Chiang Mai: Exploring

Next stop: Chiang Mai. We flew to Chiang Mai from Bangkok at 10AM and arrived by 11:30, we were at our hostel by 12. It was a really quick journey and easy process. We flew with Bangkok Airways; their price was relatively cheap and after having flown with them, I have no complaints. Everyone was friendly and helpful; exactly what you want out of an airline.

Being a weirdo at the airport in Chiang Mai

Once we had checked into our hostel, we set out to explore. We had a total of about 2 and a half days in Chiang Mai. And our next two days were already planned with elephants and zip lining so our first day was spent exploring.

First, we headed to Somphet Market. It was around the corner from our hostel so we figured why not. I think this market would have been much more impressive if we hadn't already been living in Taiwan for 11 months. Somphet Market sold fruit, spices, meat, and vegetables; the same stuff that 3 markets within walking distance of our apartment sell. We saw a lot of other tourists there who seemed to be super impressed so I think its worth a visit but to us, it wasn't anything special.

Next we set out to eat. We saw a sign for a burrito place and headed over to Diablos. The atmosphere was really interesting. There were a lot of posters with quotes about anarchy and breaking through the mold. Plus, the food was amazing. We both decided on chicken burritos and we loved every second of them. Pina Coladas on top of that definitely made it one of my favourite meals so far.

If you like pina coladaaaaaaas

Our next stop was a temple; Wat Lamchang. We found it by accident while we were looking for the bigger temple but it was a happy accident. While there, we read some cool history about the two temples and the war. Also there was a beautiful statue of an elephant but it made us sad when we saw he was chained. Upon reading the explanation, Lamchang in Thai means tethered elephant. So it is literally the Temple to Tethered Elephants; hence the chained elephant. After some admiring, we were off to find the temple we were actually looking for in the first place. 

Wat Lamchang

A little bit of back home!

We ended up finding the back entrance to Wat Chiang Mun and because of that, I was convinced it actually wasn't it. Before this temple, I had come prepared with my own clothes to cover up. I changed and then we explored the grounds. Wat Chiang Mun's grounds were more extensive which meant a lot more to look at. Again, the history we learned was insightful. I find that I have a much more enjoyable time at Temples if I know some more about them.

Wat Chiang Mun

Wat Chiang Mun

Wat Chiang Mun

Next we headed to the Night Bazaar. Here we found some cool finds for ourselves as well as for some friends and family back home. Most of the stalls were selling the same stuff every 10 stalls or so but I still believe it was worth it to go. Some of the items that were being sold were so cool, I wish I could go back to buy them.

We couldn't handle the misspelling of bazaar all over the city...

Along the back of the night market, Rick saw a restaurant he wanted to go to called "So Be It." The decor was pretty and the staff were super excited for us to come and sit down. They checked on us probably 10 times throughout the meal, were constantly staring and after we had finished eating, they asked us of we thought we would ever come back. We thought it was a little odd but didn't think too much of it. Then when Rick was paying, he saw a magazine called "Come out!" with a very fabulous man on the cover. Upon looking around, we saw rainbows everywhere and only men customers and staff. That's when we realized we were in a gay bar/restaurant. Regardless, the food was great and it definitely provided us with a good laugh.

Our fabulous restaurant

He is so fabulous