Chiang Mai

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Chiang Mai was our home on four different occasions whilst exploring Northern Thailand and every time we returned we experienced something new, different and exciting.

Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand and upon arrival you can instantly tell that the city has money, even from my standing position on the bus I could see that on the outskirts of the city there are many large modern day shopping plaza’s which were advertising the usual western multinationals such as MacDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. Even the roads in Chiang Mai seemed to be of a higher standard as they were lined with some lovely well maintained flowerbeds (not the usual mix of crisp packets and bottles of beer) and the vehicle of choice seemed to be a VW Beatle or a Harley Davidson.

We had pre-booked two nights in hotel which had a swimming pool and included breakfast for ten quid a night, as we were looking for somewhere just to relax for a few days before the Elephant Nature Park, it seemed perfect. As it turned out the photos on the internet were a lot nicer than the reality, as we were quickly shown our boxy damp room in the old wing of the hotel. After politely asking a couple of cockroaches to leave we settled in for a surprisingly decent night’s sleep.

The next day we went for a walk to explore the city. Chiang Mai is a city which seems to revolve around markets, any excuse for a market and they’ll bring out the stalls; Saturday Market, Sunday Market, Midweek Market, Daily Night Market, Food Market, you name it they’ve got a market for it. Our hotel was described as a five minute walk just across the river from the night bazaar in the centre of town. This was true; however, we quickly established Chiang Mai is a big city and most of the good stuff in situated in the old walled city which was about a thirty minute walk for us. That said, we enjoyed the walk (when it wasn’t roasting), saw some nice temples and that evening we enjoyed perusing the night bazaar which had some excellent wares at good prices.

The next day was a Saturday and in Chiang Mai, Saturday Night Market is not to be missed. The market is not just for the shopaholics who want cheap gifts, clothes, art work or jewellery, the market is also a food lover’s paradise. There are loads of vegetarian and non-vegetarian stalls selling all sorts of culinary delights; we got veg samosas (3 for 40 pence) which were yummy and an amazing mango salad (20 pence) which was a taste sensation. I was also amazed at the size of the market, the road just seems to go on forever and be warned it does get very busy, so if you’re planning a trip, get there early at around 6 o’clock.

The next day we had a lazy morning before heading out for some lunch. The best thing about our hotel was it was located next door to an amazing Khao Soi restaurant (I’ll call it a restaurant but is really it's just somebody’s garage). Khao Soi is a lovely northern Thailand soup like dish of egg noodles, vegetables, chicken, with crispy fried noodles on top in a creamy tasting soup. It is served with pickles, raw onion and a wedge of lime on the side and it’s like a cross between a green curry and a noodle soup. It’s hard to describe how good it is but it’s by far my favourite Thai dish of the trip. Jane had the vegetarian version which was just as nice.

That night as it was Sunday it was time to make the thirty minute pilgrimage to the Sunday Market. The Sunday market in Chiang Mai starts at the Tha Pae Gate of the old city and heads down Rachadamnoenn Road. It also makes it way down some of the side streets and into the grounds of the temples which are used as food courts. I couldn’t believe it, the Sunday Market is bigger than the Saturday Market. Stallholders were selling most of the same products at the previous day but there were more of them, a lot more. It did seem to be cheaper though as there is definitely no need to barter on this market as everything is already so cheap. The food was just as good and when Jane wasn’t looking, I purchased ten pieces of fried chicken for 1 Baht (2 pence) a piece. Awesome. Four hours later we walked back to the hotel to get some sleep before heading off to meet the ele’s at the ENP the next morning.

A week later we returned to the same hotel for just for one night because the next day we were booked into the Buddhist Retreat. As it was Sunday we were back just in time for…. yes, you guessed it the Sunday Market. We had a lovely evening as we met up with our new friends from the ENP, had a nice meal and some drinks before once again walking around the market.

A few days later after a lovely relaxing time at the Buddhist Retreat we again returned to Chiang Mai. This time we decided to book into a guesthouse which was much closer to the walled city and in a much better location. The guesthouse was excellent and was better value at £7 a night. From this guesthouse we saw a whole different side to Chiang Mai we hadn’t seen before. There are loads of busy main roads in the city but if you venture down any of the side streets, there are lovely little quiet roads which are littered with good restaurants, bars, coffee shops and independent clothes retailers. We had a great couple of days exploring this part of the city and in turn, eating some amazing food. Chiang Mai seems to be one of the best places in Thailand for eating all kinds of food, not just Thai. We had the best pizza of the trip here, the best burger, the best breakfast and the best veggie sandwich. There are loads of vegetarian restaurants probably as a result of Chiang Mai’s bohemian hippy days before the police got onto them and they all moved on to Pai.

As we were having such a good time Jane suggested we should stay a few more days until the weekend and watch the football on the Saturday (Mmmmm nothing to do with Sat & Sun market?!). I of course agreed, so on the day of the game we ventured to the 700 year stadium on the outskirts of the city. We purchased the most expensive tickets in the main stand which has a roof for 80 baht (£1.60), got our hand stamped so we could go in and out and made our way to get excellent seats right on the half way line. There are no food vendors in the stadium, you just have to purchase your food and beer outside and then bring it in with you, brilliant. This is how football should be.

There are two Chiang Mai football teams, the premier league team who are new to the city after being brought in by investors a couple of years ago, a bit like when Wimbledon moved to Milton Keynes a few years back, and the original Chiang Mai FC who have been around for donkeys years, but only play at a semi-pro level. We were here to see the original Chiang Mai FC and even though it was only semi-pro standard I was still surprised to see how many fans turned up, about three thousand I reckon. There were a lot of farang like ourselves there and we even saw someone in a Notts County shirt (they get everywhere). As for the game, the standard of football wasn’t the best and I reckon even with a bad knee I could have slotted quite nicely into Chiang Mai’s midfield. Saying that though, the waterlogged pitch didn’t help matters as the ball just kept stopping in the puddles and the game quickly turned into a game of tennis football with both teams trying to keep the ball in the air. As usual with Asian football, the goalkeepers were terrible but this did lead us to see five goals in the first half as Chiang Mai went into the dressing room at the interval losing 2-3. The pick of the goals was an excellent strike from the oppositions Brazilian midfielder who smashed one into the top corner from about 35 yards. The second half was all one way traffic as Chiang Mai pushed for an equaliser. They threw on their own Brazilian number 9 substitute who caused all sorts of problems. With five minutes to go the opposition’s goalkeeper who I think had wrists made of jelly, flapped at another cross and it landed at the Brazilian’s feet who gladly tapped it in at the far post. Chiang Mai could sense victory and the opposition just wanted to get out of this swimming pool. Another floated cross causing confusion as once again the keeper did his best superman impression and totally missed the ball. The ball fell kindly to another Chiang Mai player to smash the ball home from six yards, unbelievable, Chiang Mai win the game 4-3 the locals go home happy. It was a great experience and even though the standard of football wasn’t brilliant, I can’t fault the effort, both teams gave a hundred per cent and we still saw seven goals for a very good price. Our tuk-tuk man was waiting outside, so to celebrate we asked him to take us directly to the Saturday market!

On the Sunday Jane decided she was going to ‘scratch that itch’ she had been having for few years and get a tattoo. She knew the design she wanted and after doing loads of research to find the best and most reputable place in Chiang Mai; we headed off to Sam’s Tattoo’s. Jane took about two hours to get inked and it was exciting to watch whilst enjoying a beer with some Thai biker dudes. We were both happy with the end result, and now, over a week later I think it looks even better. After, it was once again time to celebrate with the Sunday market, yeah hat trick, woo hoo!

After we chilled out in Pai for a few days, we again returned to Chiang Mai for the final time. In last few days we didn’t really do much apart from sleep, get some washing done and eat some more amazing food. Yesterday we had the most amazing vegan caramel and cinnamon cake ever from the restaurant Taste of Heaven whose profits go towards our big grey friends at the ENP. Now that was some good cake. I also got my pair of green combat shorts washed for the first time since we’ve been away; they happily walked by themselves to the lovely elderly Thai lady who kindly washed them for me! Stinky.

So now, as we sit on a 14 hour train journey back to Bangkok we are a little sad to leave Chiang Mai. It is a city that really grew on us with loads to do, some lovely people and some amazing bars and restaurants. If you are coming to Thailand it’s definitely worth the trip up north.

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Photos

The pitch wasn't the best
Players should have been wearing waders and not football boots!

700 Year Stadium - Chiang Mai
The home fans go wild after the winning goal!

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar
Another market!

Comments

[jenbob]

stinky
I CAN'T BELIEVE U ONLY JUST GOT YOUR SHORTS WASHED YOU STINKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xxx