Cheated out of Chiang Mai
Having met a lot of traveling families on our trip thus far we were excited to visit Chiang Mai. Many had said to us what a fabulous place it was and right up there on their favorite places of all. I knew it was ancient, had a city wall and therefore an inner city. Lots of history, good food, night markets and back to an occasional Thai massage and Massaman curry was right up our street. We were all looking forward to getting out and exploring Thailands second largest city.
What we didn’t realize is that we could not have picked a worse time of year. The rice field burning was in full throttle and we were in the middle of it all.
Air quality index (AQI) measures five criteria air pollutants (particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone), and converts the measured pollutant concentrations in a community’s air to a number on a scale of 0 to 500. Anything over 150 is considered dangerous to health. One day we hit 800!! Most days were between 250-400. It was not going to be good for anyone to have too much time outside. The coughs we all received were proof of the danger it was doing to us.
Now, let’s admit it, when we see people walking around the streets of Arizona, Auckland or any other western city with a face mask on, we kind of wonder why. This month was going to be the time the face mask questioning stopped and bit us in the backside. Kristi, immediately set about tracking some down. The day after the 800 reading it was announced the city mall was giving them away free, so off we went. They are terribly uncomfortable to wear and some us were not impressed at all. The boys didn’t really care and wore them well.
We did venture out on better days and saw a much as we could. After weeks of no public park, we were excited that the city park was within distance of our apartment. The boys were equally excited as was Lara, this meant alone time to be able to read her latest dystopian book. The park had a playground, fish to feed for 10bhts and dozens of pigeons to chase. Just as I finished the “in” in “be careful and don’t fall in” in goes Ashton after a tumble with six or so pigeons. He was OK, more embarrassed we thought.
Chiang Mai’s ancient history allows many beautiful sights. The old city wall that seems to be under an ever going restoration with its four main gates and various other smaller gates gives you a feel of what it was once like. The four gates directly point North, South, East, and West. The center street from East to West is turned into a giant walking street market every Sunday with items galore, street food to die for and an opportunity for us to lose the boys in the thousands of street clientele. The inner city was home to a few favorite places to eat including a wonderful Masamam curry with Roti bread that was simply to die for, all for a few bucks.
The moat that surrounds almost all of the inner city plays its part to a huge Songkran festival each April 13. The water is apparently changed and the locals dive in and even throw water at each other or are equipped like a water Rambo with an automatic water gun. It seems a good excuse to drink too much and soak someone else. Songkran is the Thai New Year Festival.
We
visited the malls a few times, enjoyed the cleaner air conditioning, indoor playgrounds for the boys and good and cheap pizza deals.
Our accommodation was perfect, a wonderful two bedroom apartment with a rooftop pool, the best coffee shop in the lobby that made it almost impossible to say no to an iced latte in 30+ degrees each day. Hence to say our cafe hosts soon recognized the order and almost had it ready in anticipation.
Set within walking distance of the nightly market and food bazarre that Chiang Mai had to offer. We would have to encourage Lara away from burgers and pizza but even she enjoyed this one. It was even a place for Kristi and me to have the odd date when the kids were asleep and Lara was in charge of sitting. Beautiful stalls selling burgers to Pad Thai, great Mojitos and cheap beer. Right in the middle of the market with live music and plenty of things to look at. We had a wonderful time catching up on our dreams, plans and meeting new people.
Remember the boys’ first school day in Siem Reap Cambodia? Well, we found a wonderful new school for them to attend, just to give them some clean air, give us a break and have a bit of fun time with Lara. The school was equipped with air purifiers and even these were struggling with the air outside but we were happy their AQI was below 100 each of the four days they were there.
So
dropping the boys off meant we had time to visit The Grand Canyon. A wonderful water park for adults set in an old quarry about an hour outside of Chiang Mai. The place was not packed, had loads of safe toys to climb, slide down and jump off. Even I felt OK
doing the zip line which usually wasn’t up my street. We had a blast for three or four hours and came away alive and unscathed. At the end Kristi told me that someone died there a couple of years ago!!!
Another day of schooling we chose something that Kristi had always wanted to experience, a Thai cooking class. It was sooooo much fun. Firstly because our host was fabulous, she was very funny. The day started off with a trip to the market to get our ingredients, before trying out our culinary skills.
We had a choice of starter, mains and sweet to cook and we all chose something different so that we could share and try. Probably the best $20 or so you could spend in Chiang Mai we thought, and you ate your results.
We all left suitably full, grasping a Thai cooking book and swearing Thai will be in our home cooked menu once a week, we will see………
We lost Kristi for a week when she took a quick trip back to New Zealand to deal with a few small matters. What were we to do other than eat pizza, watch movies, have chocolate, coke and too many good things to eat? Only kidding darling! Well, Lara and I had the 7 days planned. Mall, park, rooftop pool, mall, park, roof top pool. That left one day. About 300 meters from our apartment was the wonderful Arts Museum. We had no idea what to expect but it was amazing. Firstly it was super safe to let the boys run from exhibit to exhibit. Because it was 3 and 4D imagery painted on the floor and walls there was not one single thing they could touch and therefore break. The museum tells you to download their app and use this to take photos and video . This app then put moving imagery into the video you take. It was so fun and Lara had a blast. My favorite is the bridge where Lara pretends to be hanging on and little Ashy sees the bridge and just runs across it…enjoy the video.
Having Mommy and my darling back we organised a tour to the Sticky Waterfalls, recommended by our airport transfer guy. It was about 90 minutes away and we were so thankful to arrive in nature.
The waterfalls are some sort of sandstone that makes them almost sticky. They are easy to walk on and therefore climb with virtually no danger of slipping. The three levels were fun to explore and Lara had a ball climbing them. The boys even tried their bit, we all got in and got our clothes wet and had a great time.
On the way back we were treated to an unexpected stop at a wonderful temple that we explored for an hour. The main feature of this temple was the giant Buddha laying on his side. An absolutely amazing sight. The detail and beauty in some of the Thai temples are something else to me and I only wish we had a guide to tell us about the various different buildings and history behind it.
We stayed an extra few days to catch up with our great friends Dave and Jean Salih from Florida who were on a two week avacation. We worked out that I had known
All in all we loved Chiang Mai, we felt cheated because of the air quality preventing us from exploring more of what it had to offer. Chiang Mai is on our list to return one day but not at the time of year December to March, honestly avoid it like the plague unless you want to spend all your time coughing and coughing.
We have some wonderful pictures in the gallery, be sure to check them out, click here.
Next stop the quintessential and beautiful Hoi An, Vietnam, the next blog you are in for a treat…………..