Chiang Mai - Day One

We had a direct flight from LAX to Bangkok, which was a red-eye, and the 16 hours went by shockingly fast. Took sleep medicine for the first time in my life and slept well, all things considered. And the food on Thai Airways wasn't half bad.

We took a cab from the Chiang Mai Airport to our hotel (120 Bht). There isn't much in the way of public transportation in Chiang Mai besides the red trucks that can take you from place to place. More on those later.

We stayed at the De Lanna Hotel, which was a great location. Lots of restaurants just up the road on Intrawararot. Not to be a wimpy Westerner, but the air conditioner could have been a tad more powerful, that was my only complaint. The daily breakfast is FANTASTIC, and made up for any shortcomings with the air conditioning.

After taking a shower, we walked around and had an early dinner at Huen Phen. When in northern Thailand, eat the curry. Khao Soi is the regional specialty and it's worth having as many times as you can. I had a red curry with noodles.

Khao Soi

Red Curry

Many desserts in Thailand consist of frozen pieces of gelatin floating in a sweet milky liquid. Appetizing, right?

It tastes like cereal milk. Momofuku Milk Bar didn't reinvent the wheel. The flavor of cereal milk is universally comforting. Most importantly, it's cold, cold, cold.

Not so scary.

Chiang Mai is an incredibly affordable place to eat. You can pick up some delicious snack being fried on almost every street corner. Our meal at Huen Phen with two curries, two waters, and dessert was 120 Bht.

If you are going to Chiang Mai, please, please be there on a Sunday. It's the only day of the week for the Walking Street Market 4pm-midnight.

This was our favorite market of the trip, and we went to many. First, it's at night, so the weather is cooler. It's stand after stand, lit by hanging lights, so the atmosphere is special. Of all the markets we went to, I felt that this had the most handmade crafts, and actually felt like we were supporting local craftsmen, as opposed to buying cheap junk straight from a warehouse. And if you see something you like, buy it. I still regret not buying a tiny, carved wooden elephant for $2 because I was sure I would come across another one later in the trip. Nope.

And, of course, there is food, food, and more food. The highlight was the Witty Ice Cream stand which served the best waffle cone I've ever eaten.