24 December 2022
Steve and I woke up early today, excited to explore a couple of Chiang Mai’s shopping centres. We had decided to keep the hire car for a few more days, so we could get around more easily.
Our first stop was Ruamchok Mall. We needed to stock up on food and drink, and we knew that Ruamchok would have a wide selection. We were not disappointed. The mall had everything we needed, and more. We found fresh fruits and vegetables, delicious Thai food, and a wide variety of drinks.
After Ruamchok, we headed to Lotus. Lotus is a large hypermarket, and we knew that we would be able to find everything we needed there. We were right. Lotus had everything from groceries to electronics to home goods. We spent a few hours browsing the aisles, and we even picked up a few special items for our Christmas Celebrations.
While at Lotus, we took a walk through Chiang Mai Garden Centers. The garden centres were beautiful, and we enjoyed seeing all of the different plants and flowers.
After spending a few hours at walking around, we decided to head back to our hotel.
25 December 2022 – Christmas Day
We had a quiet start to Christmas morning. It was coffees as usual, while sending and receiving texts and emails for Christmas greetings.
Following up on Pam and Tom’s suggestion, we headed up towards Baan Khun Chang Khian, near to the top of the mountains behind Chiang Mai. On the way up we passed Wat Doi Suthep.
Further up the steep mountain road we had a quick stop at Bhubing Palace, the Royal winter palace. However, we kept going when the gate security indicated that our long shorts were too short – so we skipped a visit.
We arrived at Khun Chang Khian, a White Hmong village, and headed to the Sri Nerhu School. There was a festival happening with a concert and lots of activities. We enjoyed watching the performances and activities, with the local villagers and children dressed in traditional Hmong clothing.
After the festival, we had lunch at the View Suai Coffee shop. The food was delicious and the views were amazing.
We then headed back down the mountain to 3Season. We were planning to have dinner at Pam and Tom’s, but when we arrived, they were closed. Pam wasn’t feeling well, so they had decided to stay home.
We ended up having a number of dishes from one of our favourite “hole in the wall” restaurants. The food was delicious.
It was a wonderful, and different way to spend Christmas Day. We enjoyed exploring a new part of Chiang Mai, spending time with friends, and eating delicious food.
26 December 2022
We woke up early on Boxing Day and headed to Wat Pa Dara Phirom Phra Aram Luang, a beautiful temple complex located in the Mae Rim district outside of Chiang Mai. After admiring the architecture and taking plenty of photos, we stopped at a 7-Eleven for some drinks and morning tea.
Next, we visited Wat Amphawan, a smalll temple which was undergoing some renovations.
We then made our way to the Mae Sa Elephant Camp, where we had the opportunity to interact with and learn about these amazing creatures.
Next we visited Ton Nam Pla Pao, a cafe perched on the river rapids, where the tables were basically bamboo rafts “floating” in the river. Further up the road we crossed a suspension bridge to River Rock Cafe Hill, a more upmarket cafe with stunning views of the river valley. It looked a good location for a future visit.
In the afternoon, we drove to Samoeng Viewpoint, where we took in the amazing views of the valley below. We also saw a cyclist who was doing the round trip, and we took a photo of her.
From Samoeng Viewpoint, we drove off the main road up towards fields of commercially grown flowers, and flowers in hot houses (under plastic) in the hills. Non Nam Homestay promised food and coffee , and had a rose garden at the bottom of the drive. Up the driveway was an amazing vista, with the cafe seated perched on the edge above the valley..English was non existent..but we managed to order a hot cappuccino for Steve and a cold frappe cappuccino for Alison…the frappe was very good, the hot cappuccino acceptable.
We then drove back to Chiang Mai, taking a different route that took us through some of the more remote villages in the area.
On our way back, we stopped at Wat Prachuap Kasem, an older temple that was being renovated. The monk was very proud of the work being done, and he gave us a tour. We didn’t speak the same language, but we still managed to communicate and learn a lot about the temple.
Our last stop of the day was Wat Phra That Si Mueang Pong. As we descended the mountain towards Chiang Mai we could see a white and gold wat glistening in the sun ahead of us. This Wat is still under construction, but even now is magnificent. The view down to the village is pretty amazing too. We drove up from below but apparently there is a stair way of some 950+ steps.. maybe another day.
We arrived back at 3Season and finished off the leftover rice from Christmas dinner. We then went for a quick walk to get some drinks. We noticed a new art gallery had opened up, and we were intrigued by the fact that it featured both artworks and cannabis. The Monologue Art Gallery and Far East Monkeys Cannabis Dispensary.
27 December 2022
We started our day with a quiet morning in our hotel room. We took a drive out to the Central Chiang Mai Shopping Centre where we did a bit of browsing and had some lunch at one of the many restaurants in the mall.
In the afternoon, we drove back to 3Season for an afternoon coffee. After our coffee, we walked down to Pam and Tom’s restaurant for dinner. We enjoyed a delicious meal of Thai food, and then we stopped at 7-Eleven for our usual ice cream before heading back to 3Season.
It was a relaxing and enjoyable day in Chiang Mai. We had a chance to explore the city, do some shopping, and enjoy some delicious food.
28 December 2022
Today we visited Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. We left Chiang Mai at 9:00am and drove to the national park entrance, which is about 110 kilometres away. The entry fee for foreigners is 300 Baht and 30 Baht for the car.
The road to the top of the mountain is very windy and steep, but it is in good condition. As we got closer to the top, the temperature started to drop and the clouds got darker. With less than 10km to the top we were at 1750 metres elevation. At 2100 meters, we reached the Pra Mahathat temple, which is the highest point in the national park. At 2500 meters, we finally came out above the clouds and were able to see the beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. The parking lot at the top was very crowded, but we were lucky enough to find a spot. Nearby was a small market, and the Royal Thai Air Force Reporting Post (weather station). The peak is also home to the Princess Sirinhorn Neutron Monitor. We walked up to the Summit lookout. As was expected we were up in the clouds so the view below us was pretty limited. A sign near the top told us it was 3 degrees C!!
After spending some time at the top of the mountain, we headed back to Chiang Mai. Just outside of the National Park boundary we stopped at Was Nam Tok Mae Klang. An interesting temple sitting on the side of a hill. The stairs up to the temple from the car park are guarded by a pair of Nagas.
We refuelled the car before returning it to Budget out near the airport. We then headed back to our hotel. It was a great day trip and we would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Chiang Mai. We didn’t make it to the twin chides with their beautiful gardens and views, but will save that for another visit.
29 December 2022
After a bit of a laze in we set off on a walk to find some lunch, maybe at the markets near Jing-Jai Farmers Markets and Lotus’s, and also to get Alison a manicure. We decided not to walk down past the Old City Square, but through Nimman, which is a bit safer walking, through the back streets.
We came across a Nail Salon which looked good, so Alison went in and had her manicure. The manicurist spoke quite good English, which always makes it a bit easier. She had an Australian boyfriend in Melbourne that comes to visit Thailand occasionally.
After the manicure, we headed to the Maya Center for lunch downstairs in the foothall. Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening, we went out to pickup some takeaway dishes to eat back at the hotel.
30 December 2022
A quite day around the hotel, doing cleanups, organising gear in preparation for our trip to Bangkok, big load of washing, Pad Thai for lunch, and an evening walk to get some finger food from the vendors in front of the 7-Eleven on Suthep Rd.
31 December 2022 – New Year Eve
Another quiet day spent around the hotel, relaxing before going out for New Years Eve.
At 6.00pm we walked down to the Maya Centre for some dinner and to see what was happening for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Along the way to Maya we could see people beginning to gather in the various venues, and it was starting to get busy, even at that early hour.
After dinner downstairs in the food hall we went upstairs to look for some viewing vantage points, only to find that the best spots had been rented out for private functions. So we headed back to 3Season via Niman, where the party goers had gathered in the market area. There was live music playing.
Back at 3Season we watched some movies and then could see the fireworks across Chiang Mai after midnight.
1 January 2023
Today was a quiet rest day, after staying up late to welcome in the NewYear.
Around 1.00pm we went out for a walk to get some lunch, but found many of our usual food places were closed because it was New Years Day.
Walked out to Central Chiangmai Airport shopping centre. Had some KFC for lunch, followed by a coffee at the Eternity Specialty Coffee Shop and a wander around the shops. Walked back to 3Season, and came across a couple of interesting photo ops. The first was a large wooden horse sculpture outside of the offices of the Chaing Mai Construction Company, and the second was a vintage red and white VW combi including surfboards and it’s own sandy beach. This was at the Trailer Coffee Beach Bar.
Back on Suthep Rd we picked up some pork sticks for dinner from the food stalls outside of 7-Eleven. Back at 3Season we enjoyed a quiet evening watching videos.
2 January 2023
After a quiet morning we left 3Season around 10.00am and headed down to the Chiang Mai Old City, with the ultimate destination being the Warorot Markets on the other side of the wall.
After entering the Old City via Suan Dok Gate we headed towards Wat Phra Singh, and wandered through the Wat grounds. The Wat was fairly quiet, being a Monday. Behind the main buildings and golden Chedis is what appears to be a the living quarters for the monks. We were surprised to see that the grand old Austin can still be seen here. It is probably the head monks vehicle.
On our waydown towards the markets we came across an old familiar sight – EV, the first electric Tuk Tuk in Chiang Mai, which we came across on one of our early visits to Chiang Mai. We had a quick catch up with the owner /driver, with a promise to maybe get a ride back with him to 3Season on our way back.
After walking down some of the back streets around the markets we ended up at the Florist Markets, where we had some lunch in one of the eateries we have tried before. Yes it was Krapow Moo Kai Dao.
After lunch we started our walk back to 3Season, and came across our EV tuk tuk again. We negotiated a price with the driver and had an interesting ride home. The Electric tuk tuks are far quieter than the petrol engined ones.
Dinner was some takeaway from our hole in the wall down at Suthep, followed by our usual ice cream desert from 7-Eleven.
3 January 2023
A quiet day, with a long walk down to Maya Shopping centre where browsed the stores, looked at the phone plans available from AIS, and had some lunch downstairs in the food hall.
After the walk back to 3Season we spent the afternoon doing final packing for our 10 day visit to Bangkok and then a bit of relaxing before going out in the evening for dinner. The evening sunset was amazing with a very clear view up to Doi Suthep.
4 January 2023
This was the day we flew to Bangkok for our 10 day visit. We ordered an Uber and arrived at the Chiang Mai Airport at 7.30am for our 9.30am Viet Jet flight.