My favorite part of Thailand was easily Chiang Mai. In fact, up until we flew back to spend our last five days there, I had considered Thailand my least favorite of the four countries on our trip (coming after Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar). Chiang Mai was an entirely different experience with its hippie sort of vibe, loads of nearby activities to partake in, and the annual Yi Peng lantern festival which we had planned the end of the trip around.
You can easily take a train or bus up from Bangkok if you're already in Thailand, but we flew over from Hanoi on my favorite budget airline, Nok. There are shuttles from the airport which isn't far out of the city.
Accommodation
There are many hostels around Chiang Mai, and we stayed in two of them during our five days. My first choice (and the one I preferred) was called Gong Kaew and was located just outside the old city walls. It had an awesome little outdoor area hidden back away from the road. There were wooden benches, cats, a pug, lots of trees and plants, and free breakfast in the morning.
We had a private room which was cute with screened windows and brick walls.
The only reason we moved after two nights was because Gong Kaew was booked full. We headed to Box Hostel afterwards, also just outside the old city walls but in a different area. I had wanted to stay here because the dorms were in old shipping containers which I thought was a cool idea, but they ended up outbooking us across the street to Box 2 which was a normal building (and lied to us saying that we'd actually booked that one which annoyed me quite a lot). It was still a good hostel anyway with a big outdoor deck, common area with free water and snacks, and a balcony in our dorm, plus the girl on reception was super friendly and helpful.
Happy Elephant Home
Chances are, if you're an animal lover like me, while you're in Thailand you'll want to interact with some exotic creatures (and not the kind you find on Soi Cowboy). There are tons of ways to do that throughout the country, but I was very concerned with choosing humane tours... you'll find that Asian countries do not have the same sorts of regulations towards animals that we do. I absolutely at all costs avoided things like the tiger temples, orangutan fights, or elephant rides.
When I was younger, I of course thought it would be amazing to ride on the back of an elephant, but the fact is, most of those elephants are not treated well and are in very poor mental and/or physical health. I immediately eliminated any companies that allow riding which wasn't hard. Due to the demand for humane elephant interaction, plenty of non-riding sanctuaries have opened up in recent years. The problem is, a lot of times they aren't running a sanctuary for the sake of the animals, it's just because that's what tourists want now, so many of these places still had some iffy reviews. Specifically, certain sanctuaries might put on a show during the day of having happy, free elephants, but visitors notice the mahouts using a sharp to stab the elephant in order to get them to perform tricks or walk to a location. People who stay overnight sometimes leave reviews saying that the elephants are chained and not treated well once the crowds leave.
One place that is extremely well known for being humane is Elephant Nature Park, but I checked out their site and they were booked full for about a month! I knew some other people who had gone to Happy Elephant Home, and their itinerary included everything we wanted to do. Their reviews were largely positive, and the only thing that made me hesitant was that the same owner runs another elephant park called Woody's which includes riding- although bareback, which is much better than with a box. After our visit though, I felt a lot better about this. First of all, they made no effort to hide the fact that they ran another place... as soon as we pulled up, they introduced one of the elephants strolling around outside as visiting from Woody's.
Later on in the day, I also spoke with our very nice mahout (the name for someone who works with elephants), and he said that he felt riding bareback for a short time every day (say, ten minutes) actually builds a bond with the elephant and won't physically harm them since it's not prolonged. As a horseback rider, I suppose I can understand that viewpoint, but I still would say with the lack of regulations in Asia, I'd be wary of finding a reputable sanctuary that allows riding (even if bareback).
Alright, if I haven't bored you away with my ethical musings, onto the elephants!
So, we were picked up by shuttle van in the morning and taken on the hour or so drive out of the city to Happy Elephant Home. As soon as we pulled up, we could see one elephant roaming around and a mother and baby in their pen! We grabbed some sugar cane and came back over to meet them. The baby was a six-month old named Milo, and he was wild. He was already jumping up on the bars of the pen and getting stuck trying to shove his legs through.
Before really getting into the elephant interaction, we had to change clothes. We were told that wearing the mahout clothes that the elephants were familiar with would encourage them to come up closer to us. I noticed a disturbing amount of pink shirts in the pile, so I made sure I was up at the very front to snag one of the few acceptable colors (mine was purple!). I didn't really need a straw hat since to be honest, it just made me overheated, but I took one anyway because... aesthetics. All about those photos!
They entrusted us with their machetes next and we took turns chopping sugarcane. I made sure to edit our travel video down so you didn't see the struggle I had with chopping one freaking stalk. It was pretty pathetic.
Instead here's Lewis wielding that machete like a pro.
Once we had the food ready, we put it into our shoulder bags and headed out into the field. The elephants were overjoyed to see us knowing that we were about to feed them (their level of interest in us was directly proportional to how much sugar cane we had to offer them). There were a few very large adult elephants as well as one two year old girl (Mina I think was her name) and crazy Milo. Milo actually wears a bell around his neck to warn you when he's coming. He wants to play which usually involves barreling straight into a human half his weight and knocking them right over.
As such, I was weirdly more comfortable around the giant adults.
After feeding, we went over to the mud pit where we watched Milo chase the mahouts and all of the elephants happily coat themselves in mud. We left them to hang out afterwards and went back to the building to have lunch ourselves.
After eating, we headed out into the actual sugarcane fields and chopped a couple more stalks which we carried with us to the river. We even sampled some of the sugarcane... basically, if chewing a plant to suck out the sugar water is appealing to you, you'd love it. Lewis had seconds.
Our last stop of the day was the river. There were also a ton of huskies on the property and one joined us running down to the water. The elephants came down the path behind us reaching out to pull the sugarcane stalks out of our hands whether we were ready to give them up or not.
Unfortunately, we didn't really get to experience the river bathing part of the day. We got in the water with the elephants and were splashing around while they blew water up into the air, but then they suddenly became agitated. One of the parks across the river had brought their elephants out, and although they were on the opposite bank, it made our elephants nervous. There was clearly some misunderstanding with whose time it was (we may have been a little late getting to the river), so we had to bring the elephants back out and head back to the compound. It was kind of a shame because we only had two minutes for an activity that usually takes up about a half hour and is one of the highlights, but in the end, I'm glad that our mahouts care more about the wellbeing of the elephants than whether or not we fit in the full itinerary (it was one of the reasons I chose the place, actually).
We were able to go for a quick swim and shower there before getting a ride back to our hostels. It was just as magical a day as you'd imagine! Definite highlight of our Asia trip.
Day Activities
There is a huge plethora of other day activities around Chiang Mai. Rent a motorbike, drive around, eat at some great veggie places, get a massage from a female inmate (very popular- show up in the morning to get in), or stop by a fish spa (just be aware you may have a public giggle fit from how ticklish it is).
Every Sunday, Ratchadamnoen Road in the center of the old city is closed to traffic while local merchants set up stalls throughout the entire evening. You can find loads of handmade crafts and art, jewelry, food, clothes, souvenirs, and more.
If Sunday isn't your kind of day, don't fear, there is a regularly open night bazaar as well as a Saturday night market. The weekend night markets on the street are better, as far as I'm aware, for handicraft items, whereas at the bazaar you'll be more likely to find designer knockoffs.
There are also tons of temples to drive to, of course, as well as some waterfalls. We headed west of the city into the hills to Wat Phra That Doi. You'll find it across from the markets and should see a large white and gold Buddha and golden (what I think was) Gandhi. Afterwards you'll come to a very long staircase with dragons on either end, and at the top is the temple. Bring a sarong if you don't want to rent one there. This temple reminded me so much of the pagodas in Myanmar! It was the only one like it that I came across in Thailand.
On the way back to the city, there was another turn-off for a pretty temple whose name I didn't catch. There were monks that seemed to live there or perhaps were visiting. It had a cute little bridge over a creek that flowed down into a waterfall. You could see views of the city from a platform over it.
If you're as fully obsessed with cats as I am, you absolutely need to go to Catmosphere. It's a space-themed cat cafe with over 22 cats!
There were Siamese, Persians, Bengals, a Maine Coon, cats with different colored eyes, and one shaved to look like a lion. It was amazing! They'll let you pick up the ones who like it, you can watch the girls who come out with treats being swarmed by 20+ cats at once (dream job), and you can enjoy coffee, sandwiches, and cheesecake at the same time. I never wanted to leave. I wish I could share with you each of the 100 adorable photos I took, but I'll restrain myself.
On our first full day, we checked out some of the brochures and decided to book a ropes course with Phoenix Adventure Park. It was a pretty good deal! You can choose from the small, medium, or large course, and we went with the small for 1200 baht (about $35). It included pickup and drop-off at our hostel (the park was about a half hour out of the city), an included lunch (I had pad thai!), and a free orange Phoenix t-shirt.
The course was nice too. There were 19 sections including bridges, tightropes, nets, and loads of ziplines. I felt it could have been a bit more challenging (there was always the cable to hold onto above you so nothing was all that difficult) and having a guide go along the course with you felt a little like having a babysitter, but it was still a fun way to spend the day.
Probably my favorite little activity in Chiang Mai though was a 3D art museum called Art in Paradise. Regardless of whether or not you like normal art museums (I personally do not usually care for them), you will love this. I mean, if you love fun you'll love this. You'll need to bring a camera though.
Basically, you'll spend a couple hours walking through a building with paintings all over the walls and ceilings with which you can take photos to look like you're interacting. There are themed levels like water, animals, Egypt, travel destinations, and old portraits.
You can stand on 3D painted pillars over lava, look like a hieroglyphic by posing next to a mirror, pose in settings where one person looks huge and the other is tiny, sit in a gondola, hang onto a bamboo pole and then just flip your photo afterwards... it's all just a blast! We came out with so many awesome pictures, it's hard to choose just a few to share here.
Yi Peng & Loy Krathong
Finally, the reason we had saved Chiang Mai for last on our trip (involving coming back to Thailand for a third time) was because we wanted to attend the annual Yi Peng lantern festival. There was a period of uncertainty after the king's death where it was announced as being cancelled, but we kept our plans the same just in case. To be honest, Thailand is so terribly unorganized that even on the day of the festival there were conflicting reports about whether the mass release was happening and what all was allowed, so to be safe we just operated under the assumption that everything would go on as planned.
To quickly clarify the difference, Yi Peng refers to the release of lanterns into the sky while Loy Krathong involves floating small handmade rafts down the river. The two festivals coincide with one another and take place once a year on the night of a full moon.
We could see the preparations for the festival begin over the weekend. At the Sunday Markets, there was a huge booth with its walls and ceiling covered in white lanterns. Across the street in a large lot were rows and rows of lanterns, a candle memorial in the center, and photos at the front in remembrance of King Bhumibol.
We stopped by a temple, Wat Phan Tao, that was gorgeously decorated for Loy Krathong. There were beautiful lanterns hung up, candles all up and down the tiers of this golden pyramid, and torches lined up in front of a cut-out of the king. The temple also has a pond which had candles placed all around the Buddha on the opposite bank as well as lanterns in the trees. All of the light was reflecting off of the water and it was so pretty!
On the day of the festival, November 14 (a Monday), we walked back over to Gong Kaew to attend their free krathong making class. We sat out on a blanket on the grass and started crafting. A krathong is a sort of floating carrier which can hold items on top. Some people place pieces of hair or nails on their krathong (we passed on that) since sending it away down the river is meant to be a sign of renewal and releasing negative energy.
Our krathong's base was the trunk of a banana tree. It's both buoyant and biodegradable. We folded up banana leaves which we pinned around the base, then we pinned purple flowers around as well. This blocked off a little area on top where we placed larger flowers and inserted incense sticks and a candle in the center. I liked our pretty krathong!
We left that at the hostel for the time being and took our motorbike north of the city to Mae Jo University, the location of the mass lantern release. It was a little confusing to find since it wasn't actually on the university campus that our phone was trying to take us to. Eventually we saw other people headed in a certain direction and followed them past some guards who confirmed we were headed the right way. Pretty soon after we saw tons of tour buses and knew we were in the right area.
We stopped for dinner and joined the staff in lighting candles around their outdoor fountain, then we made our way towards the grounds. We ran into another couple on a bike who knew a shortcut, and they took us through some dirt path in the woods and under a rope to get there.
The official event is for ticket holders only. The people we'd met planned to stick around the entrance to try to score some last minute passes, but we didn't have enough cash left to afford a $60+ ticket in, so we just stayed outside the gates where there were plenty of other people sending off lanterns.
People were lined up all along the river, and there was a large group in a clearing further down the road. You could barely walk down the street, it was so crowded between cars and pedestrians. Also there was a hilarious lack of safety regulations. I can't count how many lanterns I saw get stuck in trees or, more worryingly, power lines before eventually breaking loose. I especially liked how everyone just stood and stared at the potential fatal catastrophe unfolding while I was running for the street.
Speaking of potential fatal catastrophes, can I take a moment to tell you why drones are absolutely terrifying? I mean aside from the obvious stealthy and faceless way to record, spy on, or attack people, there are no regulations on who can buy one of these things, and people are irresponsible. We were walking down the street at this festival when we heard the sound of mechanical failure, and all of a sudden, five feet away from where we were standing, a sizeable drone just crashed to the ground from a height of about 30 feet. It barely missed a car. Dude. That could have killed somebody. Drones creep me out. Not a fan.
So anyway, we bought a large lantern of our own and lit it near the river. The key is to hold it for a few minutes to let the pressure build up before release. I've always wanted to release a lantern at one of these festivals and it was beautiful watching it fly away with all the rest into the night sky. In fact, the whole sky looked gorgeous. It was like hundreds of moving stars.
We stayed for about an hour before heading back, and we'd just stopped near the restaurant where we'd eaten earlier when all of a sudden we saw a huge burst of light rise all at once in the distance. We had literally just missed the mass release by about ten minutes! Dammit! I guess I had assumed that the mass release was just the large crowd all releasing lanterns in one place on their own time, not that everybody would let them go at once. Poor planning. At least we got to see it from a distance!
We headed back to the city then, picked up our krathong at the hostel, and went down to the river. It was crowded down there too, especially on the bridges where people were releasing lanterns. The streets were open to pedestrians only and there were food and shop stalls set up the whole way down. You could buy ready-made krathongs, but we already had our own. We went down the stairs to the lanes along the riverside, lit the candle on our krathong, and placed it in this basket on a long stick which we used to lower it into the water together. It was sad watching it float away!
Altogether though, the glowing krathongs floating down the river combined with the floating lanterns in the sky made for a gorgeous scene. There was so much firelight everywhere. It was a really beautiful way to end our trip!
There was one final event the following night which was a parade to close out the festival. Celebrations had been toned down a little, such as cancelling the normal fireworks display, and I expect the parade was a little more somber than usual as well. The floats were beautiful with elaborate Buddhas, dragons, elephants, horses, mini ferris wheels, flowers, lanterns, and pretty lights. However, they all had photos of the king on them, and the marching performers were mostly in black or white.
I'd highly recommend a visit to Chiang Mai for Yi Peng, but if you can't make it, be sure to just get to Chiang Mai in general. It brought Thailand as a whole so far up in my estimation, and I'm so glad that we ended our two months on such a high note. Elephants, floating lanterns, friendly people, endless activities... Chiang Mai is a must-visit destination in Southeast Asia!