Chiang Mai
Now, if you read my last post, then you will know that I referred those of you here if your preference was to visit somewhere lush, with various old city temple sites, and access to wildlife sanctuaries - and also if your goal was to see maybe a tad bit less lady boys. Welcome to Chiang Mai. It's hard because they are so very different, but Chiang Mai won by a slight margin in my books.
Old City Chiang Mai is only a few miles from the airport, although it could take half an hour or more by taxi if there's traffic. Nonetheless, taxi is only $3 - $5 from the airport, so that is a plus!
Old City is where you want to stay if you're looking to stay central to everything. Within the old city walls, there are tons of smaller temples but 3 or 4 major temples to see, which I discuss below. If you are strapped for time, it is possibly to see all of these in 1 day as the Old City is not too big. In fact, you can do Chiang Mai in 2 days, not that I recommend it, by seeing all the temples in a half day, the night market (on Sunday nights only), and by visiting an elephant or tiger sanctuary and a hike on the second day.
I stayed at Le Canal Boutique House, right by the north entrance to the old city, and where the jazz quarters are. The room was only $30 a night and it was pretty nice.
Now onto the major temples. My favorite was Wat Chedi Luang, seen above. The compound is actually made up of 3 temples: Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Ho Tham and Wat Sukmin. It is located smack dab in the middle of the Old City. Make sure you do not go in short shorts or any top showing your bare shoulders, as they will not allow it. They let you borrow pants for a minimal deposit while you browse the temple, but they have nothing for your shoulders if they are exposed, so best not to risk being turned away!
The ruined chedi above was built in the 1400s, and my favorite of the 3 temples in the compound as it evokes a really powerful feeling of former grandeur.
The "skirt" above is actually a pair of really huge pants which I had to tie around me to cover my shorts.
A reclining buddha at the Wat Chedi Luang compound.
Wat Chiang Man is another of the major temples to check out on your visit. It is rather tucked away in the north east corner of the Old City. It's best to ask your hotel for a map of the Old City so you can find them! This is actually the oldest temple in the Old City, established in 1296!
Wat Phra Singh, above, is the most ornate temple of those I saw. The gold part of the temple was built in 1345. This is also known as Chiang Mai's most beautiful and often visited temple. I listed it last however as it was my least favorite of the temples. I didn't like the single golden color and the opulence. Its located in the western part of the Old City, just inside the West Gate. There is a smaller chapel here, called Viharn Lai Kham, which also houses the famous buddha known as the Phra Singh, or lion buddha.
In general, the buildings and carvings in and around the temples of the Old City are amazingly detailed and colorful.
While I heard it was also good to come and get a massage in Chiang Mai, I found all of the massage places I saw on the main streets in the Old City to be seriously overpriced, and even pricier than the ones I saw in Phuket. However, that does not mean that less expensive ones did not exist. I had already gotten plenty of massages in Phuket and didn't look that hard in the Old City.
Prior to coming to Chiang Mai, I had done a lot of research into the 13 or so companies that offered elephant tours. It seemed that many of them were priced in the $70 range for a full day's activities. However, I ended up picking the priciest one in all Chiang Mai, called Patara Elephant Farm, due to the great reviews on TripAdvisor. Just an afternoon with the elephants cost double that of all the other companies. All the reviewers said that all the elephants were extremely well taken care of. I had thought that if you ride the elephant, it must mean they are not treated well. However, at Patara, you got to both take care of the elephants and go for a ride on them. I wondered if that meant it wasn't as ethical as it seemed. However, after visiting in-person, I felt quite confident that these elephants were very well treated and happy. Take a look at the reviews here.
The elephant farm is located about 45 minutes north of the Old City.
Upon arrival, we got to see an elephant family- the mother, father, and 3 week old baby. This baby was a BUNDLE OF JOY. He kept following people around, plopping himself on the grass, and rolling all over it. I think he was loving the feel of the individual blades of grass, and the attention he was getting. At that age, he was able to walk quite well but had some difficulty getting up from a horizontal position and he was also just learning to use his trunk!
After meeting the family, we were given information by the caretaker about how to tell an elephant's mood, how to tell if the elephant is healthy, which included examining the color and texture of its feces. The lesson included how to bond with our elephant. We were each assigned to be an elephant's caretaker for the day, and the assignment was done on the spot, based on the guide's perception of which elephant they thought we would be the best fit with, which was judged based on our size and our own personalities. I was super excited to see who they would pair me with, but at the same time, I was super nervous about the pairing - what if my elephant didn't like me? What if, like dogs, they could sense my fear, and if so, would they be disgusted by it or prey on it? Would she let me ride her if she didn't like me? Yes, I probably think too much. Thankfully, the guides knew the best way we could bond with our loving elephants, and that's by the time tested method of offering food.
They paired me with Kamnoi, an 8 year old female born right at the farm - and I think she and I were the perfect pair! I learned thereafter from other guides that Kamnoi is known to be a gentle female. I wonder what that said about their perceptions of me! They gave me a basket filled with goodies to feed Kamnoi - sugar cane, apples, bananas. Nothing seemed to slow this foodie down. In addition, I learned that a happy elephant will flap their ears back and forth as well as wag their tails, that's right, sway it side to side!
Not long after the feeding, it was time to get on our elephants and go for a hike. Elephants like to go for long walks, and these caretakers take their elephants on miles after miles of walks on a daily basis. Caring for elephants is a full time job. I was very nervous about the whole ordeal, but Kamnoi lifted her knee for me as a stepping stone to climb aboard, and I was so thankful she seemed to like me! I also learned that elephants love to walk. We went on a decent excursion through the woods.
It was a little bit scary at first being so high up and hoping that the elephant would not lose its footing and smash you like a pancake after the fall, but my guide assured me that I had nothing to worry about and they would not easily lose their footing. This proved to be the case for me.
Our destination was the waterfall and river. After getting off Kamnoi, she promptly rushed into the water at a speed that made me feel bad for anyone in her way. After reaching the water, she went to the deeper side and plunged her whole body, including her head, into the water. She absolutely loved it and it was adorable.
I also engaged in bath time by helping to scrub them clean, and to have fun tossing water at them. Pictured above, Kamnoi with her eyes closed and mouth appearing to be set in a smile as she enjoyed what I hope felt like a massage.
Kamnoi was covered in dust and dirt earlier, but after being bathed, you can see how shiny her skin is! One way to learn that an elephant is healthy and happy, is to see if it is covered in dirt the next morning. If they are feeling good, they are able to lie down and sleep for the night. As a consequence of feeling good, they get dirty. If they are ailing, they often sleep while standing up since they can have great difficulty standing back up.
They likewise engaged us by trumpeting water out of their trunks. It was a mutual bathing.
