Even lousiest observer would be able to tell you that the north of Thailand is completely different than the south of Thailand. Different people. Different climate. Different attractions. Chiang Mai is Thailand's major northern city. Chiang Mai is many things - it’s a metropolitan area approaching one million citizens yet the walled city makes it feel much smaller and quaint. There’s a mix of historical sites but also a wide range of tourist traps. Chiang Mai was an historical walled city area that contains several distinct temples. Excellent food can be found at either night markets or upscale restaurants.
Chiang Mai’s night market was a little disappointing - it had mostly counterfeit goods and Chang Beer muscle shirts with little street food stalls. I made a long loop from the hostel to the night market and back up the moat outside the city walls before stumbling upon another night market outside Tha Phae Gate. Gone were the counterfeit stalls and in their place a wide range of Thai and in some cases Japanese street food.
For me the distinguishing feature of Chiang Mai was it’s coffee culture centered around the Nimmanhemim Road thoroughfare. There's a coffee shop here called Ristr8to that's considered one of the top ten coffee shops in the world - look at that image to the right. The coffees shop goes all out. There's quite a few places along this road to grab a coffee or a beer and enjoy the slow pace of Chiang Mai.
I was sitting in the second story of the bar/cafe/restaurant below, looked out the window, and saw the mess of wire in the image to the bottom right. Forget the beaches. Forget the nightlife. Thailand's national image should be these wires. You could blindfold me, spin me around, drive me around the world, fly me around the world, remove the blindfold a week later, and if I saw those wires, I'd immediately know that I was in Thailand.
THAI TOURISM TRIUMVIRATE: TIGERS, FISH SPA, AND MUAY THAI
Tiger Kingdom is difficult to assess. There’s an undeniable excitement of being in the presence of tigers, rubbing their bellies, and having your photo taken such a powerful animal. You can debate whether or not the tigers are drugged but the housing conditions of the Tigers is appalling. An animal whose territory can range twenty five square miles is confined to a 10’ x 10’ cage. There’s plenty of time to see the confined enclosures as you wait to be called for your photo opportunity. Certainly this is more of a conflicted afternoon than a rewarding one.
The second stop of the Thai tourism triumvirate was a fish spa. The spas have giant aquariums with skin eating fish. I sat on the side and dunked my feet in. The fish seemed to have not eaten for days as they gorged on my toes, feet, and shins. The fish bites felt more like crawling ants or insects. I shaked my feet every few minutes when I could not longer tolerate the crawling insect sensation. There would be temporary relief and then the fish would come right back with the same ferocity. After thirty minutes I moved onto the foot massage portion of the fish / foot spa combo.
The final Thai tourist stop - Muay Thai matches. The matches were quite competitive but the fighters did not seem to be very experienced as though this was a minor league type performance. The two best matches were a blindfold match and match between two kids younger than ten years of age. The kids themselves did not beat up on one another too much but it was the dads cheering and pounding the mat in the corner that made this so interesting. In each of the fighters corners were at least five adults, none of which had the physique of former fights, yet cheering on the fight as though life depended upon the outcome. After an hour and a half I had my fill and went back to the hostel for sleep.
The final Thai tourist stop - Muay Thai matches. The matches were quite competitive but the fighters did not seem to be very experienced as though this was a minor league type performance. The two best matches were a blindfold match and match between two kids younger than ten years of age. The kids themselves did not beat up on one another too much but it was the dads cheering and pounding the mat in the corner that made this so interesting. In each of the fighters corners were at least five adults, none of which had the physique of former fights, yet cheering on the fight as though life depended upon the outcome. After an hour and a half I had my fill and went back to the hostel for sleep.
For additional Chiang Mai photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
For additional Tiger Kingdom photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
For additional Tiger Kingdom photos see FLICKR ALBUM.