Experiencing Chiang Mai.
Amidst the hustle-bustle of my startup journey in Singapore, I decided to take a break sometime mid of January 2020. It was not possible to take a complete 10-day off, hence after researching online, I choose Chiang Mai as my destination. Chiang Mai looked to be a good holiday destination conducive to remote work.
I was both excited and nervous while landing at Chiang Mai, as I didn’t know what to expect from this place. I was gladly received by Ladislav and Urana, the owners of Amaka (the hostel I had booked). Well, I had actually asked for an airport pickup service while booking my hostel, but the fact that they came to pick me up themselves while talking about Chiang Mai on the way back, made me feel like a home away from home.
The hostel was a pleasant surprise! We had dorm-mates from multiple nationalities, everyone was in Chiang Mai for a unique purpose. They ranged from a 25-year-old Taiwanese girl taking a break from work to a 70-year-old Japanese guy traveling across the globe as a part of his retirement. Each one of their stories was stimulating.
Each city has its special story and Chiang Mai has its own! The old city is guarded by walls that were built to prevent invasion. It had 8 gates, each having its own astrological significance and unique purpose. Eg. The Phae Gate faces eastwards, signifies prosperity and is used by the monks and traders to enter Chiang Mai. I enjoyed listening to more such stories while talking to the local people — be it while hiking to the chilly Doi Inthanon, or visiting Doi Suthep to view the sunset.
Contemporary Chiang Mai has its own set of activities to offer — be it relaxing your mind through Tibetian bowl meditation at Chiang Mai Holistic, or joining random groups for trivia night at cafe bistro, or relaxing your muscles with a Thai massage, or getting your spontaneous creativity to action at Improv, or partying hard with people from across the world at Zoe in yellow! The list goes on and on — it’s time that restricted me to try numerous other activities!
Solo trips are addictive — mainly because you get the opportunity to explore yourself while being the director of your plan! There are plenty of things I had a chance of enjoying since I was traveling solo — be it learning about cannabis cultivation from a Californian at trivia night, going on a dinner with a group of French people I had randomly met during the hike, trying out the variety of local cuisines northern Thailand had to offer or discussing for 30 mins with a barber on the different styles of beard I could experiment with! Each of these was a peculiar learning experience for me.
Well it’s no fun if you don’t work hard while partying hard! Chiang Mai has its unique attributes to aid you to work hard. There are plenty of co-working spaces that offer a daily pass. I had tried multiple co-working spaces in Chiang Mai. The best ones were -
- CAMP at Maya mall — it’s a funky co-working space open 24 hours. It has a balcony facing Doi Suthep mountains. The view of sunrise from the mountains at 6:30 in the morning is good enough to pull an all-nighter while working at CAMP! 🌄
- MANA — Very quiet place with comfortable chairs. They offer chilled water and tea throughout the day to keep you hydrated (actually over-hydrated 🤔) while working.
Would I go to Chiang Mai again if I need a break while working? Yes!
Would I recommend visiting Chiang Mai? Of course yes!
