Chiang Mai II

The next few days we spent in Chiang Mai exploring the local sights and delicacies, riding around with a rental scooter. In principle it's possible to scout around without one, but having one makes things a whole lot easier - you can decide where to go and when to go. Here's some highlights along the way:

Breakfast in Chiang mai

There's a whole bunch of options in Chiang Mai when it comes to breakfast. You can find pretty much everything, ranging from simple fruit + pancakes to caviar, lobster and champagne. And eating out is cheap as anywhere - just avoid the most touristy areas and you'll get a much better deal. 

For example, one pretty nice place can be found on the south side, continuing toward the inner city ring to Sam Lan from the south end. Within a few blocks on the right you'll find a small, clearly spanish-inspired breakfast / lunch joint with a laid back thai gentleman fixing morning amenities:

Uphill to Doi Suthep

After the breakfast awesomeness, we headed out to probably the most known sight in the area - Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. This temple, a sacred site to the locals and a popular sight for the tourists, lies about 15 km away from Chiang Mai. To reach the temple, it's pretty much uphill most of the way (climb up the Doi Suthep), so make sure you have a decent set of wheels & enough gasoline or settle for one of the local transport options (there are plenty).

The Temple itself is uphill - a 290-step dragon staircase climb with the monks 

The temple area itself is accessible only to the properly dressed - neat clothes, preferably long pants (or long skirt for the ladies). In the case you forgot, there's plenty of vendors lending "proper" wearables for a price - not the prettiest robes in existence, however.

The temple area itself includes both buddhist and hindu religious sites, with the buddhist arguably more dominant. There's a customary prayer routine to perform if you're so inclined - we didn't go for the specifics but it looks quite fun with the flowers and all.

No idea why M's getup was considered "proper" - J wasn't especially thrilled about rental skirts. 

You could also write down your wishes / scribbles on the fabric woven used for weaving around the temple. 

And a variety of ways to deliver your prayers

And wild fruit

On the way down we encountered this little lady dressed in the Northern traditional getup. Probably earning money for the family, just sitting on the steps. Just wondering, how long days would those be, though. Her mother seemed to support the activity (she brought her to the best spot on the stairs).

If you continue the the drive up Doi Suthep, you'll also get a chance to see the Royal Winter Residence (Bhubing palace). It's not open too late (we missed it), so make sure you move early to see it. 

Our adventure took us even further up the hill and back down on the other side. After an interesting downhill drive, there's a northern village where the locals sell their handicrafts on many layers of market stalls. It was interesting to see, both in terms of the trip and the place. But overall, quite touristy.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the trip to the other side is the multitude of great viewpoints. One of them opens nicely from a local café on the way - we settled down for a cup of java and choco bean, and inhaled the view, unraveling in the cool mountain air: