Introduction to Chiang Mai
On the banks of Ping River, set among the misty mountains and lush green forests of northern Thailand, you will find the former capital of the ancient Lanna Kingdom – Chiang Mai. Even though the history of Chiang Mai goes back to the 13th century, today it’s a laid-back vibrant town with wide array of activities on offer.
We completely skipped the beaches of Thailand during our trip to SE Asia and flew from Kuala Lumpur straight to the north, to spend some time in nature, eat all the delicious Thai food and admire countless amounts of temples in this area. We spent in Chiang Mai 5 days in total, but the first and the last were mostly about strolling through the small streets of the Old Town, checking out some cute cafes, packing, and getting to the airport.
From Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Mai, it’s a 2-hours and 45-minute-long flight. We flew with AirAsia, which was my least favourite company from all the low-cost Asian airlines, but it was the only direct connection for a good price that I was able to find. The rest of the connections required a transit in Bangkok.
Here in this article, I will give you some ideas of how to fully enjoy three days in Chiang Mai, so you get the taste of everything it has to offer. 3 days in Chiang Mai
Day 1: Temple hopping
For our first full day we decided to see some of the mountain and forest temples in the surroundings of Chiang Mai. There are so many temples in this area that seeing them all would take weeks, if not months! I did my research and picked few that seemed to me as the most interesting. I summed up all the temples in a separate article here.
Getting around
Grab works well in Chiang Mai, but the best way to get around the town are songthaew – red vans which you can find on every corner and they are basically something in between a tuk-tuk and a taxi. There is no set route for them, they’ll take you where you want to go and pick up some more travellers along the way. For a short distance the price starts at about 20 baht but you can make a deal with your driver to book him for the whole day and that’s what we did. He couldn’t speak much English but when I showed him the list of temples we wanted to go to, he knew them all. We paid 1800 baht for the whole day (which around 53 Euro = cca 87 AUD). On the first day we visited:
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
Wat Pha Lat
Wat Umong
Wat Phra That Doi Kham
Evening - Tha Pae Walking Street
After all day of temple hopping, we were really hungry so we spent the evening eating all the delicious street food on night markets. There are many different markets in Chiang Mai, this one is called the Walking Street and it starts at 5pm every Sunday. You can find here anything from traditional arts and crafts, through souvenirs to the best food. If you are not in Chiang Mai on a Sunday, in this article the author describes 17 other markets in Chiang Mai worth a visit.
Day 2: Elephant Sanctuary
This day was possibly my favourite of our whole trip, because we got to hang out with elephants! Captive elephants, including some sanctuaries, are a big controversy in Thailand. In Chiang Mai, riding elephants is still promoted in many tour operator agencies. If you tell them you don’t want to ride, they offer you a different visit where you can “just pet them”. But if the same agency offers rides as well as “sanctuary visits” how can one be sure that the elephants in the proclaimed sanctuary are really treated well?
Elephants are such impressive creatures. They are smart gentle giants and they don’t deserve to be treated poorly. I would never go to a place where I would have any suspicion that it’s not ethical and where people take advantage of elephants and tourists as well.
About Maerim Elephant Sanctuary
I found Maerim Elephant Sanctuary thanks to a travel blogger Alyssa from My Life Is a Travel Movie whose judgement I trust. Maerim is run mostly by volunteers and the money you pay go to protecting elephants and their well-being. They use the funds to buy elephants from farms and tourist attractions where they are used for rides or to work in the jungle. You can ask Maerim staff about the history of each elephant and they will gladly tell you where they were rescued from.
I believe there are more sanctuaries like Maerim in Chiang Mai, but please do your research before you visit one. You don’t want your money to go on a bad cause, right? Anyway, we spent the best day in Maerim. Seeing elephants and being able to interact with them was my dream and it came true thanks to Maerim.
Morning tour in Maerim Elephant Sanctuary
We opted for the morning tour for 1600 baht per person. Each tour has limited amount of people so I would recommend booking in advance. The car came to pick us up at our hostel early in the morning and then they also dropped us off in the afternoon. Once we arrived, we got a special suits and bags full of bananas for elephants. After the joyful morning spent bathing and jungle walks, we also had a cooking class where we learnt to make a traditional Thai soup.
Afternoon – Old Town and more temples
After coming back to our hostel from the best morning we could imagine, we decided to chill a little and later in the afternoon we took an easy stroll around the Old Town of Chiang Mai full of tiny alleys and temples. You don’t have to try hard to find any temples in this area, they will find you! We visited these three:
Wat Pan Ping
Wat Chiang Man
Wat Pa Pao
In the evening we went to watch the sunset and have couple of drinks in the Oasis Rooftop Bar in the old town and had some street food for dinner. Eating street food (almost) every night is something I miss from our travelling across South East Asia the most.
Day 3: Jungle trekking in the Doi Inthanon NP
Besides its temples and amazing food, Chiang Mai is also famous for its natural heritage. The city is surrounded by jungle, forests and mountains with countless waterfalls and rice fields so according to me, spending one day in nature to recharge batteries is a must. Because we are not very skilled in jungle tracking by ourselves, we booked a tour with our hostel to take us to the Doi Inthanon National Park.
Doi Inthanon National Park
Doi Inthanon is not only the name of the national park, but it is also the highest and the most prominent mountain in all of Thailand. When you reach its top, the temperatures drop a lot, so pack some jacket even if it’s boiling hot in the city! During our visit it was only 12 degrees of Celsius up there.
The all-day tour cost us 1500 baht per person, with food, transport and tour guides included. As I mentioned before, we booked with our hostel and later when I checked online, the very same tour was almost triple the price with an international tour agency! If you are interested in doing something similar, try to check the prices in your hotel or local agencies first to avoid paying more than necessary.
Anyway, here is what we did and saw during that day.
Wachirathan falls
Famous for its double rainbows that you can see on a sunny day. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any, because it was a cloudy morning, but on the other hand, we were there the only tour. The big parking lot next to the waterfall was totally empty.
Pha Dok Sieo nature trail
After the waterfall, we did a 2-hour long hike through the Thai jungle. Pha Dok Sie nature trail has a significance for people from the Karen hill tribes, who still live their traditional way of life in the jungle around Chiang Mai, therefore you need a guide from this tribe to take you around. The guides are usually women. In the past, the tribe was known as “the long neck tribe” because they used to put heavy metal rings on women’s necks to make them long. Even though there are still less and less women who would practice these habits, you can still meet them in some parts of Thailand and Myanmar (but not in this village).
During our jungle track we visited few rice fields, saw many falls and swam in Pha Dok waterfall, and we finished the hike with having coffee and delicious lunch in the farm in Karen hill tribe village. They roast their own special coffee which was very different from what I am used to, but it was very delicious.
Doi Inthanon peak and Twin Pagodas
After the lunch we visited the highest peak of Thailand which is 2565 m tall. Not far from there, there are the famous Twin pagodas, which is one of the most beautiful places of worship in the North Thailand.
Doi Inthanon is also known as “the roof Thailand” and it’s a part of the Himalayan Mountain Range. Twin Pagodas are located only 5 km south from the highest peak and they were built as an honour for the 60th birthdays of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. There is also a viewpoint with amazing view over the national park and Chiang Mai.
Traditional markets
We finished the tour with a visit to a local market, where we could do little bit of shopping. We got some yummy Thai snacks and souvenirs.
More Activities to do in Chiang Mai
- Celebrate the Yi Peng Festival of lights – only in November
- Adrenaline sports – Chiang Mai is a great place for all the adventure lovers. You can try Zip lining through the jungle or white-water rafting on one of the many rivers in this area.
- Cooking classes - Thai cuisine belongs to my favourites and I regret not having enough time to go to a cooking class!
- Visit Chiang Mai Zoo and Aquarium
- Hike up Bua Thong – the “sticky” waterfalls
- Bo Sang handicraft village
Travel Advice for Chiang Mai
Currency – Thai Baht: 100 EUR = 3383 Baht/ 100 AUD = 2077 Baht/ 100 USD = 3028 Baht
Sockets are the same as in Europe.
We got travellers sim card at the airport for 219 baht with unlimited internet for five days. I don’t remember exactly the company, but the prices were about the same and the coverage was really good.
In Chiang Mai you can use Grab, but remember, they are not allowed to come and pick travellers up at the airport so if you are flying in, you will have to leave the airport and find your Grab driver in one of the streets (or take a taxi and haggle the price).
Don’t forget to take your shoes off in all the Buddhist temples!
There are no Thai visas required for the EU countries when you are staying less than 30 days. For more information about visas for other countries, check out this link here.
The best time to visit Chiang Mai is between October and April, but in reality, it is a year-round destination with hot and humid climate. We visited at the beginning of June and we experienced a short storm only once, otherwise we got lots of sun every day. For more info about the weather in this region head to this official link here.
I hope this article made it clear that we loved our time in Chiang Mai and I wish to come back one day! The city is so diverse with something to do for everyone and I would want to stay 10 days instead of 5. If you are planning a trip to Thailand, do not miss this destination, it won’t let you down and it’s full of surprises.
If you you’ve already been to Chiang Mai, let me know some places I shouldn’t miss during my next visit!
