Old Chiangmai Cultural Center

On our second night, my friend pre-booked a dinner cum cultural performance at the Old Chiangmai Cultural Center.

Simple lanterns hanging outside.

Lucky us, we go a table right in front of the stage! The tables nearer the stage are sit-on-the-floor kind, while those further away are the typical table and chair type.




The food is free flow and served until the dance performance begins. Before the dancers came on stage, the musicians played the traditional instruments to keep the patrons entertained.



The emcee spoke in Thai and in English, so we could roughly understand what the dance was about.

Young man balancing daggers.

In the last item, the dancers approached the audience to invite them to join the dance.

Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street

We arrive at the Sunday market in the evening and the stalls were just starting to open. One end of the market is located at Tha Phae Gate and the stalls are setup along Rachadamnoen Road.

Map of Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street

Hand-drawn map of the Sunday market {click for larger image}

Before we saw the map of the market, we didn't know that the market covers such a big area. So, we wasted too much time at the "outdoor activity area" that is East of Tha Phae Gate.

Local food

Cute elephant patch on children's clothes.

Unique prints on canvas bags.

Local tidbits

Sushi, anyone?

There are plenty of variety of food and the hygiene level took me by a pleasant surprise. The people there are very conscious of protecting their environment, so you might find your food being served in banana leaves (whenever possible). Also, be sure to recycle your bottles and throw away your trash into the proper bins.





Many stall owners had personally handmade their crafts. So while walking down the street, there will be some goods that you will not be able to see again at another stall. These very unique handicrafts certainly make very good gifts or for decorating your house.

Chocolates

Super cute animal steamed buns

I went to Chiang Mai without doing my homework and I thought that whatever I can find here will be the same as those sold in Bangkok street markets. So, I thought that I wouldn't be doing too much shopping and ended up bringing not enough cash to buy all these cute things back home.

This is how crowded the market is.

When you get really exhausted from all the walking, you could get a massage to refresh yourself at one of these cheaper road-side foot massage. However, we chose to go to a massage parlour to get some privacy and cool air-conditioning.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Legend has it that a king put a relic on a white elephant and prayed for a sacred place. The elephant climbed Doi Suthep mountain, trumpeted three times, turned around three times, knelt down, and died. Then, the king built a new temple to house the relic on this spot chosen by the elephant.



To get to the temple, we took one of these red-taxis from the town area. It costed us 50 Thai Baht per person per direction. The journey took about 40 minutes and the hot weather made it quite suffocating while riding in the vehicle. There are two rows of benches on the back of the truck and the passengers sit on them facing each other.



After walking up a long slope, which has stalls selling local food and souvenirs on both sides, we had to conquer this really long flight of stairs to see the temple! When I reach the top, I was out of breath... I really should exercise more.



Shoes are not allowed in the temple and visitors should be respectful by wearing long pants or skirts.

The white elephant statue

These large bells are rung by believers to bring good luck.


Cute monk figures around the temple.


Young girls dancing at the temple.


Left: Mom?
Right: Charms for visitors to pen their wishes.

As we're walking back down the slope to the taxi pickup area, we paused at some stalls to do the tourist things.

Chiang Mai Shangri-La Hotel

We took a taxi from the Chiang Mai airport and the drive is only about 15 minutes to Shangri-La Hotel. Since this hotel is not very near the happening area in Chiang Mai, their room rates are much cheaper than equivalent hotels near the shopping area, where the night bazaar is.




Upon our arrival, we were greeted with nice cool towels and chilled tasty fruit juice. While checking in, we wasted no time in asking for free wifi password (time to check our Facebook and WhatsApp).


Our hotel room is really big and spacious, with two huge beds to roll in!




Needless to say, the bathroom is spacious too, equppied with all the essential toiletries. There's even a travel-size tube of toothpaste, rather than just the small tiny one that is usually packed with the toothbrush.


Located on the 6th floor, we have a nice view of the hotel courtyard. It's a pity we didn't have the time and energy to roam around the hotel because we packed our itinerary to the maximum.


This is where breakfast is served. On our first morning, we had to set off before the breakfast hours. So, during our check-in, we requested for the hotel to prepare packed breakfast for us to take along for our trip. It wasn't too difficult to make this special arrangement, although the hotel staff spoke limited English.


Before leaving, don't forget to take a picture with this cute elephant!