Life Abundant

How To Get There / Where To Stay

Chiang Mai, Thailand has been on our bucket list for a long time. One of our closest friends lived there for a few years, and we’ve heard great things from others who’ve traveled there and thus wanted to check it out for ourselves. Since we were in Thailands neighboring country of Cambodia for work this fall and had a long weekend off for Thanksgiving, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go.

We flew with Air Asia (a discount airline that flies around Asia) from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Chiang Mai and stayed in the cutest little Airbnb right in the center of the old city, called the Kitti Rose Home, which is owned by a young couple with two adorable children who I’m sure you’ll meet if you stay there.

The rooms were a great price, clean and comfortable, with a hot shower, comfortable bed, and air conditioning. We don’t spend much time at our accommodation when we travel because we’re always busy exploring, so the clean and well-located Kitti Rose Home was perfect for us! Also, they have bicycles that you can use for free to get around the city. A huge plus!  

We were excited about exploring the city of Chiang Mai mainly for its incredible northern Thai food (which you can read about in our upcoming post “Our foodie favorites, Chiang Mai”), and also to adventure into the gorgeous countryside of northern Thailand. In this post, we want to introduce you to our favorite things to do in and around Chiang Mai.

Doi Inthanon National Park

Chris and I love the outdoors, so we try to find some sort of adventure that takes us into the great outdoors wherever we travel. While in Chiang Mai, we decided to take a day trip to Doi Inthanon National Park, where you’ll find Thailand’s tallest mountain, Doi Inthanon. At 8,415 feet tall, this mountain has incredible views of the surrounding northern Thai countryside, with the beautiful temples and gardens sitting on top.

We booked a tour through a tour agency in the old city of Chiang Mai. There are offices everywhere, and you can bargain a bit for deals on the tour packages that they offer. They’ll pick you up at your hotel, provide lunch, and give you lots of info about the places you visit.

The Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail was the first stop on our tour, and led us along through the mountain’s tropical green jungle, along ridges, and to beautiful viewpoints. Unfortunately, the day that we hiked the views were covered by clouds, so we could only see bits and pieces of the stunning views when the mountain fog broke-up occasionally. The hike was still incredibly beautiful, despite the clouds, and we’re so glad that we did it.  

The terrain isn’t difficult. Someone with a moderate physical level could hike it without a problem. Just be sure to bring proper hiking shoes, as the trail can be muddy and slippery. If you rent a car and want to drive yourself you can easily find the trailhead on your own once entering the national park, it’s found at kilometer 42 on the road to the summit. You’ll just need a gps to get you to the park from Chiang Mai (the park is about a one hour drive from the city).

Karen Hill Tribe 

We were privileged to visit a Karen Hill Tribe settled in a valley at the bottom of the lush northern Thai mountains. The Karen people in this area are known for their beautifully woven tapestries, and for growing Arabica coffee in the high mountain elevation. We were able to tour the village, spend some time watching the women create their beautiful woven works or art, and try some of their incredible locally grown coffee. 

The Karen hill tribe people wear woven colorful v-neck tunics, typically live in the lowlands, and many of them are Christians as missionaries built relationships with the tribe’s people over the years.

Wachiratharn Waterfall 

Our final stop on our day trip was the gorgeous Wachiratharn Waterfall. November is the tail end of rainy season, and the waterfall seemed to be in full force. There are a number of spots to view the waterfall and snap some incredible photos. The top viewpoint where you enter is where you’ll get the wettest, but there are a set of stairs to the right when you’re looking at the waterfall that takes you down to its base for a better view and allows you to walk down along the creek that flows from its base.

 

Chiang Mai Temples

Chiang Mai is a fairly modern city, with a more touristic and quiet old town that’s surrounded by a canal. The old town is where we spent most of our time, exploring lots of restaurants, shops, and a number of famous temples. There are a number of beautiful Buhdist temples that you can visit throughout the city, with grand architecture, ornate paintings and sculptures, some hundreds of years old and still standing beautifully in the bright northern Thai sun.

Most are free to visit and walk around the outside, but if you want to enter the temples, you’ll have to pay (usually not more than $5 or $10).  If you’re a woman, be sure to be dressed modestly, covering your shoulders and knees.

One of the most famous temples in Chiang Mai is the Wat Chedi Luang. Built in 1441, the Wat Chedi Luang temple was likely the largest structure in ancient Chiang Mai. The temple is the main focus in a complex of a few other important monuments including the city pillar (Lak Mueang) and Buhda statue (Phra Chao Attarot). You have to pay to get in this complex, but this is one of the only temples in Chiang Mai that also has “monk chat”. Visitors can sit down with a monk from the temple and ask questions about their lifestyle and the Buhdist religion.

Other temples we explored were the beautiful white and gold Wat Suan Dok (built in 1373), located just outside the old city walls on the road towards the University and Niman. Also, the gorgeous yet less famous Wat Phan Tao temple is made of dark teak wood with a large golden Budha inside. It sits right next to the famous Wat Chedi Luang this temple is often overlooked but is absolutely worth a visit.

 

Tiger Kingdom

We had heard about the Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai from friends of ours who had traveled to Chiang Mai a year or so ago. The tigers who live here were raised in captivity since they were born, and so can’t be released into the wild. They are trained by their keepers and are treated well, so they are used to humans. You can pay to go in with the trainers and the tigers for about 15 minutes, to meet them, learn about them, and pet them!

We chose to meet one of the medium sized tigers, as the large ones were a bit too scary for us. The trainers are with you the whole time and instruct you where you can touch the big cats, and even snap a few pictures for you if you have a camera.

 

The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary

Our favorite day in Chiang Mai by far was the day we spent with an all-female elephant heard at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. There are a number of elephant sanctuaries that you can visit around Chiang Mai, some more reputable and humane than others, and we couldn’t recommend the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary more! This sanctuary has a number of different “elephant camps” in the jungle about an hour north of Chiang Mai, with a few herds split up at the different locations.

The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary has a strict no-riding policy and takes great care of its elephants. Each elephant has a dedicated trainer who works closely with them, and as far as we could tell during our visit, these trainers are like members of the heard. The trainers know so much about the elephants, their diet, likes and dislikes, temperaments and personalities.

There are a number of different options for how to spend time with the elephants. The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary has half and full day visits, or overnight stays with the elephants. You can also sign up for a full day trek with the elephants. We did the full day visit which included feeding and bathing the elephants, giving them a mud bath and swimming with them in the river. We learned all about them, their lifestyle, anatomy, and diet.

A full day with the heard felt like the perfect amount of time. By the time you drive out of the Chiang Mia and into the mountains, a half day with these magnificent beasts would have felt far too rushed. We were able to take our time getting to know all 5 members of the heard, photographing them, observing their fun habits, and marveling at how absolutely incredible these animals are. Our day spent with elephants in the jungle of northern Thailand is one that I’ll never forget.

If you have the opportunity to spend some time with elephants while in Thailand don’t pass it up! Just do your research and make sure to visit a facility where the elephants are well taken care of and loved.

Don’t miss our next post about our Chiang Mai Thailand Our Foodie Favorites, coming soon!