Cheap, Cheap in Chiang Mai

We love Thailand! We had been to Bangkok and the island of Phuket, but never the largest city in the north, Chiang Mai. When we arrived at the airport taxi transfer stand to arrange a taxi to the hotel and were quoted $3 USD, I looked at Melissa and said "I miss Thailand!"  We had forgotten how cheap south east asia is. We arrived pretty late so we checked into our hotel and then crashed.

After breakfast at the hotel, we picked up a map from the concierge desk and had them circle all the destinations we could walk to. First we headed to the old city gates. Chiang Mai was the old capital originally formed around 1300 ad. So, like many old cities, it has a large wall and a moat to protect the city, large portions of which are still intact today. Like many old cities there are many religious buildings and Chiang Mai has plenty of temples or wats as they are known in Thailand.

Many of the wats were similar - burning incense offerings, stray dogs laying around, and a buddha at the back of the wat. Many of the stray dogs would have a little offering of rice by them in a banana leaf bowl, guess that is why there were so many. The wats in Chiang Mai didn't seem to have a dress code, just remove your shoes. Inside the wats, there are intricate murals made of mother of pearl, gold leaf, carved wood or paint.

After seeing a few wats it was time to eat. On the way back to the hotel we found a nice Thai restaurant and had some pineapple seafood curry along with a pad thai (of course!) This became one of our favorite restaurants and we made the long walk back there a few more times. I even took my mom here when we came.

On our walk back to the hotel we passed a massage parlor and had a massage. The one hour back massage was only $6. We felt guilty as it was so cheap so we gave each of our ladies an extra $3 tip, they could not have been more appreciative, they practically put my sandals on for me.

After a siesta, the famous Chiang Mai night market started to open. There are hundreds of stalls selling everything from wood carvings of buddha to Obama t-shirts and all for "cheap, cheap." It can be overwhelming at first, but we learned to walk through most of the market first as many places will have the same things but quality will vary from stall to stall. Second, always offer no more than 1/2 of their original offer. I said offer and not price as nothing is marked and everything is negotiable. You very easily get caught up in the negotiation game. I had to put it into context for Melissa - babe, you have been going back and forth with this lady for over 10 minutes over US$1.50!

The next day we went on a full day tour up to the Golden Triangle which we will have another post for.... it was a long day! As the tour guide was dropping us back off at the hotel she mentioned the Saturday Bazar was going on, as it happened it was right by our favorite restaurant so we decided to check it out. Starting in front of the gates, it went on for blocks, the police even closed down the roads for pedestrian traffic. 

Our last day we had a massage of course! After the massage we knew we had just enough time before our flight home to visit the wat on the mountaintop overlooking the city. We walked to the taxi drivers hanging out by the hotel, negotiated a rate and we were off. There is a huge wat complex up there with multiple buildings and a magnificent view of the city. The problems started on the way down the mountain. We could feel that there was something wrong with the car and half way down he pulls in to a driveway to get under his car. After 10 minutes he tells us he has to call his friend to pick us up and will be here in 20 minutes. By now I am loosing my smile as it is getting hot. Luckily the other driver arrived in a timely manner as I was going to flag a taxi going by. 

We got the one in the center

As we still had some time, we asked the driver to take us to a wood carving factory. The building was massive with everything from intricate carved statues to complete bedroom sets. We settled on a wall hanging, but just as we started inquiring about the price, a Spanish couple bought it. We asked for something similar, but there was nothing so we left empty handed. I knew of a wood carving place near the night market so we hurried back to the hotel to see if there were any possibilities there. We were in luck. we found a piece that was 95% the same for 1/3 the price.. score! Then it was back to the hotel to pack and catch our flight.