The Rose of the North: Chiang Mai

Yes. I used a tiger picture as this entry’s feature image to depict Chiang Mai…it’s so wrong. But if saying the Tiger Kingdom, a huge tourist destination, didn’t make me ecstatic I would be lying. I loved it there. And so while I am embarrassed that it was truly a highlight of my time in Chiang Mai, a truly amazing city, it was.

My other highlights include: the amazing food, the gorgeous temples and getting to the food or temples by biking, motorbiking and walking around the cool city.

Highlight #1: Tiger Kingdom

First, let’s talk about Tiger Kingdom. It is AWESOME. When we arrived we were placed in a lobby where you can select your Tiger package. It is all very organized. First you select your package, consult included, next you go to station #1 to state and confirm your package and sign a legal form that states something to the effect that you know you are going to touch tigers, next you head to station #2 to pay the cashier and receive your number, and finally you look at the flat screen for when you number is ready.

It is a mix between a very modern western zoo experience and the DMV. When we got our number it instantly appeared on the screen since I made sure we arrived early before it got busy. We were picked up and escorted to our first stop on our Tiger package: The Medium Tigers, ages 9-12mos. When we got in there with them, just like any other pre-teen, they were soooo not interested in us. They would play amongst themselves and ignore us. We would not want to get too close to them because they were in a playful mood and just playing around with them can get you hurt. A couple of times we had to jump back because they wanted to play with our hands, no thank you.

About to take a swing at Aaron

Playing

But it was a great warm up. Our next stop was the Big Tigers, ages 13-30mos. They were huge! And seemingly super tired. They would get up only to fall down in another position. I get it, they are not morning risers. The enormity of them was just amazing. That said, they like a good old-fashioned belly rub, just like a regular house cat.

lazy tiger

Just snuggling

Belly rubbing

Back scratching

Majestic

Roaring/yawning

And more…

Finally, there were the Small tigers, ages 4-8 mos. They were too cute and some, unlike their elders were full of energy. They loved being with their brothers and sisters, some never separated and they cuddled each other and would not let go…adorable.

So cute!

I love this too much

Cat thai massage

Brothers

Let’s hug

End of the Tiger show. If you’d like to see more, we probably have 2000+ other pics of us posing with tigers. 

Highlight #2: Food

We spent a lot of time in Chiang Mai eating and drinking. Restaurants, street food, smoothies, and juices, I don’t know if there was a time I didn’t have chopsticks, a fried chicken leg or a coconut in my hand. We loved the food so much and Aaron and I agreed this was probably the best fried chicken we had ever had! We even found a Mexican restaurant that had received such great reviews on trip advisor we had to try. (Let me tell you Miguel’s in LEGIT. ) But mostly we stuck to Thai.

Pad thai: with a side of sugar and chili sauce if you want

Eating fried chicken, we practically were regulars

So much street food

Aaron just had three dishes

Spring roll

Smoothie sipping

Mex-i-can

Ready to order more

We also took a Thai cooking class that had us making a starter dish, a soup and a curry. Aaron did great, I did okay. But it was really great that you could customize the ingredients and spice. For instance I’m not into sugary or spicy Pad Thai. Most all places serve you a plate and then allow you to personalize with chili sauce, sugar, fish sauce, etc but still at times it can be a bit too spicy for me. That said, I totally watered down all my dishes, (my green curry looked more light mint color than green) and I loved them.

A course in ingredients, the school’s garden

Next, a market to learn more

So many rice varieties

Lets cook!

A demo, first

Aaron grinding peppers for curry

First successful dish: Pad Thai for me, Pad see-ew for Aaron

Soup makin

A: Red curry, Tom Yum soup J: Green curry, Coconut soup

Highlight #3: Temples

Step aside Napalese or Burmese temples, sorry guys, these Thai temples take the win on the most beautiful modern temples we saw on our trip. The architechture and designs were impeccable and so ornate. The gold buddahs were more impressive. They were busy in design, yet so clean. One was so beautiful, we just sat on the floor for awhile to take it all in. We read that there were nearly 300 temples in Chiang Mai and while we only had time for a handful, I was impressed.
Another cool aspect was that there were a number of Monk schools in the city. To further their study and training they would host “Monk Talks” where you could sit down and talk to a monk about anything really. I thought this was a great way to learn more about Buddhism and to really humanize the religion, as a lot of our impressions come from inanimate temples.

Hello, buddah

Gorgeous:  Wat Chiang Man

Temple outfit

Loved this. A monk among other monks. He did even blink. Reminded me of Sesame Street’s: one is not like the other game

The gorgeous detail in the doors, on walls, on pillars. Nothing like we had ever seen before.

Gold papered buddah

Loved this naga sculpture

And good luck elephants

Monks heading to class, near Chiang Mai University

Overwhelmed by the peace and beauty, we just sat under these banners for awhile

The old elephant temple

Monk Chat

Aaron and me next to our birth year animals

The way up to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, a temple on top of a big hill outside the city. The motorbike ride up was an adventure.

Monks circling the The chedi at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep

The chedi

Me walking around the famous bells, motorbike helmet in hands

At the bottom of the temple with these cuties. Would have died for the purple outfit when I was younger, maybe still today.

Highlight #4: Getting Around

We loved just walking around on the small streets lined with shops and restaurants. We would walk the Night Bazaar and Sunday night street market. We would just walk around without an agenda. This is a very walkable city and anyone coming from big Bangkok can appreciate it. It was greener too. You could see mountains in the skyline, it has a large moat that surrounded the old city, and most streets were lined with trees. At night, maybe due to the holidays, the bridges would light up, for a very metropolitan romantic feel.

Small street inside the city

Sunday night bazaar was packed

When the walk was too far we would rent a bikes: Both motor and push. We used these modes mainly to see the far out temples. We loved having the independence and hey, I am getting pretty good at city biking.

Aaron filling up the motorbike

Push bike, by the city’s moat

Some non-highlights/let downs:

Non-highlight #1: Holidays

We were in Chiang Mai for Thanksgivukkah: The first night of Hannukah and Thanksgiving fell on the same day this/last year. We tried to celebrate both but came out unsuccessful. We were too late for the big Thanksgiving dinner held at an expats Irish pub/restaurant. And while we managed to find a Israeli/Jewish section of town and a Hannukah party, it did make me miss New York where I would pick up fresh latkes and huge jelly doughnuts at the best Jewish delis and bakeries in the village.

We tried! Too late for Thanksgiving dinner. Aaron saying a prayer, me eating a tiny jelly doughnut and trying not to compare them with Holyland Market’s doughnuts I used picked up on St. Mark’s in the east village (they were huge and so good)

We were also in town for the King’s birthday. For those who don’t know (and who have probably never been to Thailand), the King is a god in this country. This may be exaggerating but adored and loved just simply does not describe how admired this guy is. His picture is all over bridges, inside restaurants and shops, train/bus stations, I even saw a young girl with a tattoo that read: “Long live the king” on her arm. Well, I was hoping for a large celebration: people taking to the streets and cheering. Sadly, that didn’t happen. Yes, there were some fireworks and people were lighting lanterns and releasing them in the sky, but I had wished there had been more.

A couple fireworks for the king’s birthday but no party

Aaron lighting candles to sing happy birthday to the king

Non-highlight #2: Thai Boxing

We knew we had to go to one show. It was pretty boring honestly. And the first two fights were kids! Not only was I disturbed by this, I also felt a little ripped off, like hey I can go see this on the playground at home.

10-year olds greased up and ready to fight, sorry I am not betting on this

Chiang Mai is amazing and probably everyone who goes there feels the same way. It is a special laid back town that still feels cosmopolitan. I highly recommend you go there and eat and stroll and bypass the Thai boxing.