Charming Chiang Mai

Flying in or out of Chiang Mai, you notice lots of rice paddies. You also see lush, green mountains and the clear, blue water.

This city is a mix of old and new. Around every corner, you find another wat, or temple (over 300 total!). There are remnants of the wall that once surrounded the city, along with the moat. But you also find some American staples (like Starbucks!) and several bars and clubs. There are several nice restaurants along the river. My pictures are lost, but the ones Zack took with his iPad might give you an idea of some of what we saw.

The most impressive wat is actually located a bit outside of the city up in the hills, and it's called Doi Suthep. Here's a picture of me taking a picture (that was later lost), and below are a few other ones Zack captured.

And here's a video Zack got of the main area of Doi Suthep...

While in Chiang Mai, we didn't just visit temples. Of course we had our day with the elephants, and we visited the huge night market, tried different restaurants, got lots of cheap massages, and hung out at bars and watched fire shows in the evening.

We also took an evening cooking class with Thai Cookery School. It was so much fun (I wish I had the pictures!). After a stop at a local market, we made fried rice, a few types of curry, fried bananas, and more. I'm not sure I actually learned anything about cooking, but I did get some useful information about Thai ingredients. We definitely didn't go home hungry, but we did go home with a recipe book so we can recreate some Thai deliciousness in Melbourne!

One evening, we went to a muay Thai boxing match. There were actually several bouts, including ones with little kids, girls, and one where a Swedish guy went against a Thai guy (the Swede won, but we think it was rigged). Some of the matches were pretty hardcore; Thai people were calling out bets and cheering for their fighters who delivered some pretty swift kicks and punches. Other matches were just for fun, including one where they blindfolded a bunch of guys and set them loose in the ring (hilarious!). I'm so sorry the pictures are lost!

A funny sign outside our hotel.

Anyway, I would definitely put Chiang Mai on my must-do list when visiting Thailand. It's a completely different experience than life on the beaches near Phuket, but it's amazing in its own unique way. The temples are varied and incredible, the elephant day was something I'll never forget, the cooking class and muay Thai boxing match were much more fun than expected, and the price of massages, food, drinks, and souvenirs is unbelievably cheap. There's something for everyone, and we loved our three days in Chiang Mai!

Barely in Bangkok

I will try to avoid complaining too much about my lost pictures in this post, but it won't be easy!

We had one night in Bangkok on our layover between Melbourne and Chiang Mai. We got in pretty late, but we stayed at the beautiful Hilton on the Chao Phraya River using Zack's points and enjoyed some room service and the view. This picture is from the plane, but the view from our hotel window was about the same.




In the morning (before our flight), we went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market, which is one of the world's largest markets. It covers 27 acres, and it includes everything from food to pets to clothing to furniture to basically anything else you can imagine! We only got to see a small portion of the market, but it was fun to explore. The only picture we have of it is me sitting with the luggage (since we had to go straight to the airport).

The signs in the cab rides entertained us. Check out these symbols on the window. Can you figure out what each one means? Does the first one mean you're not allowed to bring a goat inside the cab?! I don't even want to know about the third one.

I purposely booked another long layover from Chiang Mai to Phuket a few days later so that we would have a full day in Bangkok to explore more of the city. We went to the Grand Palace, which is an absolutely incredible complex of buildings and temples with intricate designs. It absolutely breaks my heart that I lost my pictures from this day, because I spent hours walking around the grounds getting hundreds of amazing photos. Zack's phone pictures will have to do. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, or Wat Phra Kaew, is located here, but you weren't allowed to take pictures inside the building. It's considered the most sacred temple in Thailand. The little green Buddha (about 26 inches tall) that sits atop mounds of golden decorations is said to be carved from one piece of jade stone, and there are many legends surrounding it. 

At temples in Thailand, you have to remove your shoes before entering. Also, you're not supposed to point your feet toward the Buddha image, so you tuck them behind you when you sit/kneel. It's also a requirement to wear long pants and shirts that cover your shoulders. At the Grand Palace, they make you rent/borrow clothes if you don't have appropriate attire.

After exploring the Grand Palace, we walked to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, or Wat Pho. A well-known massage school is located here, and we each got a massage to see how good it was compared to the cheaper ones we had received in Chiang Mai (yes, this was better!). The main attraction is the huge reclining Buddha; it's 160 feet long!

We took a boat ride down the river in the late afternoon before catching our flight to Phuket, which was a nice way to see the city and a few more temples from afar. We didn't have much time in Bangkok, but we made the most of it!


Though my pictures are lost, I highly suggest you click on these links and scroll through the visitor photos. There are some that are similar to the ones that I took, and it's worth checking them out to get a feel for the amazing sights we were privileged to see in Bangkok.

Grand Palace

Temple of the Reclining Buddha