Chiang Mai has been such an eventful and fun stop that we are going to need to post about it in a two part series. It’s the first place we have gone, during our entire trip, where we ended up staying longer than planned. We initially booked three nights at a wonderful little family-run hotel near the heart of the city. After two days of excitement and adventure, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave, so we stayed two additional nights and we are so happy we did!

Walking the street near our hotel:

Day One:

We got to town around mid-day and settled into our hotel room. It was blisteringly hot, as is every day in Chiang Mai apparently (super humid and always in the triple digits). We weren’t sure what to do first so we opted to take a tuk tuk aka a Thai scooter taxi to a few museums. The museums were interesting and informative but honestly the tuk tuk was the highlight of the afternoon.

Example of what a tuk tuk looks like:

We call this the quadruple T (T&T in Tuk Tuk):It was our first time riding in one and it was slightly freaky, especially when we turned onto a full blown highway with three lanes in each direction. Quite the thrill ride! Both museums were very informative on the history of the Chiang Mai area but since we didn’t plan well, we only were able to spend about 30 min in each because they closed fairly early. We are still happy we went! Afterwards, we grabbed some dinner then headed back to the room to rest before a big day two.

Day 2:

We got picked up around 7:30am with a van full of other travelers and set off on a tour of the Doi Inthanon National Park. The park is know as the “roof of Thailand” and is home to Doi Inthanon, the highest peak in the country (standing about 8,000 feet tall). The name “Inthanon” comes from “Inthawichayanon”, who was the last king of Chiang Mai.

The first part of our tour was a 2-hour trek through the forest and highlands of the park. Back in Singapore, we explored a man-made “cloud forest.” Upon arriving at the park we learned that Doi Inthanon is a real life, actual cloud forest (aka a type of tropical rainforest). We were pumped to see one in real life! The air was so crisp/refreshing and oddly felt a lot like some of the hikes we do back home (cue the homesickness).

Two scenes from the same hike. Such different views… and temperatures:After the hike, we got to check out the twin royal pagodas. The pagodas were built to commemorate the king and queen’s 60th birthdays. The King pagoda is brown in color and boasts lovely views of the national park while the Queen is purple and surrounded by immaculately kept gardens.

The Queen… looking very much like a scene from a Wes Anderson movie:The gardens outside The Queen. Did we transport back to Hobbiton??Inside each pagoda is a huge Buddha and ornate mosaic designs spreading from the walls up to the ceiling. The outside of each pagoda is also decorated with hundreds of wooden carvings depicting various Buddhist scenes.

Flawless. Almost couldn’t tell the difference between Tristan and the wood carving:Next up was a visit to a coffee plantation in a small local village. We enjoyed freshly made, incredibly cute, cups of coffee in a thatched roof hut with other travelers from all over the world. It was a far cry from a Starbucks, let us tell you!We concluded the day at Wachirathan waterfall, and although we have seen plenty of waterfalls on this trip, this one was particularly magical. It had multiple tiers and the water actually sparkled like glitter. It was the perfect way to end the tour.

Sweaty and satisfied:Taylor sharing a quiet moment with the two little orbs on her shoulder who came to visit:The cost for the tour was about $45, which may be steep for some, but it included transportation to and from the park (about a 2 hour drive), multiple activities, a huge freshly made Thai lunch, and the best tour guide ever… Charlie! For us, it was money well spent.

Tristan, our driver, Taylor, and.. CHARLIE!But that’s not all we did on day two! When we got back to the city, we decided to explore the Saturday night market which was just a five minute walk from our room. It was…overwhelming in the best way. As far as you could see, small kiosks covered the street and sidewalks. Hundreds of Thai people making food and selling anything from jewelry and trinkets to pieces of fake poop and even turtle shell guitars (yeah that was one of the weirder ones). We mistakenly forgot our phone in the room so we don’t have pictures but don’t you worry… because the next night we went to the SUNDAY night market which was even BIGGER. More to come on that in our next post!It was an eventful first two days and we were only just starting. Part 2 to come soon, stay tuned!

Love, T&T