I feel as though thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world have very warm and special feelings for Chiang Mai. It's a unique city that I imagine evokes peacefulness and a whole lot of other feelings. I'm sure its 117 temples has something to do with it but also the beautiful gardens everyone seems to have. When I'm in Chiang Mai, at some point while walking down a street, I spontaneously say out loud, "I love it here." That's what I'm talking about. I just blurt it out.
But.........the city has changed tremendously and will continue to change. Chiang Mai has grown from a population of around 70,000 when I first set foot here to 1.2 million today, making it Thailand's second largest city. Somehow it has retained its charm for the most part but outside the old part which is inside a moat and old city walls, it has become kind of crowded with vehicles and hectic at times.
When we were riding way out in the countryside, well before we got to Chiang Mai, I mentioned how few people we saw. Well, that's because for 50 years they have been flocking to the cities in Thailand for better education and opportunity to make more money or start careers. Such migrations have been happening all over the world but it seems more dramatic here in Thailand. We really didn't see many young people in the tiny villages in the countryside but Chiang Mai is full of young people. Possibly because of all the young people and their energy there is a definite vibrancy to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai has one of the best universities in the country and it has a strong emphasis on medicine which contributes to it being a destination for medical tourism. Chiang Mai also has one of the best dental schools in S.E. Asia which means that dentistry in Chiang Mai is top notch. Therefore dental tourism has also become a thing in Chiang Mai.
And speaking of that, Andrea was thinking of having a dental procedure done in Chiang Mai. The best facilities are close to the University which is why we booked a room in a hotel in that area well ahead of our arrival. We had heard about the Nimman area for a few years and were curious about trying it out since we had previously always stayed inside the old city walls and moat in what is known as the 'Old City'. It's a newish area called Nimman, with malls, upscale hotels, lots of rather fancy restaurants and more of the rich sort of tourists than we've seen in a long time.
We thought we had booked a pretty fancy hotel but right away we encountered broken things in the room and a general drabness. The Furama Hotel maybe was a rather upscale hotel 17 years ago but without much maintenance things go downhill quickly especially in a tropical climate. I could list all the things wrong with our room but that would be such a negative thing to do and you might get the wrong impression of me! I'll just say that by the third day of our stay on the 10th floor of the Furama Hotel I was muttering, "I hate it here", a far cry from, "I love it here." We almost never book rooms in advance and certainly not for five days. We had to make the most of it. To put it in perspective, we had several bungalows along the way for less than half the price of Furama that were far superior.
I knew something was wrong immediately when the porter set our bags in our room. People who show rooms in Thailand always turn on all the lights with a flourish and then the TV, air conditioner, fans and whatever else they can turn on. It's kind of funny and when they leave we immediately turn off the blaringly loud TV.
Well, this guy was no different but when he tried to turn on the desk lamp it didn't come on. He tried everything but it was broken. He said, "I'll send engineer," which made us laugh as soon as he was gone and it became our Furama Mantra as we discovered one thing after another that didn't work or was broken or needed some sort of attention. "The engineer will fix that," we'd say to each other. I mean, you have to laugh, right?
We didn't sit around waiting for the engineer. And he never came knocking. We noticed a flashlight continuously charging in its charging unit in the wall. I had never seen such a thing in a hotel room and I mentioned, as a joke, to Andrea, "That doesn't bode well." I should have known that I shouldn't be joking about it and half an hour later there was a loud explosion somewhere outside and all the power went out in the hotel. It was out for two or three hours and, yes, we did make use of that flashlight. During that time no one ever came to tell us anything about what was going on. I surely thought the engineer would have come to explain things. Sigh.
It looks good but the doors to this closet didn't close but they needed to close in order for the light inside the closet to turn off. It wouldn't have been that big a deal except the doors were mostly glass and the light all night inside our room was unacceptable. I had to figure out how to remove the light itself. And, the robes were so small they made me look like a ten year old. There should be a photo of that but we failed to take one.
There was a pool on the roof (17th floor) which I was very excited about. I used it three times until I discovered that I had prickly heat in my nether regions and the chlorine in the pool was aggravating it significantly. I have never known prickly heat before. All I can say is that it was extremely prickly. Don't ever get in a pool with prickly heat. Or, rather, don't ever get in a pool if you have prickly heat. I could enjoy the pool for only two of the five days we had booked the room. Just another letdown at Furama.
After meeting with the dentist we decided that it wasn't going to save enough money for Andrea to have the procedure done but we were stuck with the room AND the Nimman area. It turned out that the Nimman area was too congested with big streets filled with fast vehicles. No, the bigger problem was that the tourists who had completely taken over the Nimman area were not the type people we had anything in common. Plus, none of the tourists wore masks. All the Thais wear masks and simply out of respect we feel guests to Thailand should wear them as well. In this way, among others, the tourists came off as elitist snobs. Frankly, we didn't want to be around them.
The restaurants were all right but not as great as they were purported to be. My theory holds - the best food in Thailand is the cheapest food in the tiniest local restaurants or on the street from vendors. The best food in Thailand is the most authentic Thai food, not the stuff that has been changed for tourists' tastes. Tourists generally don't go to the restaurants we go to and we don't usually go to restaurants where there are a ton of tourists. While we were in Nimman we broke from our normal dining routine a couple of times just to experience a restaurant or two that we had read about. In the end Nimman restaurants didn't stand up to our expectations.
One of the restaurants in the Nimman area that was supposed to be really good.
But we always make the best of things and we had bicycles which we used to find the kind of restaurants we love. The best part of our rundown hotel was the rooftop where I went for sunrise every morning. Besides the pool on the rooftop the entire west side was an open air restaurant which was vacant in the early mornings. I went there every sunrise to take panoramas of Doi Suthep - the sacred mountain which watches over Chiang Mai. It seemed very close by and it looked slightly different everyday.
The big hill called Doi Suthep. Near the top and over on the left is Wat Doi Suthep, one of the most revered temples in all of Thailand. The former king had his winter residence somewhere up there also.
And then one day the tree that had been fully decorated in the lobby of Furama was completely dismantled! Were they confused as to the date Christmas occurs? So many questions.
After we were finished with our commitment of five nights at the outdated and shabby Furama Hotel we were free to move back to our old stomping grounds inside the moat and old city walls. We got a very humble and basic hotel and strangely we immediately felt much more at home. It's not that we love basic, cheap hotels it's partly that we feel more in tune with the local people at such establishments. Tourists in these areas are also more approachable. There was more community. Inside the old city walls means that it is also a whole lot less congested with vehicles and much much quieter. Gardens and little tiny lanes, or sois, are everywhere. There is a law that no building can be more than three or four stories high inside the old section. It has been on the list for UNESCO World Heritage Site status for a few years. It certainly deserves it.
One of our most favorite places in Chiang Mai is Warrorot Market, next to the Ping River which we more or less followed all the way up from Bangkok. Warrorot Market is an old-time Thai market built in 1910 and little has changed through the decades. In fact, it has not changed one bit in the 48 years I've known it. The escalator which was not working 48 years ago is still not working and by now I think most people would think it a travesty if it were fixed. There is a woman who sits surrounded by piles of vegetables who has been there for 48 years as well. I don't know if she is winched into her spot each morning or how she ever gets out but there she is every time I've been in Chiang Mai.
This is the woman who must be lowered into her spot by ropes from the ceiling every morning. She always had piles of fresh vegetables surrounding her but now she seems to be switching to more dried things. She's been there at least half a century!
The khao lam ladies at Warrorot Market. Khao lam is sticky rice steamed inside of bamboo, a northern specialty. The outside of the bamboo is stripped away first to let in more steam. To eat you peel away the remaining whitish bamboo.
Warrorot Market is known for classic northern Thai specialty foods that Thai tourists come from far and wide to buy by the armloads because there just aren't places like Warrorot Market anymore. The busiest corner is where sai ua (northern Thai sausage) is sold. 'Sai' means, intestine and 'ua' means, to stuff. There is always a crowd there blocking passage. Every single time I've been to Warrorot that corner has been jammed with animated customers kind of crazed by the thought of going home with the famous sausages.
There are two places to buy sausage at Warrorot but the one next to this one must sell fifty times more for some reason. This one can be empty of customers but right next door it's buzzing.
But mostly Warrorot offers dried things in bags such as various types of dried lychees. Upstairs there are traditional Thai clothes for sale. And on the third floor are a handful of stalls where you can get fried rice and old style Thai coffee. It's our tradition to go walk around Warrorot and then make it up the broken escalator past all the clothes and to the woman who makes Thai coffee. It's a very colorful place that has not changed one bit in the 48 years I've known it and sometimes such a place is comforting.
Old style Thai coffee coming our way on the third floor of Warrorot Market.
We went to a few of our other favorite places and we also went to see a dear friend from The States who has lived in Chiang Mai for nearly 30 years. He owns and lives in a beautiful guest house called The Enchanted Garden, outside of town. It was a long way for us to ride, but it was so great to see him again. It's amazing how years can pass but with good friends those years immediately seem as mere moments.
On one of the little lanes or sois in the old section of Chiang Mai.
Wat Jed Yot Phra Aram Luang. Notice how the former king, King Rama IX, is deified. I mean, he was a pretty good king but putting his image at a temple is a bit excessive and we see it all the time.
At Wat Jed Yot you can buy a white forked stick for 99 Baht ($2.80), write you name or anything you want on it and lean it against the big Bodhi Tree as symbolically holding up a branch of the sacred tree in order to gain some merit. The Buddha gained enlightenment under such species of tree in India and there is always one growing in temple compounds.
At Wat Jed Yot. Wat Jed Yot is a snake temple and those who were born in the year of the snake make sure they visit this temple. I was born in the year of the snake.
This was khao soi #6 for us on our quest to compare khao sois. This one was very good and the dish of condiments which you add to the bowl was huge. A lime, pickled greens (some sort of choy) and raw shallots always come with khao soi.
Unlike Warrorot Market which is mostly dried foods, Siri Wattana Market is the best market to buy already made curries and other dishes. A very amazing and beautiful market.
These are some of the specialties Aroon Rai Restaurant offers. Aroon Rai is a famous old-style Chiang Mai restaurant. I first ate here 48 years ago and it has not changed one bit. They have the best gaeng heng ley - a pork curry that you rarely find anywhere. It's also called Chiang Mai curry.
It ended up being a nice relaxing break for us in Chiang Mai, a city we both love. We maybe didn't do as much exploring as we should have. Maybe that's what happens when you are familiar with a city, or maybe we had explored enough in the Nimman area and by the time we got to the old section of the city we just wanted to let the nice familiar vibes sink in.
Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km) Total: 540 miles (869 km)
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Rachael AndersonGreat post! It’s great to read about your time in Chiang Mai. It’s too bad you booked a stay in Nimman and it didn’t work out for the dental work. I’m with you, I’d rather stay in the old city. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
