Chiang Mai

Our trip continued with the air-con day train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai; not quite ten-and-a-half hours of fascinating scenery, especially as we travelled further north-west. It also arrived within 5 minutes of schedule, something the German Railways from our previous holiday might want to look at.

It also wasn’t quite the Orient Express; it was cold where we sat but hot elsewhere, a bit rattly and bumpy (the train is thirty years old) and the air conditioning dripped on us for a good part of the trip.

First up, after a good sleep, we checked out a few of the 117 Buddhist Temples in Chiang Mai Ancient City.

Wat Phra Singh was first, important enough to charge foreigners fifty baht each, and apparently, in 1935, designated a “Royal Temple, First Grade”.

Also of note was Wat Chedi Luang, with a weathered 82-metre stupa that in 1468 had the famed Emerald Buddha installed within one of its niches. After an earthquake removed the top thirty metres in 1551, though, they wisely transferred it to safer lodgings in Bangkok.

We poked our heads into numerous other temples as we wandered around the old town, generally in the morning and then late in the day when it was a little cooler. The middle of the day was occupied with snoozing and using some of the multitude of vouchers we were given on check in. We had a high tea (actually, more of a medium/low tea), a peculiar dessert and a couple of free Thai lunches.

The Sunday Night Market, near our lodgings, was a fascinating mix of stalls, people and, especially, foods. At four pm the street was open, by six, three blocks of it were given over to a crowded, buzzing market, and the following morning there was no evidence it had ever happened.

We very much enjoyed the atmosphere of Chiang Mai; the chaotic, laissez faire traffic with tuk tuks, songthaews, and motor bikes (no helmets), the uneven or non-existent footpaths and the odd whiff of Asian drain smell, along with lots of happy visitors, made it special beyond its multitude of wats.Read more