Chiang Mai was a welcomed change of pace and scenery after our time in the south. It immediately felt less saturated with creepy old men than Phuket and Koh Phayam. We arrived from our sleeper train around 9am to a bright, sunny city. From the train station we took a songthaew (a shared passenger truck) to our hostel.
We were honestly not expecting much from our hostel, Nearthepark Hostel 2, as it was a whopping $5 USD a night for both of us, but it was great! We had a bunk bed in a 4-person dorm room, which was super clean and spacious. The hostel provided refillable water and a free breakfast of toast and coffee.
Our first day, we walked around the city and checked out a bunch of Buddhist temples (Wats), like Wat Chiang Man, Wat Rajamontean, and Wat Lok Moli. We noticed that we’d seen a lot of monks since arriving in Chiang Mai, and there were so many pristine temples. Upon researching, we learned that Chiang Mai was an important birthplace of Theravada Buddhism, and the city has over 100 temples.
At this point in our journey, I had gotten what I feared most: a tummy ache. I must have eaten something weird in Bangkok or early in Chiang Mai because almost the whole time I was high-key suffering.
On our second day, we did a big hike up to a Buddhist temple on a mountain called Doi Suthep. The trail stops around halfway at a temple called Wat Pha Lat. It was gorgeous! Tucked into a lush mountain, you could see a view from the city from the first temple. We explored it, and then continued up to Doi Suthep.
The second part of the hike was exceptionally gruelling, especially for me as I hadn’t eaten much the last few days (re: tummy ache). But it was super gratifying to get up to the top and see that golden, glistening temple. We enjoyed watching the monks chant and walk around the base of the temple.
The next day we rented a scooter from our hostel, and drove an hour to Bua Thong (Sticky) Waterfalls at Nam Phu Chet Si National Park. It was so cool! The rocks have limestone deposits which gives them unusual grip, allowing people to walk both up and down the waterfall with ease. We had a great day exploring the park and splashing around the waterfalls. I loved the colourful dragonflies, and butterflies we saw in the park!
We woke up bright and early the next morning for our next adventure: Doi Inthanon National Park! It took around 1.5 hours to scoot there. We saw two huge gorgeous waterfalls, Wachirathan and Sirithan. We were so glad to have taken the scooter, because everyone else in the park was part of a big tour group. We loved the freedom to beat the crowds, and choose how long we stayed at each stop.
Further up the mountain we visited the Royal Pagodas, which are situated in a beautiful garden. The first one was built in 1987 in honor of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and the second in 1992 to honor his wife, Queen Sirikit. They definitely had a more modern feel than the temples we’ve visited the last couple days, such as Wat Chiang Man which was built back in 1296.
We rode up to the summit of Doi Inthanon, which is the tallest point in Thailand! The air was so chilly and it was windy up near the top!! We had on 3-4 layers and were still cold!
On the way down we walked around the Ang Ka Luang Nature Trail which was very beautiful and mossy.
We had a much-needed rest day after our Doi Inthanon adventure. We did laundry, Wini had a massage, and I tried mango sticky rice for the first time. Delicious!
Our final morning, we said goodbye to our incredible and cheap little hostel and took a songthaew to the airport for our next destination: Hanoi!