Thailand's Northern Jewel

What a pleasant relief it was to finally arrive in beautiful Chiang Mai after a nine-hour drive from Bangkok. Our party chartered a Toyota van from Bangkok for approximately 2,300 Baht a day. This included the driver, who was on-call to take you anywhere you asked to be taken. As we slept in a four-star hotel, he slept in the van. He did dine with us at three different places, but only when invited, and he did not eat much.
The city welcomes you with its grand mountains, beautiful people, and cooler weather. Unlike Bangkok there are not street vendors at every turn. While it is true there are some near the temples and historic sites they are not everywhere like Bangkok. One vendor offered something I hadn’t seen before; for forty Baht you could release small birds from a bamboo cage. They flew across the street into the neighboring tree. I imagine they knew the routine and would be caught and released again many times in their lives.
There are many great places to eat here. The flavors are a little different in the foods I had tasted, but I suppose they reflected the tastes of the region and the available herbs and spices.
While visiting Chiang Mai we were fortunate enough to visit the Royal Flora Exhibit. Several countries had pavilions and floral exhibits to show their respect to the King of Thailand as the country celebrated his sixty years as King.
We visited several temples and watched the elephant show at a nearby venue. It was there an elephant painted a flower design with help from a trainer.
Chiang Mai also has a night market and it is remarkably huge. The items there are mainly from the local area, but not all. There is a huge assortment of jewelry, craftwork, and almost anything one could imagine. But beware the Hill Tribe women! If you purchase one thing from one of them a flock of them will surround you and beg for you to buy something from them. It is astounding!
Chiang Mai was a great change from the hurried pace of Bangkok and was well worth the time and money to see this jewel of Northern Thailand.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

I wish I could say there was a better way to get around Chiang Mai as in Bangkok with the metered taxis, but I can't.
You are at the mercy of the taxi trucks. They are canopied Toyotas with seats in the back and the driver determines the price. Good luck!

The Chiang Mai Orchid is centrally located in Meung, Chiang Mai and was a real treat for this frugal traveler. The cost to stay here varies from room to room, but even the lesser-priced rooms still offer the four-star treatment that one can expect from the Chiang Mai Orchid.

The first thing I noticed was the small refrigerator stocked with a few beers and whisky. The prices were not ridiculous and were probably worth the extra couple Baht. The visitor could choose to not to use these items and take a short walk across the street to the 7-11, where Thai beer and whisky are also readily available for a few Baht less.
The rooms are beautiful. The hardwood trim and style of the woodwork was incredibly gorgeous. I was taken back in my mind to the construction and the craftsmanship, which must have gone into it. I wondered too how many other visitors sat on their bed to admire the beauty of these rooms.

It was the little things that let me know I was not in a cheap or non-guest oriented hotel. Aside from the wet bar the bathroom seem well stocked with small luxury items. I was most impressed with the cotton buds, or what we call in America, Q-Tips. I’d never seen this small useful item available in any room I had ever rented in my entire life. Of course they also offered the plastic shower cap, shampoo, and hand cream. The nicest treat for me was that there was a bottle opener mounted near the bathroom sink. This is a necessity for many travelers, and I did not have to improvise to open my ice-cold bottle of Singh beer.

When staying in a four-star hotel you can expect great service and attention to the little details. Chiang Mai Orchid definitely delivers.

According to the Bangkok Post the Royal Agricultural Research Center’s Royal Flora, Ratchaphruck, and International Horticulture Exposition for His Majesty the King may not be a permanent fixture in Chiang Mai now that the exposition has ended. I hope this is not the case, as it was a nice attraction to visit while staying in Chiang Mai.
The exhibit officially ran from November 1st, 2006 to January 31st, 2007, and I was lucky enough to be part of the hundreds of thousands who visited it. I do not know much about flora but was still impressed by all the beauty of the plants and the exhibitions. Of course, Thailand’s pavilion and their newly built temple on the grounds was one of the more beautifully built structures there.

The cost to return to our hotel from the exposition was two hundred Baht. This seemed high compared to Bangkok, but with ten of us in our party, I suppose it was a fair price for Chiang Mai. The red-canopied Toyota truck taxi was fast and the amount was negotiated before we left by one of my in-laws.

Aside from its stunning view of Chiang Mai, Wat Prathat Doi Suthep is a beautiful and revered site to visit. The admission is free for Thais and anyone who looks Thai, but there is a small mandatory donation of forty Baht per foreigner. There are two ways up to this famous temple after you have found your way up the mountainside: first way; climb the huge staircase to the top, second way; take the lift for a fee of twenty Baht per person. It was a long walk to the top, but it felt almost spiritual and invigorating to do it by my own means.
The huge golden pagoda is stunning. It’s beauty and the feelings one gets as they take their walk around it and rings the bells around its gate are probably different for everyone. The smell of incense and melting wax candles wafts around the area as the sun shines off of the golden objects as the visitor is taken on a spiritual trip.
Because of its size and the lens size of most cameras there are photographers standing by to capture the visitor’s image with the pagoda in the background. These photos were two hundred Baht, and honestly, after seeing the quality of our photos, probably not worth it.
Beware the vendors outside of this famous site. They are aggressive, and quite frankly, overpriced. The night market will offer better deals than anything you might find here, and without the aggressive hawkers.
I did have a funny moment while there. As we were ringing the large bells near the temple I heard a Guns and Roses melody. For a moment I thought the monks inside were listening to rock and roll. It took me a few seconds to realize it was my brother-in-laws cell phone ring-tone. The song: Sweet Child ‘O Mine. The picture in my mind of a monk listening to Guns and Roses: Priceless.