Have you ever heard of Chiang Mai? We hadn’t! While in Bangkok we realized this was a place we needed to visit, we only spent 2 days here, but you can easily spend a week or more as there are many activities to experience. Chiang Mai is a small city in the north of Thailand, this city is only an hour flight from Bangkok and in our opinion it is the perfect escape from the big city vibe. It offers endless adventures, beautiful mountain views, cheaper food, welcoming people, many temples, and a relaxed atmosphere overall. We didn’t have Chiang Mai in our plans, but after talking to a few friends who have visited before and reading a few blogs about it we decided to give it a try and explore it on our own. To our surprise, this area is also home to many elephant sanctuaries. This is one of the best places to spend some time with them and learn about the many projects and new initiatives to protect them while at the same time helping the local communities and villages who take care of the elephants.
When planning your visit to an elephant sanctuary or any animal activity around the world please choose wisely and do your research as there are still many tour companies that abuse animals just for profit. This being said, we chose the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary after reading about it and recommended to us. With the money they raise from visitors and donations they can rescue the animals, feed them, provide veterinary care as well as land and infrastructure for them them to live on. Located about an hour and half from Chiang Mai they brought us to a certain point in the mountain by car. Then we had to walk and cross a river into the jungle to where right away we were greeted by a big elephant running towards us ready for his food! Less than 1 minute and we were surrounded by 6 elephants, they were all big and impressive while at the same time so friendly, peaceful, happy, and hungry for bananas!! Bananas, we fed them many bananas and they were so hungry that even after we were done they were looking for more!! We also bathe the elephants in their natural habitat which consisted of a mud scrub and then to the river to wash it off they went and we just followed impressed by this surreal experience. This was so much fun to us and we never imagined we would get that close to an elephant or to swim with them. It was very cool to see how they completely submerged underwater breathing through their trunks. They were so big yet felt so harmless and at peace. It is an experience we will never forget.
We feel the sanctuary is doing a great job in the way they treat and care for the elephants. The guide made sure we were well informed before any interactions with the elephants. You can see how much they care of the elephants and how dedicated they are to provide a better life to the elephants. Here most elephants have been rescued, it is easy to sense they are happy to be here as all they want is to play, eat and enjoy their time in the jungle. We enjoyed this adventure and recommend it when in Chiang Mai.
Thai cooking class, what a surprise! Little did we know that we would love the Thai cooking class provided by Zabb E Lee Thai Cooking School. This would be an example of one of those activities we don’t do while traveling because we think of it as very touristic. Now, after doing it, I can tell you this is a must do in Chiang Mai! Yes, not only because you get to cook authentic Thai food with an expert but it’s also a great opportunity to meet fantastic people from all over the world. Our experience started with a trip to the local market where we learned about all the spices and ingredients we would be using. It is an eye opener to see where the flavors you eat in Thailand come from, now we can tell you what something tastes like and some of you might be lucky enough to try a Pad Thai made by us! Herbs and spices such as coriander seeds, cumin, dried chillies, ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, mint, and Thai basil are just some of those flavors that will bring you to Thailand. Step by step we each made our own delicious dishes (below). We ended the evening with our bellies very full and with awesome friendships that might last for life!
- Papaya Salad – Ingrid
- Pad Thai (of course) – Ingrid
- Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup – Ingrid
- Panang Curry with Chicken – Ingrid
- Spring Rolls – Both
- Hot & Sour Prawn Creamy Soup – Santi
- Stir Fried Chicken Cashew Nuts – Santi
- Khao Soi Curry – Santi
- Mango with Sticky Rice – Santi
Temples and more temples! Yes, Thailand has some the most beautiful temples you can’t miss. In Chiang Mai we visited the ones listed below, these do not take very long to see and have amazing views surrounded by nature.
- Wat Umong
- Pa Laad Temple
- Doi Suthep
- Wat Chedi Luang
6ixcret Cabaret Show, these shows (aka ladyboys show) are popular all over Thailand. We were invited to this one by some of our friends from the cooking class and it is one of the best ones we have seen!! Great energy, amazing performances, and to our surprise the lip-syncing is very good, so good that we found ourselves singing along! You can see that the performers work hard on their acts and try to put on the best show they can. If you are looking for a fun time in Chiang Mai don’t miss this! It’s free entry with the purchase of a cocktail, well worth it!
Two days might not be enough, but we sure enjoyed our time here and we will definitely come back to discover more about Chiang Mai and the north of Thailand. We left with amazing experiences and good friends!
To see more about our experience in Chiang Mai, visit our Instagram account @everywhereabroad.
Chiang Mai is so good. We loved it too! Keep up the writing, I like it. Love from Holland.
Thank you!! You are part of the friends we talk about on here, we are so lucky to have met you and Irma at the cooking class. See you both soon 🙂