Chiang Mai, Thailand - Day 2

After an uncertain start to our northern adventure in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I was pretty excited, to say the least, about our second day. During my research, I read about all of the really adventurous things to do up north, but they were all a bit of a drive outside of central Chiang Mai. Without transportation or a really good understanding of local customs, I just figured those types of activities were off limits for us. But after we met Jay, our whole itinerary changed.

One interesting thing we noticed about Chiang Mai, was the presence of westerners (i.e. non-Asian looking people). Jay explained that the population of Bangkok is roughly 15 million while the population of Chiang Mai is only about 1.7 million. And because Chiang Mai is still very much a hot tourist destination, they (we) tend to stand out more.

Jay picked us up around 8:30AM. We had previously requested our breakfast to be delivered to our room at 6AM. Around 6:15, when it still hadn't arrived, I called, and then it arrived within another few minutes. The U Chiang Mai hotel served a decent breakfast in the unique Southeast Asian style, though the fare was American/British. They gave us what looked like a barrel with metal supports around the center. Instead of it being a hollow container, each layer contained a different food item, toast, eggs, fruit, juice, etc. It was like opening many different layers of a gift.

When Jay dropped us off the previous day, he told us to bring bathing suits, a change of clothes, and shoes that could get wet. (Hence why we bought cheap flip-flops the previous night). One of the excursions I researched before the trip was a day at an elephant sanctuary. We could spend a day bathing, feeding, and cleaning the elephants, though for the price, I just didn't see it as the best way to spend a entire day. Jay told us of a smaller place where we could pay less and only spend a few hours. That seemed much more appealing to us.

Upon arrival, they gave us special clothes to wear and taught us several commands in Thai that the elephants would understand. They are fabulous beasts. Intelligent, stubborn, and incredibly powerful. We fed them bananas, and I got the world's most terrifying hug from a baby elephant. If you're ever given the chance to hug a baby elephant...say no. That mighty, little thing wrapped her trunk around my neck, and she fortunately listened to the trainer's command to release me. Never in my life have I felt my own mortality more than when I realized how quickly that baby elephant could have snapped my neck with her trunk. Not surprisingly, my husband declined the same offer of affection from the tiny giant.

Baby Elephant - Chiang Mai, Thailand

Getting a hug from a baby elephant 

We then met some of the adult elephants. They had several females but only one male. The male, they explained, had been a victim of severe abuse and only had one tusk remaining.

Before the trip, I read about several places in Thailand where you go could go on an elephant ride. I also saw many arguments against the large saddles or carriages that they put on the elephant's back. Unlike horses, elephants' (although used extensively in historic Asian warfare) backs suffer greatly from the weight of those enormous carriages and from carrying humans for hours and hours a day. I wanted to go to a place that didn't support the elephant riding industry.

We did still ride on the elephants, but we did so without any equipment, and they made sure that we sat very close to the shoulders of the elephant and weren't too far on their backs where we would hurt their spines. We also didn't ride them for more than the 10 min walk it took us to get to the river. Yes, river? Why is that, you ask? Elephant bathing, of course.

This part of the day was so much fun! As soon as we got into the river, the elephants squatted down and started splashing themselves with water from their trunks. They also understood Thai commands to spray us with water. Sneaky devils. Haha!

Elephant Bathing - Chiang Mai, Thailand

Elephant spraying me with water - Chiang Mai, Thailand

When we got back from the river, we rinsed off the river scum, changed out of our wet clothes, and bid farewell to the elephant sanctuary.

Our next stop for the day was the Tiger Kingdom. I had mixed feelings about this place too, and even writing this blog a few years later, I'm still not sure what to make of it. I read many online claims that the animals were sedated or drugged. Then other people (and the actual website) claimed otherwise. Other tiger facilities have been investigated and shut down by the authorities, but the place we went to has been open for 18 years. That helped legitimize it a little bit more for me.

The first thing we did was eat lunch at their buffet restaurant. After all of that elephant excitement, a good lunch hit the spot! Actually, I take that back. The first thing we did upon arrival was buy tickets. There's a pretty long wait (and we didn't even go during busy season), so we ate lunch after we got our timed tickets. When you purchase your tickets, you have several different options. You pay based on the size of tiger you want to encounter and how many encounters you want. Bigger cats were cheaper and had shorter wait times, but the thought of coming face to face with a giant tiger (no matter how calm), scared me just a little too much. We signed up for the baby tigers only.

When our time came, we changed our shoes into the special slippers they gave us, and then proceeded to wait in line for a good 20-30 minutes. They had very strict procedures and rules for visiting. Each tiger had a trainer and guard watching the people and the cats at all times. The baby tigers were very playful, and the trainers had ample toys for them to play with but didn't let us play with the tigers at all. I didn't mind. Haha. We could pet them, but had very specific instructions on how to approach them, and what parts of the cats we couldn't touch (their paws, for example).

Tiger Kingdom - Chiang Mai, Thailand

Baby Tigers - Chiang Mai, Thailand

They had 3-4 different baby tigers in the area where we were, and each tiger had people visiting it. We spent maybe 5-10 minutes with a tiger before shuffling to the next one. Each tiger was very friendly and not even remotely phased by the strangers who approached it or petted it. When one of them got playful, we backed up a little bit and the trainers would come in with a toy. For the most part, however, the tigers just bathed or rolled around in the heat. The young cats definitely seemed alert to us which helped alleviate my fears about drugging. They really didn't appear all that different from my cats at home except their fur was not soft, and their claws (even as babies) could have done some serious damage.

On our way back to the hotel, Jay asked us if he could drop us off at a big souvenir shop. Apparently, when he does that, they give him fuel vouchers in exchange for the potential business. Honestly, we didn't mind. I enjoy souvenir shopping and the place was absolutely enormous. Inside, the displays were nice and the building was cool. Unfortunately, the prices were pretty high (trying to take advantage of wealthy tourists). I did find some things that I would have liked, but the cashier lines were too long for my patience. Apparently a few tour busses with Chinese tourists arrived around the same time as us, and they aren't shy about buying trinkets and souvenirs. Jay assured us that we didn't have to buy anything, so after about 15 minutes, we met up with him and continued back toward Chiang Mai.

We settled our bill with him when he dropped us off at U Chiang Mai. We took advantage of the hot afternoon and swam in the hotel pool before eating another dinner at the air conditioned restaurant attached to our hotel. Our two days in Chiang Mai worked out better than I could have possibly planned. Tomorrow, we would head back to Bangkok for a day before heading further east to Cambodia and the world wonder, Angkor Wat.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

Chiang Mai, Thailand - Day 1

After spending two horrifically hot days in Bangkok, I was seriously worried about our 2 days planned in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is in the northern part of Thailand that is very popular for its history and tourism. Most people venture out of Bangkok to experience more authentic Thai culture. Prior to the trip, we planned on doing a lot of hiking in Chiang Mai based on the location of our hotel and the proximity of many surrounding Wats (temples). But our two days in Bangkok made us realize that there was simply no way we could spend hours in the oppressive heat hiking in the forest/jungle trying to find ancient temples. We had to come up with another game plan. Changing plans like that on the fly make me very nervous. I already felt like I was in another world, and the thought of deviating from our itinerary made me incredibly anxious. (Hence my timid traveler moniker.)

Ahead of time, I read several reviews about tour guides in Chiang Mai. They said that often times a taxi driver who picks you up for the airport will have other services available. This is the sort of thing that I would have totally planned ahead of time rather than hoping to encounter a friendly, english-speaking, non-scamming taxi driver. I would have contacted some sort of tour company and arranged for a driver with the details all worked out ahead of time. Going into the day without concrete plans is not something I do lightly, but our two days in Bangkok were unbearable and Chiang Mai would only be hotter.

We boarded our Air Asia flight around 10:30AM. The flight was just over an hour, and we paid around $135.00 for BOTH of our tickets. We landed right around lunchtime at the small, regional Chiang Mai airport. Following the advice of many a tourist before us, we found the taxi stand and greeted the friendly driver who was next in line. At this taxi stand, you paid a flat rate for anywhere inside the city itself, and you paid it directly to the guy at the taxi stand rather than pay the driver (similar to Bangkok). Our driver was a young fellow who spoke very good English. He chatted to us about our stay in Chiang Mai and asked us about our plans. We told him that we planned on seeing some of the historic temples today, and then to see the palace and the temple at the top of the big staircase the following day. He told us that if we drove, we could easily see all of those things in a single afternoon, and then have an entire free day for some more adventurous things like going to an elephant sanctuary and the tiger kingdom. He said that he would be happy to offer us his tour services and pointed us to a binder in the back seat pocket with the different "excursions" we could consider. Truth - my heart started racing, I was on the verge of tears, and at that moment, I just wanted to be back in the United States in my nice, safe, American suburban neighborhood where the only connection I had with the Thai people was my takeout place.

But, my ever trusty husband kicked in as negotiator. He seemed to think that this guy seemed ok. They agreed on 2000 Baht for both days which only came to about $60. For two days worth of transportation (and based on what we read online) we knew this was a fair price. After my blood pressure settled down a bit, I actually got pretty excited.

Jay (our driver) dropped us off at our hotel, gave us time to settle in a bit, and then picked us up an hour later. He told us not to pay him until the end, so we knew that we really had nothing to lose by not trusting him. We weren't out any money, and if he didn't come back, we weren't any worse off than we were at the start of the day. About an hour later, Jay came back, and, true to his word, we spent the rest of the afternoon driving around to the various temples on our list.

We started with Doi Suthep and the windy road up the big hill with the massive steps. I can't even imagine how we would have done this without a driver. I had done some research about the red group taxi-type vans that you could take which were really cheap, but you had to wait until one was full before it would leave. That could sometimes take 30 mins or so, which just wasn't worth it for us. The walk up to the top of the stairs was painful enough. When we got back down, we treated ourselves to some fresh coconut juice and freshly sliced mango.

Stairs up to Doi Suthep - Chiang Mai, Thailand

Doi Suthep - Chiang Mai, Thailand

Fresh Coconut Juice

Here are some photos of the other temples we visited in Chiang Mai proper. I imagine on a nice spring day, it would have been lovely to walk to each of these. The hotel we stayed at even had bikes you could use to explore the city. In the summertime, however, we were grateful for a car and driver. Jay also knew quite a lot about the temples we visited and escorted us around the grounds.

Still can't figure out what this sign means. Haha!

After getting our fill of Thai temples, Jay dropped us off at the hotel for the evening. We started walking around town to find a place for dinner but everything was open air. I know what you must be thinking..."it cools down in the evening." Yes, yes it does. Since the high on this sunny day was a balmy 104 degrees, it did, in fact, cool down to about 95 or so by 6 or 7pm. That didn't mean we wanted to be outside. We must have walked around the town for nearly an hour. Frustrated, sweaty, and hungry, we bought some super cheap flip flops (that we would need for the next day), and wound up back at our hotel for dinner. Although their "lobby" was open air, they had a little restaurant next door that had a glass enclosure with functioning air conditioning. For the first time the whole trip so far, we had our first truly Thai dinner.

Yellow Curry with Soft-shell Crab

U Chiang Mai Hotel - Thailand

U Chiang Mai Hotel - Thailand

Our hotel for two nights was called U Chiang Mai. You can read my Trip Advisor Review if you would like some specifics. It was all in all a very decent hotel, clean and spacious enough. For $125/night including a full breakfast, perhaps I judged this hotel a little unfairly. But both mornings we needed breakfast by a certain time, and it came late. The lighting in the bathroom was so dark, it was nearly impossible to see very much. Still, the location was great, and I would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for something in the area.

I was actually very happy this first night in Chiang Mai. In just one afternoon, we saw everything that I had planned for us to see during our entire stay here. Now we had a full day for all sorts of untold adventures. I hope you'll join me for my next blog featuring tigers and elephants! No lie! :)

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler