Chiang Mai March 2013
Day 2
I was up bright and early for my bike tour at 8am and surprisingly my tour guide was early as from previous experience, namely the day before the Thai's haven't been great when it comes to punctuality. My tour guides name was Noom who was very enthusiastic and friendly. We drove to a temple so Noom could park the car, then got the bikes out and we started riding. We stopped at several monuments and temples along the way, Noom giving me information on the places we saw and Thailand in general. We went to the largest food market in Chiang Mai that sold produce ranging from rice, fruit, eels, spices, peppers, meat, fish and pumpkins.
We then cycled about 2 miles out of the city to more rural areas where came across more temples and places of interest. At about 11am we cycled back to the temple we had started at. The bike tour is usually a group tour but it was a bit quiet that week so I had a 1:1 tour. Although a random random thing to do in Chiang Mai as activities usually include elephant riding and trekking I enjoyed my morning and would recommend it to anyone wanting to see Chiang Mai a little differently. Noom drove me back to my hostel and I decided to get some food as I was starving after cycling for 3 and a half hours.
I wandered over to the area where I had eaten yesterday. I went to a different place this time and had a delicious pork and rice for an even more delicious 30 baht/£0.68/$1.
Two things I forgot to mention about Chiang Mai is that it is considerably hotter than any other part of Thailand I had been to to date. In the south it's typically 27-30/80-86 degrees and 30-33/86-91 degrees in Bangkok but Chiang Mai is a different level at 38/100 degrees which was considerably more noticeable and with no beach or pool to dive into a little bit harder to deal with but after a day or so I got used to it.
Second is that it's an absolute nightmare crossing the road, or at least it was for me. Zebra crossings are scarce and because its so busy there is hardly a gap in the traffic. Along with being over paranoid about being hit by a car there were times where I was waiting a good 5 minutes before I could cross the road.
As I got back to my hostel I bumped into 2 girls staying in my room who were going to Chinatown to check out the market and asked if I wanted to join so I did. After a few wrong turns and asking for directions we found Chinatown. A plethora of items no one will ever need to buy along with food, clothes, bags, fresh produce, meat, brick a brack and lingerie were on offer. After looking through everything we wandered back to the hostel. I took a well needed shower and nap until about 6pm when we went out for food. We found a local restaurant nearby and I had the best pork fried rice I've ever had whilst the girls had the traditional pad Thai. After dinner we headed back and I started packing and organising my stuff as I was leaving tomorrow.
At about 9pm we headed out again to the infamous Chiang Mai nightly Night Bazaar. This market was huge and spans across both pavements on either side of the street in addition to a large plot a bit further down the road. This market was far more enjoyable to me than Chinatown. Although slightly torturous as my time in Thailand is coming to an end budgeting is in full force in addition to less than limited space available in my backpack to purchase any items.
The night bazaar sells items such as lamps, silk, pashminas, counterfeit designer watches, Mac make up, Tiffany jewellery, Mulberry bags and purses, Vans and Converse to name a few. In addition to jewellery, clothes, t shirts, iPad and phone covers, ornaments, hair accessories, key rings and lighters. There are also some food courts and restaurants offering reasonably priced food. We were wandering for a few hours before we headed back to the hostel and to bed.
I was up bright and early for my bike tour at 8am and surprisingly my tour guide was early as from previous experience, namely the day before the Thai's haven't been great when it comes to punctuality. My tour guides name was Noom who was very enthusiastic and friendly. We drove to a temple so Noom could park the car, then got the bikes out and we started riding. We stopped at several monuments and temples along the way, Noom giving me information on the places we saw and Thailand in general. We went to the largest food market in Chiang Mai that sold produce ranging from rice, fruit, eels, spices, peppers, meat, fish and pumpkins.
We then cycled about 2 miles out of the city to more rural areas where came across more temples and places of interest. At about 11am we cycled back to the temple we had started at. The bike tour is usually a group tour but it was a bit quiet that week so I had a 1:1 tour. Although a random random thing to do in Chiang Mai as activities usually include elephant riding and trekking I enjoyed my morning and would recommend it to anyone wanting to see Chiang Mai a little differently. Noom drove me back to my hostel and I decided to get some food as I was starving after cycling for 3 and a half hours.
I wandered over to the area where I had eaten yesterday. I went to a different place this time and had a delicious pork and rice for an even more delicious 30 baht/£0.68/$1.
Two things I forgot to mention about Chiang Mai is that it is considerably hotter than any other part of Thailand I had been to to date. In the south it's typically 27-30/80-86 degrees and 30-33/86-91 degrees in Bangkok but Chiang Mai is a different level at 38/100 degrees which was considerably more noticeable and with no beach or pool to dive into a little bit harder to deal with but after a day or so I got used to it.
Second is that it's an absolute nightmare crossing the road, or at least it was for me. Zebra crossings are scarce and because its so busy there is hardly a gap in the traffic. Along with being over paranoid about being hit by a car there were times where I was waiting a good 5 minutes before I could cross the road.
As I got back to my hostel I bumped into 2 girls staying in my room who were going to Chinatown to check out the market and asked if I wanted to join so I did. After a few wrong turns and asking for directions we found Chinatown. A plethora of items no one will ever need to buy along with food, clothes, bags, fresh produce, meat, brick a brack and lingerie were on offer. After looking through everything we wandered back to the hostel. I took a well needed shower and nap until about 6pm when we went out for food. We found a local restaurant nearby and I had the best pork fried rice I've ever had whilst the girls had the traditional pad Thai. After dinner we headed back and I started packing and organising my stuff as I was leaving tomorrow.
At about 9pm we headed out again to the infamous Chiang Mai nightly Night Bazaar. This market was huge and spans across both pavements on either side of the street in addition to a large plot a bit further down the road. This market was far more enjoyable to me than Chinatown. Although slightly torturous as my time in Thailand is coming to an end budgeting is in full force in addition to less than limited space available in my backpack to purchase any items.
The night bazaar sells items such as lamps, silk, pashminas, counterfeit designer watches, Mac make up, Tiffany jewellery, Mulberry bags and purses, Vans and Converse to name a few. In addition to jewellery, clothes, t shirts, iPad and phone covers, ornaments, hair accessories, key rings and lighters. There are also some food courts and restaurants offering reasonably priced food. We were wandering for a few hours before we headed back to the hostel and to bed.
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