Chiang Mai - 21st-26th March

We decided to celebrate our 10 year anniversary by treating ourselves while in Chiang Mai, and booked a resort in the northern hills about 60 minutes from town called the Rawee Waree resort and spa. After our more humble accommodation we were thrilled to find a bath tub, a comfy bed and the biggest pool I think I’ve ever seen, and which extended right to our back door. After a few days of luxury and being pampered we caught a cab and headed into town to stay a few more nights

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Chiang Mai is the biggest city in northern Thailand but the place still has a lot of it charm. And unlike Bangkok you aren’t harassed at every turn for massages, tuk tuks, or random merchandise. With more coffee shops in Chiang Mai than 7-11’s it’s easy to sit by the river and relax with a coffee although we would recommend something local and maybe not an espresso or latte as they aren’t great. With dozens of art, antique stores, and markets with surprisingly good quality goods and crafts there is a lot of shopping to be done. But as anything we buy we would have to lug around for the next few months we decided to spend our money on some of the many activities offered in and around the city. We spend a day at Ban Chang elephant sanctuary learning how to be a mahout, and another day on an organic farm with Sammy and his wife cooking up some northern Thai dishes but they will be covered in later posts.

With a market every day and night it’s easy to wander around and try some of the local street food like Chiang Mai sausages, mango sticky rice or just a refreshing fresh fruit shake with blended ice.
If you’re there for the weekend I would recommend the walking night markets which are held in different locations; one for Saturday and one for Sunday. The streets are closed off and tens of thousands of people wander the streets inspecting local handicrafts and enjoying local street food.