg