Day 1
Arrived at night and checked into the Siripanna Villa Resort & Spa. Was pleasantly surprised at how huge the deluxe room was. A stark contrast to the hotels in highly populated cities like Bangkok and Hong Kong. Crashed into dreamland immediately as it was not only past midnight, but the bed was also extremely comfortable.
Day 2
Rise and shine! Was dragged out of bed for the buffet breakfast down at the hotel's restaurant. The restaurant had a nice mix of both local and western food. The bananas were extremely popular with the westerners. As with herd mentality, I grabbed a banana too and never regretted my choice.
After breakfast, I started taking early morning pictures around the pool area. This was indeed a perfect place to just lie down and shut off from the outside world. Unfortunately, as we were here during the winter season, the cool winds did not permit us from taking a dip into the extremely cold waters.
Headed out after that to start exploring the old walled city. That's me in-front of the gates of the old city.
Apart from the many well preserved old building, I also saw many vintage objects in the
old city such as this cute volkswagen vehicle below.
And of course I couldn't resist a coconut while walking along the old city. Absolutely thirst quenching.
Littered around the old city are tons of massage parlours.
The prices are really wallet friendly. So friendly that I did a massage everyday.
The first temple we explored in the old city is called Wat Phra Singh. The temples were decorated with lots of gold and intricate cravings. Inside the temple, there were even wax statues of monks, which I mistakenly mistook for a real human. In-front of the altar, people were kneeling down and saying their prayers. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful. I sat down for a good 15 minutes, just soaking in the quiet, peaceful atmosphere. This is the kind of holiday I enjoy. Slow, stress free and being able to just relax.
Lunch at Thais That Bind. Tried the famous northern thai noodles, also commonly known as Khao Soi. The soup base was a little sweet and not spicy. The noodles were crispy and you have to eat this dish with the garnish given and the meat slices.
After lunch, we headed to Think Park along the famous Nimmanhaemin road. This is the road that is filled with tons of cafe serving western food and coffee. And this is also the road that is famous for being the arts scene of Chiangmai. During this festive season, Think Park was transformed into a winter wonderland. Hence the white particles on the floor.
After having our fill at think park, we headed to Maya shopping mall which was just next door. There was an outdoor viewing gallery and I took the opportunity to snap a picture of Chiangmai and the mountains surrounding her.
Dinner was at this lovely restaurant called Whole Earth restaurant which is located at the corner of the night bazaar. They have both outdoor and indoor seating. We sat outdoors under the red umbrellas and fairy lights hanging from the trees.
The thai food we had included chicken green curry, pineapple rice and a fried tofu dish with corn and cashew nuts.
We spent the night shopping at the night bazaar which was located just a road down from our dinner place. Didn't manage to get anything at the bazaar as they were selling things I wasn't really interested in. Furthermore, many stalls often sold the same things. You could say the variety was quite limited in that aspect. The bazaar sold mainly cheap T-shirts, notebooks and souvenirs. Designs ain't as trendy as the capital, Bangkok. But I guess its all about soaking in the atmosphere and experiencing a night bazaar. We ended up spending most of our time savouring the delicious street food and slurping on freshly squeezed orange juice.
Took a tuktuk back to our hotel and called it a night from there.
Stay tune for Day 3 as I share about my adventure to the mountain, tiger kingdom and monkey school!