Chiang Mai, Thailand!

This is a long blog post.  I wasn't sure how to break up the trip, so here it is.  You have no idea how many great pictures I had to edit out!

I went to Chiang Mai (the taxi came for me 3 1/2 hours after getting home from the Latin Ball!) with a group of ladies from the American Association of Malaysia.  What a fun group of gals!  Here is a map of Thailand showing Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand, with Malaysia at the bottom of the map.  It was a three-hour flight.  Some events were planned for us and some were not.  This is what I did in my time in Chiang Mai:

DAY 1:  Landed in Chiang Mai at 10:00am, checked into hotel, ate lunch at hotel, took a nap (I got no sleep the night before, but some of the other ladies went to the beautiful pool), got a traditional Thai massage, dinner at EAT, night bazaar.

Day 2:  Walking food tour (highly, highly recommend, click here for more info),shopping, happy hour at hotel, cultural show and dinner.

Day 3:  Drove about 45 minutes to the Baan Tawai Handicraft Village for a day of amazing shopping, dinner at hotel, relaxing after dinner (some of the ladies went back to night market, but I was shopped out.)

Day 4:  Chai Lai Orchard Elephant Farm, group dinner at Paak Dang.  Some of the ladies did a Segway tour of the temples.

Day 5: A little bit of peaceful pool time, packed up, and flew home.

It might not sound like a lot, but each excursion was a real treat!

We stayed at the Siripanna Spa and Resort.  It was fabulous!

I have never stayed at a hotel with its own rice paddy.  Planting rice is one of the activities offered.  Um, I chose the massage.

Here was our main mode of transportation, the bhat bus. 

It was a tight squeeze for all 11 of us, but a bargain at about $5 for a 20-minute ride.

There was no back door, so we were easily able to see some of the street views.

This was our destination-- the night market.  This particular night market is held only on Sunday evenings.  So many wonderful things for sale.  Clothes, art, jewelry, food, etc.

'Hotel California' was right across the street from our restaurant.  We ate at 'EAT'.  The bar on the second floor was called 'DRINK'.  As an American, I thought the food was good. 

Traditional Thai art for sale as we shopped after dinner.

Views from our trip back to hotel

Early the next morning, I began my day relaxing by the koi pond behind our hotel room.

On the way to the food tour.  Chiang Mai is a lot prettier and much more peaceful than Bangkok!

This was our meeting spot for the tour-- Wat Chiang Man.  By the way, wat means Buddhist temple.

This was the morning of our first full day.  I had no idea what to take pictures of-- there was so much beauty in every direction!

We were walking around the temples, waiting for our food tour to begin.  I turned the corner and gasped!  I loved this pagoda!!  Ornate gilding and rustic elephants.  One of my favorites of the whole trip.

I really appreciated the cobalt blue skies.  Although the haze in KL is gone for now, I have never seen blue skies like this.

This was our knowledgeable tour guide.  Her name is Rain.  About halfway through the tour, I forgot her name.  I knew it started with an 'R' and was short.  I called her Rice  ... don't do that.

This tour involved lots of walking.  It was great!  We saw streets, alleys, and market we would have not otherwise seen.

Cool tattoo parlor door.  Pain is temporary, Pride is forever.

We saw so many beautiful temples and pagodas(no, I have not included pictures of all the temples.  You're welcome.)  But this pagoda was interesting.  This was on a back alley, really in someone's back yard.   It is abandoned and rundown.  The neighborhood has built up around it.  I asked why it was made of brick.  Rain said that they are all built of brick, then covered in concrete or plaster, and then gilded.  This pagoda had simply deteriorated down to the brick.

This was the first Thai dish we tasted.  It was really good.  But I have no idea what it is called.  That is one of the problems with blogging about vacations in strange countries.  Too many names to remember!!

But I remember this one-- coconut ice cream!  It was good and refreshing.  Touring in Southeast Asia is always HOT.  Hence my fan.

Three Kings Monument

This is the chedi (or pagoda) of the Wat Chedi Luang.  It was built in the 14th century and damaged by an earthquake in the 16th century!

 From another angle

This is a model of what the chedi would have looked like in its entirety, minus the elephants.

No, Allison and I were not headed for the spa.  We were both wearing sleeveless tops and needed to cover up.  These robes were provided.

As hot as it was, it was worth putting on the robes to view this gorgeous temple.  It was a royal one, supported by the royal family.  This was on the same grounds as the chedi for the Wat Chedi Luang.  I think that is the name for this temple itself.  It gets a bit confusing.  I have been to temples in China and Malaysia.  They don't compare to the temples in Thailand!

The gate leaving the premises.  What a tour!  We ended with tea and dessert.

There are soooo many shopping opportunities in Chiang Mai.  And most things are very affordable!  This statue and canal were on a street of shops.

This was an antique store.  I loved this marionette puppet.  Not enough to buy it, but enough to take a picture of it.  :)

Heading back to the hotel to get cleaned up for the cultural show and dinner.

On Monday evening, we went to a dinner and cultural show at the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center.  We enjoyed a Thai meal and saw several traditional dances performed.  For more info, click here.

On Tuesday morning we headed off to the Baan Tawai Handicrafts Village.  I was not too excited, really.  We had already done quite a bit of shopping.  But as we drove to the village, we passed these carved elephants!  We made the van driver take us back.  For only $2500, one of these elephants could be yours.  Unfortunately, it didn't fit in my suitcase.  This store had tons of carved wood pieces.  Even certain male body parts.  We saw a lot of carved male body parts.  Don't really know where one would display those...

Here is Allison discussing a gem purchase with our favorite new jeweler.  His name is Champ and he is from Houston, Texas!  Living and working in this small town in Thailand.  

This handicraft village is worth spending several hours in.  Even though I was not looking for anything specific, it was fun to browse.  You will see a lot of wood carvings, furniture, art, home accessories, statues, etc.  All for much cheaper than I would normally see.  A lot of places will also ship your purchases.  This was one of my favorites.  This is a teak tree, about 5 feet tall, that has been intricately carved.  If you look closely, you will see layer upon layer of carving.  It took the craftsman six years to complete and was about $4500.  This belonged in a museum!

At the end of the day, our purchases.  Except for the purchases that were being shipped!

Our last full day began with a trip to an elephant camp.  On our way to meet camp bus-- in a tuk tuk built for two!

We rode for about an hour to the camp.  We enjoyed the time, chatting with two young backpackers from Autsin, Texas.  These two young ladies were spending two weeks around Thailand.  There are quite a few backpackers in Chiang Mai.  Anyways, back to the elephant farm.  According to the brochure, "The Chai Lai Orchid is a social business that partners with the local Karen hill tribes to provide programs such as free English classes to Karen children and paid job training and life classes to at-risk women. Your support helps them take the first step out of poverty and towards a future of hope."

First we ate lunch at the restaurant and then met some elephants.  This picture is shady, but do you see the two-month old baby elephant?  

Next, a very peaceful and cool (temperature) float down the river.  We only almost-capsized once.

Then, fun in the water with five-year-old Deedee.  

This elephant was so much fun!  

She was very generous with her kisses!

Then, we got to ride the big elephants.  Most of these elephants are rescued from harsh working conditions.  We ride them bare-backed.  And barefooted.  I used my arms for support, and at the end of the ride, they were tired.

The elephant camp was the highlight of Chiang Mai!

I had made the reservations for the group dinner that evening.  This was the sign waiting for us!  It was a wonderful evening, with great service from the restaurant owners and delicious food and drinks.

On the last morning, there was just enough time for a lounge by the pool.  What a wonderful trip!  Chiang Mai is a place I definitely want to return to!