Chiang Mai: Home Sweet Home

Chiang Mai is the perfect blend of all the great things that Bangkok has to offer (amazing food, beautiful temples, friendly people) with a smaller town feel.  The Old Town of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a wall and tree-lined moat that, instead of repelling invaders, is now an attraction with fountains that light up at night.

Our AirBnB was located just outside the Old Town on a quiet backstreet near the chic, trendy Nimman area with lots of restaurants and shops.  From our balcony, we had a view of the mountain that surrounds Chiang Mai called Doi Suthep, and if we looked really close, we could see the sparkling of the golden stupa (or the twinkling of the lights at night) of the most important temple in the area Wat Phra That Doi Suthep near the peak of the mountain. 

We had a tiny little creek to cross that led us to the back parking lot and rear entrance of a giant mall called Kad Suan Kaew.  Standing in the back parking lot, you can see our little AirBnB condo, the third floor balcony.

Everything imaginable was at this mall making for a smooth transition to living in Thailand and feeling more at home.  The Kad Suan Kaew shopping mall was straight out of the 80s and had a movie theater, bowling alley, arcade, karaoke hall, tons of shops, a great gym, and a huge grocery store with all sorts of western products to help us get settled in. 

 

  

I loved this place!  We immediately felt comfortable in Chiang Mai and were totally pumped that we picked this city as our home base for six weeks.

Our first evening, we discovered that the front of the mall turns into a street food market on weekend evenings. 

We wandered through the stalls and wanted to eat everything in sight.  We had some Gyoza as an appetizer and then decided to have our first taste of Pad Thai in Thailand.  For only $1, we got a giant portion of what I thought was the best Pad Thai we had during our entire stay in Thailand, including nicer restaurants.  We liked it so much that on our final weekend in Chiang Mai, we went back to the same cook and had his garlic chicken fried rice.

Again, one of our favorite dishes and only $1! Here is our new bff working his magic:

We also discovered some fun little Thai-style crepes here that were stuffed with both savory and sweet fillings.

After taking a few days to get settled in and actually work (don’t forget we still have part-time jobs), our first full weekend in Chiang Mai was spent exploring the lovely Buddhist temples.  We started in the Old Town with the oldest temple in Chiang Mai called Wat Chiang Man, dating from 1296.  Our favorite structure in this temple complex was the Sacred Elephant Stupa that enshrines a hair relic of Buddha and has 15 life-sized brick and stucco elephants at the base. 

Right outside the temple complex was a food stand making traditional Roti.  We just can’t help but reward ourselves with a treat after a strenuous 30-40 min spent at a temple!  We got the banana, chocolate, and egg roti.

With happy bellies, we ventured on to more temples with one of our favorites being Wat Chedi Luang.  Construction started on this chedi in 1411, and both the reigning king and the next king died before construction was finished.  During the reign of the following king, an earthquake knocked down about a third of the 282-foot spire, so it now sits as a gigantic but intriguing ruin.  I guess it was just not meant to be for this one. 

The inside of the viharn, the main assembly hall, is quite stunning with giant black and gold pillars and a large golden standing Buddha flanked by two disciples. 

The whole temple complex is powerfully atmospheric with the viharn and chedi surrounded by numerous smaller structures filled with other Buddha images including the rarer seated Buddha statue with a five-headed snake above called a Naga Buddha. Nagas are mystical serpents with five heads, and the one seen sheltering the Buddha while meditating is known as Mucilanda. Mucilanda is believed to have protected the Buddha from the elements, like rain, after he attained enlightenment.

Walking home after a long day of touring, we stumbled on a cute little corner store with all kinds of crazy flavors of steam buns. I love the steam buns here!!  Warm, gooey, and just a hint of sweetness in the “dessert” varieties. We just couldn’t help ourselves and stopped in for one more treat to end our temple touring day. I went with the Taro Paste with Gingko, and Jimmy went with the Thai Tea Cream Custard.

After a full day touring temples in the Old Town, we still had one more to go the following day…the one on the mountain that I mentioned in the beginning of the blog.  We were told that you have not truly visited Chiang Mai without a stop at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.  Legend has it that 600 years ago a newly discovered Buddha relic was strapped to the back of a sacred white elephant, and the elephant was released into the jungle.  The white elephant climbed Doi Suthep and, near the peak, stopped, trumpeted three times, and then passed away.  The king built the temple at this location to enshrine the Buddha relic.  Today, Doi Suthep is one of the most famous temples in Thailand and devout Buddhist pilgrims (and motivated tourists) will climb the mountain on a path through the jungle to get to the temple.  We, on the other hand, took our first songthaew ride to get to the mountain peak.  Songthaews are converted pick-up trucks with benches that are used as a shared taxi/bus service. 

From the parking lot though, you still have a 306-step climb to reach the temple.  The staircase is gorgeous with bejeweled nagas as the banister. 

Upon reaching the top terrace, a golden chedi stands in the middle of the grounds glowing in the sunlight and is surrounded by numerous Buddha images, a sacred Bodhi tree, and lots of flowers and greenery. 

In addition, there are other mythical creatures and even Hindu figures including the elephant-headed god Ganesh.

The temple complex also offers great views over Chiang Mai and the mountainside.  The panoramic views, the winding ride up the mountain through the jungle in a songthaew, and the gorgeous temple grounds makes this the must-see temple of Chiang Mai.

One of the thrills of living in Chiang Mai is being able to explore the peaceful centuries-old temples and pagodas but then spice things up with some local nightlife, like a Muay Thai fight.  We started our evening with a stroll through the night bazaar.  The night bazaar is a multi-block stretch of road that has vendor stalls lining both sides plus two giant buildings filled with even more vendors selling everything from fake Rolex watches to local handicrafts.  We were on a search for a new pair of baggy pants for Jimmy this time.  We were heading to Bagan the next weekend and knew that it was going to be hot and dusty.  Conservative clothing (below the knees) is required to enter Buddhist temples, and Jimmy had been dying wearing his jeans so far in Thailand.  He was jealous of my light-weight, baggy pants from Morocco (and that I could get away with wearing “pajamas” in public) and had noticed enough men wearing them in Thailand that he was ready to get himself a pair.  Our search was successful, and we found a pair for Jimmy plus I added another to my wardrobe. A girl just can’t have enough comfy baggy pants in Thailand, and these were super cute and even more comfortable than my other two pairs.  (Packing/shopping side tip for anyone traveling to Morocco/Thailand: these can be found on every street corner stand and work great as pajamas, my replacement “breakaways” for covering up on the way to the gym, and appropriate temple touring garb). We aren’t big shoppers, so just like after touring the temples, we rewarded ourselves for our quick successful shopping expedition with drinks and dinner in the open-air food market nearby.

We had our first Khao Soi, a chicken curry noodle soup famous in Chiang Mai. Egg noodles and chunks of chicken (sometimes a leg) are bathed in a creamy coconut milk with turmeric and ginger seasoning and topped with deep-fried noodles. 

Everyone argues about who serves the best Khao Soi. Our first one from this street stall was tasty, but our favorite in Chiang Mai, which is the one pictured above, was actually at a restaurant called Dash Teak House.  Khao Soi was one of our favorite dishes in Thailand, and we could have eaten this every day and really wanted to test out every restaurant in town.  But alas, with so much good food around the world to try and an expanding waistline to worry about, I made Jimmy eat bland chicken and broccoli at home many nights.

For dessert, I decided it was time to try the dreaded Durian.  Durian is a popular fruit in SE Asia, but the smell is strong and horrific.  Just walking down the street, you get whiffs of the odor from street vendors.  The smell is so bad that the fruit is banned from most public places like mass transit and local businesses.  You see special signs right next to the “No Smoking” signs all over town, like on the elevator heading up to our gym.

I wanted to “ease” my transition into the stinky fruit and try the Durian-flavored ice cream first.  I was super excited to try my first bite because ice cream is one of my favorite foods. It couldn’t be that bad, could it?

But, as you can see, getting down the first bite was a struggle.

Out of principal, I did manage to eat the entire scoop and was so thankful that my second scoop of coconut ice cream was a delicious palate cleanser.  In general, the initial taste of the Durian ice cream wasn’t too terrible, but the after-taste that lingers was atrocious.  After dessert, we headed toward the main event for the evening – Muay Thai.

There was no way we could travel to Thailand and not take Jimmy to a Muay Thai fight. He grew up watching boxing and was excited to be in the second row for the event to see things up close.  The quality of the fights varied a lot.  In the first fight, one guy clearly (at least to Jimmy and some other fans) took a dive.  In another match, one of the fighters had no business being in the ring and was taken out by a knee to the sternum.  In between fights we had a great time drinking and chatting with some other tourists. The main event was the best fight of the night. Two solid fighters had a serious brawl that was decided by the judges after 5 brutal rounds. 

After a fun evening cheering on the fighters and trying all kinds of mixed drinks  (I discovered Thai Whiskey, which is made from rice, and Coke!), we had the munchies and decided we needed a late-night stack.  And yes, we realize we have a problem that we get a food reward after every cultural event.  But, we were so close to a highly recommended Anthony Bourdain late-night food stop – Midnight Sticky Rice.  This Chiang Mai institution known for their perfectly crispy fried chicken, pork, and, of course, sticky rice is only open from 11pm-5am, so we had to jump on the opportunity.  We strolled up to this tiny shack straining to see any signs written in English.

Is that a DNA helix?  Luckily, we spotted a sign with their Facebook name in English, so we were in the right place.  We got seated and were handed the order form with a pencil.

Um??  We know we want sticky rice and fried chicken/pork…but…  As we laughed and took the picture, the waitress realized we had no idea how to order, luckily spoke English and was able to help us through the process.  We looked around the restaurant and were the only non-Thai patrons.  And we loved that the Thai kids even got to come out for the delicious late night grub in their pajamas.

When the food finally arrived, we dug in like we hadn’t eaten all day.  Totally lived up to the hype!!

I loved the nice touch of toilet paper for napkins too. Midnight Sticky Rice was the perfect ending to another successful day experiencing the wonders of Thailand.

After so much awesomeness in Thailand, we were down to our last weekend and the pressure was on to do something special for Jimmy’s birthday.  Street food is so widely praised that it was actually hard to find a fancy restaurant that gets rave reviews.  Luckily after some searching, I found The Grand Lanna with a multi-course Northern Thai tasting menu.  Perfect!  We started out his special day in true Thai style with a Thai massage and the appropriate Thai birthday treat – mango sticky rice.  And not just any mango sticky rice.  Just down the street from our apartment was Mango Tango, the ultimate in Mango desserts. 

We each got the sampler with mango ice cream, mango pudding, plus the traditional mango and sticky rice.  I didn’t realize that it was possible for me to love a fruit-based, non-chocolate dessert so much.  But, mango and sticky rice is quite possibly one of my favorite desserts now.

For Jimmy’s birthday evening celebration, we started the night with drinks along the Ping River.  We had been in Chiang Mai a month and hadn’t made it over to that popular location yet with romantic restaurants and lively bars lining the river. I chose the River Market restaurant and hoped for good views as some reviews mentioned that you had to request a river view table early.  I was pleasantly surprised when they seated us along the bar with perfect views of the Iron Bridge and the Ping River.  Even better, Jimmy’s normally masculine gin drink came extra special with a red hue and pink flowers for the birthday boy.

Dinner at The Grand Lanna was also in a lovely setting with an open-air design on a raised wooden terrace above pools and fountains and surrounded by lush vegetation.  We were treated to a traditional dance performance as well.

The traditional Northern Thai food was top-notch with our favorites from their signature tasting menu being the crispy prawn rolls, the fried chicken wrapped in a pandan leaf, the green curry beef and the stir-fried soft shell crab in yellow curry sauce.

And, of course, mango and sticky rice for dessert.  You just can’t have too much mango and sticky rice!! Jimmy’s birthday turned out to be another fantastic day in Thailand.  I’m not sure if we ever really had a bad day in Thailand and were sad when it was time to leave.  Our last 3 days were unfortunately work days as well as days dedicated to laundry and packing before heading to our next destination.  Normally, we would not enjoy those last few days, but we just couldn’t get enough of Thailand and had to go back to our two favorite food places again.  And yes, of course it is food that makes us happy on our workdays.  And what are our two favorite food places in Chiang Mai?

Just down the street from us was Tong Tem Toh, a restaurant specializing in northern Thai cuisine, where locals line up for a table on a nightly basis.  We had dinner here early in our stay in Chiang Mai and were blown away by the flavors and the heat. We had to make another trip. 

Tong Tem Toh was our introduction to several traditional northern Thai dishes, but one that really surprised us was the jeen som mok kaim, a fermented pork and egg sausage. When it was served to us as part of a sampler platter during our first visit, we really weren’t sure what we were eating.  It seemed to be meat. It was sort of cooked…maybe. It had an almost cheesy flavor, but we knew that Thais don’t use cheese.  Only later did we learn that it was fermented pork. 

We had it once and had to have it again, along with several other amazing dishes like the Burmese chicken curry.  The food was just as good as we remembered, but it appears that we built up a heat tolerance during our 6-weeks in Thailand because our mouths were not on fire this time.

The other stop we had to make was the “cowboy hat lady” for some Khao Kha Moo, stewed pork leg.  Anthony Bourdain stopped here too on his foodie tour of the city, but the “cowboy hat lady” was already famous in Chiang Mai. Although this may be a random street food stand in the midst of numerous street food stands with no English in sight, anyone can find this spot because the chef always wears a cowboy hat as she chops up the mouth-watering pork with her giant cleaver. 

The stewed pork leg is simple but delicious.  Nothing fancy here, just rice topped with tender, melt-in-your-mouth pork in a slightly sweet “gravy” with a perfectly cooked egg (golden, soft yolk) on the side…street food perfection.

Have we convinced you that Chiang Mai is a wonderful city to visit and even better city to live in?  Don’t be surprised if you see us joining the expat community and calling Chiang Mai “home” in the future.