Chiang Mai was our first stop in Thailand and I totally fell in love with this city. Every few
hundred meters you pass by a temple while strolling around and the most important city of the North
is somehow not at all touristy. It's self evident that you will bump into some tourists on the night
market and in the temples but besides of that it's super easy to avoid them. You just have to
go where the locals go in their daily life and that's definitely not the night market.
Instead, the Warorot Market is the place to be for them. It stretches across three levels, is full with
life and Thais are bustling about everywhere. No matter what you are looking for I'm sure you will find
life and Thais are bustling about everywhere. No matter what you are looking for I'm sure you will find
it there! Another nice local market - that only takes place in the morning - is close to the Chiang Mai
Gate. You'll find loads of fresh fruits and vegetables there but make sure to try Khanom Krok, a super
delicious, typical Thai 'pudding' with coconut. There is just one old lady offering them and she is
the cutest! Besides, the price is incredibly good, you'll get one portion for 10 Baht so 25 Cent!
Like I mentioned before, Chaing Mai has loads of temples but there are three you definitely
have to visit. The Wat Chiang Mai - the first temple of the city -, the Wat Chedi Luang and the
Wat Phra Singh. All of them are worth a visit and give you a good impression of Thailand's culture.
But make sure to show some respect and cover up, everything else would be super rude!
My highlight was a Thai cooking course we got recommended in Australia, that was honestly so much
fun! In comparison to other cooking schools ours was definitely pretty expensive but the whole experience
was just perfect. The facilities where extremely clean, the groups small and the staff super friendly. After
deciding on what to cook (everyone was able to choose five individual dishes) we went to a local market to
get the fresh ingredients. Our "teacher" told us a lot about them and about possible replacements we
could use at home. I was honestly so impressed by the taste of the dishes we created in the end,
everything was super delicious! I couldn't really believe that I did them myself... Before getting dropped
off at our hotel, we got a cookbook with the recipes of all fourteen dishes we were able to choose
from so now that I'm back home I will definitely do some of them for my family.
If one of you is ever going to Thailand please make your way up to Chiang Mai. I loved the whole
three weeks of traveling around and the islands and Bangkok are great but the first days in the North...
For me definitely by far the best part of our time in the land of smiles.
