Chiang Mai

I wanted to go to Chiang Mai in Thailand for one reason and one reason only: The Yi Peng Festival. Like many, I was awed by the images of thousands of lanterns being released into the sky at the same time and I wanted to witness this beautiful tradition for myself. And since this was to be our first stop after our big trek in Nepal, we decided to stay put for 10 days to give our bodies time to rest and recover.

Lanterns fill the sky like stars during the Yi Peng festival in Chiang Mai

Were it not for the festival and the post-trek timing, we may not have spent so much time here, or even come to Chiang Mai at all! If so, we would have missed out on a truly charming and wonderful city.

There's a chill and relaxed vibe to Chiang Mai that we really fell in love with. I can see why expats and retirees choose to settle here: people are very kind and friendly; it's tourist friendly, but totally hassle-free (the "no tuk-tuk, no massage" litany didn't begin until we got to Cambodia and Southern Thailand); the food is amazing and incredibly varied; the value for your money is almost too good to be true; and there are beautiful temples and leafy side streets around every corner.

Nick and I had a great time on so many levels. But here are our favourite non-festival experiences in Chiang Mai...

Wat Chedi Luang

Wat Chedi Luang

This 14th century temple was an unexpected surprise for us. Tucked away in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the old city, I wasn't expecting to see something so big, old or beautiful! The elephant statues surrounding the temple are in pretty good shape! The modern temples surrounding the courtyard are also beautiful. If you could only visit one temple in Chiang Mai, this is the one to pick.

Food

We had a whole lot of really great food in our time in Chiang Mai. We ate at everything from nice sit-down restaurants to street stalls and all of it was pretty darn tasty. But there were two dishes that we had in our time here that really stood out.

1. Banana Blossom Salad at Dash
   
   We liked Dash so much that we ate there twice during our stay. It's pricey by Chiang Mai standards, but the whole restaurant had such a nice ambiance that we didn't mind. Every dish that we tried was rich and full of flavour, but the banana blossom salad was really special. It's spicy, a little sweet, a little crispy and all-around unique. I think this may be the best salad I'ver ever had (and this is coming from a vegetarian who doesn't really like salads, but has had to eat a lot of them over the years).
   
   
2. Mushroom "Sausages" at Pun Pun
   
   We ended up eating at this little vegetarian restaurant in Wat Suan Dok mainly because we were hot and tired from exploring two different temples at the hottest time of the day. Nick suggested we pop in and grab a cold drink and a proper lunch. We had these fermented mushroom "sausages" served with cashews and ginger as a starter, and they were worthy of any foodie hotspot in San Francisco. If Pun Pun had been within walking distance of our guesthouse, we definitely would have made return visits.
   
   Mushroom sausages at Pun Pun

Thai Massage

Blissfully unaware of what we had signed up for

Before we left San Francisco, a coworker who had spent a lot of time in Thailand recommended that we get a proper thai massage at some point. She warned me that it would be aggressive, but you'd feel amazing afterwards. She was totally right (thanks, Candy!).

However, even though I had been warned, I totally underestimated what "aggressive" meant. Little did I know that I would be paying someone to very slowly and deliberately beat me up while forcing my body into yoga positions. And little did I know that, odd as it sounds, I actually liked it!

We splashed out on a 2 hour massage (1, 000 THB each, about $30 USD); one hour of traditional Thai massage and one hour aromatherapy oil massage. This was a good combination as we ended with something very nice and soothing. We were still carrying around various aches and pains from our trek in Nepal, so this was the perfect medicine!