Chiang Mai, Thailand
This is part 3 of our 5-part December travelogue:
- Phuket, Thailand
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Siem Reap, Cambodia
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
We had only planned to stay in Chiang Mai for the weekend, but we ended up liking the place so much that we changed our flights and stayed an additional week.
Chiang Mai is just an hour away from Bangkok by plane, but due to its higher elevation and latitude can be 10 degrees (F) cooler. It’s where a lot of Thailand’s produce is grown; one major reason we went was that Casey wanted to eat some of the fresh strawberries the place is known for.
The city is nestled in Thailand’s highlands, which are actually the foothills of the Himalayas. We stayed in the “Old City” which is a section of Chiang Mai surrounded by a moat in an almost perfect square 1.5km on a side. At this point, it’s entirely touristy with all of the buildings within the moat being restaurants, cafes, or hotels, but they weren’t super built up, and it was peaceful to stroll around. There were also a number of temples to visit. Most of the people that we saw were foreigners or employees of those businesses; most native Chiang Mai residents lived in the main part of the city outside the “Old City”. Amusingly, the “Old City” is the original Chiang Mai, but “Chiang Mai” means “New City” in Thai.
Elephants!
Thailand is known for their elephants. Unfortunately, they are frequently mistreated, commonly used to drum up tourism. Even riding an elephant is impossible unless you break it through violence first.
I was excited to visit Elephant Nature Park, a “rescue and rehabilitation” center where old and injured elephants are bought from industry and given acres of land to just kind of walk around in. It was one of the first places designed for tourism in a way that lets people see and interact with the elephants without harming them. The price of tickets goes to saving more elephants. You can also volunteer there for a week or two at a time, helping to prepare the elephants’ food and bathing them in the river and stuff.
We paid for the admission tickets with money my Grandma generously gave us as a Christmas gift. Thanks, Grandma! These pictures are for you. :)
Muai Thai
Muai Thai is an extremely popular sport in Thailand, up there with soccer. It’s a form of boxing with certain rules I never fully understood, but people seem to be allowed to attack with feet, hands, elbows, and knees. A common technique is to grab the other person like in a hug, and try to knee them in the torso from up close. A ref is watching and intervenes at some point that I was not able to determine. The boxers always are dressed in either red or blue, and there’s a traditional and distinctive drumming and clarinet-esque woodwind played during the fight.
Casey and I went to see a live event which had 5 matches. The fighters looked like they were in their late teens or early twenties, and did it partly as a tourist gimmick, but also part of Thailand’s Muay Thai league. There are professional leagues and tournaments all over Thailand at the city, region, and national level. The national fights are broadcast on TV all the time. The fights weren’t as brutal as I was afraid of, but I don’t know if that’s just the sport or the level of competition here. There were “knockouts”, meaning the person was knocked down and didn’t get up in 3 seconds, but the loser still seemed to leave the ring afterward without looking too bad. Some of the matches went to the end (5 rounds, while it’s 9–12 in America) and were scored on points.
Wat Pha Lat
We heard a lot about a beautiful temple called “Wat Pha Lat” with a neat “Monk’s Trail” up to it. The trail is well-marked by orange cloth strips (like those monks wear) tied around tree trunks along the way.
The “Old City”
We also spent a fair amount of time just walking around the Old City of Chiang Mai where we were staying.
That’s all for Thailand. Bangkok was quite interesting but very hot and busy. Chiang Mai was much more laid back and comfortable. Casey and I talked about how it would be a nice place to retire to, maybe.
All told we spent two weeks in the country. It’s very easy to travel to, with no special visa requirements for Americans, and at least in the major cities you can get by with English. I felt bad not knowing any Thai other than “hello” and “thanks”. The people were all very friendly, and the food delicious but extremely spicy.