Thailand's Cultural Capital

Trip Start Jun 09, 2006
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Trip End May 29, 2007


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Friday, December 29, 2006

Took a 5 hour bus back to Bangkok and then a 14 hour overnight train to Thailand's old capital in Northern Thailand.  Chaing Mai is a smaller, less chaotic version of Bangkok and personally alot better.  We got hooked up with this hotel through the travel agency in Bangkok (you don't need to do this, there's plenty of room), which was alright but a little expensive (hence don't do the TAT thing!!!).  Spent the first night here wandering through the Night Bizarre that had as much stuff as Th Kao Sang in Bangkok although the street gets more crowded when the Bizarre is on.  The next day we went to the annual Flower Festival (Royal Flora Ratchaphuek), which was special this year because they were celebrating the King's 60th year of rule here with a special garden dedicated to him. There were also beautiful arrays of flowers from countries all over the world.  Took a day-trek in which we got to ride an elephant, check out a nice waterfall, chill with the Karen Tribe and do some bamboo rafting Enjoying The Train To Chiang Mai
Enjoying The Train To Chiang Mai
 . We spent New Year's here which was awesome.  The sky was filled with these ballons with a candle inside (like in that scene from The Beach, see picture), and everyone was out in the streets drinking and setting off fireworks which was an interesting combination.  We also went to Doi Suthep which is a wat on the mountain side, pretty much everything was made of gold except one Buddha made of jade. We also spent some time here just walking in and around the old city wall and moat where there are lots of temples and other sights to see (the tourst hub is near the center of the east side wall).  Chiang Mai is probably one of the best cities to visit if your looking for somewhere authentically Thai.  The city, like the rest of Thailand, is pretty laid back, easy to get around and despite the lack of sand and surf is still alot of fun!!!
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