Arrival into Chiang Mai (Thailand 3)

Today we flew into Chiang Mai. It is gorgeous here and the people are very nice and super friendly. The picturesque, lush greenery is a welcome change from the pollution and hassle of Bangkok! Even though the city is just a short 1.5 hour flight away from Bangkok, it almost feels like a different country. The city has a totally different vibe.

Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand and is a cultural hub for the country. There are temples EVERYWHERE and the city has a lot of history. The city itself is relatively small and is very tourist friendly. At the center of Chiang Mai is the "Old City", the original city complete with a moat and city gates. As the city started to expand, there was overflow to the outside of the gates. We stayed at Dusit D2, on the east side outside of Old City, right next to the night bazaar. There was a lot to do right outside of the hotel and we enjoyed staying so close to the action!

Night Bazaar

Today was a productive day. We did a quick walking tour of the "Old City" and went to visit the city's largest temple. We decided that we are officially temple'd out and probably won't see any more temples this trip. After visiting Wat Phra Singh, we toured the rest of the area and even stopped to get cheap massages ($6USD an hour)!

Wat Phra Singh - outside garden

So serene!

Chiang Mai is the home of a delicious soup called khao soi. The soup is a curry-based dish that is served with egg noodles (both wet and crispy), shallots, pickled veggies and (of course) spicy chili! We were told by friends that it was a "must try" in Chiang Mai and I'm so glad that we did because it's probably one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten. I hope that one day it gets popular enough that I can find it in the states!! We were so enamored with the dish that we had it for both lunch and dinner today.

Heavenly deliciousness

Tomorrow we are going to the Elephant Nature Park, an elephant conversation camp, about an 1 hour away from town. Luckily the park has a shuttle, so we just have to focus on waking up on time!

Till next time,
xoxo