Just came back from Chiang Mai Thailand not long ago. I am glad to be back home and not flying anytime soon.
I am not a frequent flyer. I am not very good at multi tasking as you can probably defer.
I have been to 3 Asian cities in 2 months. All work related. I find it cumbersome to keep changing environment. I have to delegate some work out to my colleague, and then to take over it if not yet resolve.
But having said I have managed to mix in some personal time on this trip.
The Chiang Mai work conference finishes on a Thursday. I figured it’s only a day away from the office before the weekend. I won’t gain much from just few hours in office if I took a flight on Friday.
I planned my trip to return home on Sunday to have 2 days of sightseeing, and also to have my wife join me on Thursday right as my conference ends.
iEnjoyed
Work wise it was an eye opener. My company was initiated as a distributor of an industrial software after some restructuring on manufacturer.
At this conference, I got to know about the supplier, learn more about how the industry is evolving and landscape of the industry. (Yada yada boring stuff)
On the personal side of the trip, which is the interesting part to me, I enjoyed myself. 2 days spent wandering around wasn’t enough for the Chiang Mai region. But just enough to have enjoy it sufficiently.
I WANT MORE!! But it’s enough for now…
Night Market
The location I stayed for the week was next to the night bazaars. Whenever I had my own time in the evening, I would walk there for my dinner.
Shopping isn’t much on my mind. They were selling mostly
1. Singlets of Chang Beer/Red Bull/Funny Phrases
2. Hmong and Karen inspired clothings (not sure if made by the tribes)
3. Muay Thai shorts
4. Branded handbag/wallet/belt replicas
5. Cute kids clothing
6. Dried/preserved fruits
After walking past 20 stalls, the remaining 500 are sort of the same.
Having said that, my wife managed to score some buys from the night market for her favourite toddlers back home.
Doi Inthanon National Park
We hired a private driver to bring us to the National Park. We had Charoen, the driver, waiting for us at 8 AM outside the hotel. It was to be one and half to two hours drive.
It was a good decision. We took our time at each spot. Using the tripod I bought, we managed to take some environmental portrait/selfie. And we had fun doing it.
We visited a few attractions.
1. Waterfalls
2. Twin Chedi
3. Summit
4. Ban Mae Klang Luang (Karen Village)
We did some light shopping of snacks from the Hmong market.
Given another chance, I will definitely come back. But I will try to leave earlier or stay near the national park to catch sunrise/sunset, and try out the short trails located around the national park.
Waterfalls
We had fun visiting waterfalls. We are always fascinated by the waterfalls as Singapore has none to speak of.
We visited not one waterfall but three of them.
The first one was Watchirathan. This was huge in height. As you stood by the side, you feel the spray of cool mist generated by the gushing water down the falls.
This is very picturesque but water droplets got on my lens. I had a hard time editing the droplets. I couldn’t remove it all but it was something!
There just wasn’t getting away from the water!
The third was the Mae Klang. This is not huge compared to the Watchirathan. But you could get closer to it and it looked as though few streams cascaded into one another.
The second one we visited was underwhelming because we stood far from it. You cannot feel the power of the waterfall. Probably that’s why the name does not register into my mind.
Twin Chedi
Cloudy? Misty?
Visibility of the Chedis were obscured by mist/clouds. There just wasn’t any view to speak of at that time.
Speaking about clouds. Did I mention Doi Inthanon is known as “The Roof of Thailand”? Part of the Himalayan mountain range, elevation ranges between 800-2565m.
This place was crowded. The car park was full.
I am sure if the sky is clear and light right, there should be a view
Summit
Summit felt a bit meh.
We followed the path. It led us into some forested area…and out! Like did we missed out something.
Of course, I had to take a photo to prove we were there.
It was easy to summit. All you have to do is to walk…to your car and drive up. Just a short walk and you reach the signboard. It wasn’t technical at all.
We just spend our time on selfies.
If I have another chance for Chiangmai, I do not mind coming back up here, but probably do a self drive for the trails, other waterfalls, and also stay late enough for sunset.
Food hunt
Ok. I admit. I do not go on food hunts. I do not participate in queues for stalls highly regarded on trip advisor/influencer blogs.
Maybe Singapore has spoiled my tastebud. But I find mostly food any where in Thailand to be delicious
Thai food is awesome, on the streets
In the small restaurants (Lemongrass)
Or Hipster restaurant (Rustic and Blue in the Nimman area)
The type of landscapes I like, good food all around, and affordable massages . Will be back to visit again if I have chance.