Chiang Mai, Thailand

I had heard that before coming to Thailand you have to visit Chiang Mai, and after going twice I definitely understand why people say that. Chiang Mai was a refreshing switch up to the busy and overwhelming city of Bangkok. There is definitely still hustle and bustle in Chiang Mai but it is much more tame and relaxed. The first time we went we went with our study abroad program where everything was scheduled and arranged for us. We stayed at a hotel that was a bit outside of Old City but the hotel itself was really nice! We had driven on a bus to Chiang Mai which was another long 10 hour bus ride that did not entail much sleep. We arrived to Chiang Mai at 6:00 am and began our day by dropping our bags at the hotel and making our way to the downtown street where we got some coffee, and watched how the locals perform morning offerings to the monks. You can either bring food you have made in your home to give to the monks or you can buy a prepackaged basket with the foods you will use to give to the monks. After this we got into vans and headed off to the Flower Festival. This was a big parade that had bands and huge floats made out of all flowers. The festival only happens once a year and it just so happened to be occurring while we were there (Feb 8). 

 After watching the parade go through the center of the Old City we headed off to our first temple. The first temple we saw was Wat Chiang Man. It was a cute little temple and the inside was just as gorgeous as the outside.

Once done viewing the temple we made our way to a local restaurant where we had the most famous dish of Thailand. Khao Soi Chicken. It is a spicy red broth with egg noodles, chicken and fried egg noodles on top and you add pickled cabbage as desired. I had never had it before and after trying it for the first time I definitely wanted more. The picture is not the most appealing but trust me it tasted delicious. 

After lunch we headed back to the hotel as a group and rested for a bit. A small group of us dispersed from the rest of the group and went to a small park called Huay Tung Tao Chang Pai Reggae. It is a big rice paddy and within it there are animal statues made out of hay and beautiful views. There is also a small lake that you can take canoes out on. Along the lake there are also small huts, if you get there early enough or at the right time you can get one of those for a group of you to have some beers, play games and just hang out while overlooking the lake. 

The trip only got better the next day, it was time for the elephants. One of our group leaders lives in Chiang Mai therefore she knew of the organization called ChangChill. It is the most ethical elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai. You are not allowed to touch, feed and most definitely not ride the elephants. We got to the sanctuary and immediately saw how gorgeous the countryside was with its breathtaking views. We then had some coffee and tea and then split into groups to start our journey to find the elephants. There were 6 elephants at the sanctuary and with a guide we walked through the jungle to find them. For the most part the guides had an idea of where they were but we ultimately were searching for them. Once we found them in the jungle we admired their beauty and took pictures from afar.

Once we saw all six elephants we then headed back for some lunch. While we waited to eat we placed bananas and sugar cane out for the elephants to eat and we also got to wade in the river to cool off. After eating we watched the elephants come find the sugar cane and bananas and we also got to make "vitamin balls" for the elephants. We mashed up all the ingredients and then formed them into balls to have the elephants eat to make sure they are staying healthy. 

 The elephants were gorgeous and are so amazing to just admire and watch. Not being able to touch or interact with them allowed me to appreciate them for animals rather than zoo pets or circus animals. 

You cannot go to Chiang Mai without getting a massage either since there is basically two parlors on every block. We went to Fah Lanna Spa which was absolutely amazing. It is a little on the pricey side but its totally worth it!

I loved Chiang Mai so much that I came back a second time. This time we stayed in a hostel in the Old Quarter and were so close to the downtown city. We explored the night markets and just enjoyed seeing the town by walking around most nights. Again you cannot go to Chaing Mai without seeing elephants so of course I saw them again. This time it was through a company called Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. They have over 87 elephants amongst multiple different locations. At their Chiang Mai sanctuary they had 9 elephants one of which was a 3 month old baby. We got picked up by our hostel and taking into the jungle to spend the day with the elephants. We arrived and changed into the appropriate shirts and then we began feeding them bananas and taking LOTS of pictures with them. After feeding them we got to eat lunch and then we got ready to get dirty. We got into our bathing suits and now it was time to give the elephants a mud bath. We all got into the mud pit with the elephants and we could spread mud all over their backs and throw it on top of them. The mud helps protect them from getting a sunburn. After getting them nice and muddy we then washed them off in the water. We got little buckets that we could use to splash them. It also allowed us to get clean too. Once we were done with this our time with the elephants was over. We said goodbye to the elephants after we dried off and changed and then we headed back to the hostel. 

 

After returning to the hostel, showering and taking a quick nap we then got Khao Soi Chicken again because it was so amazing the first time we got it. We then proceeded to walk around the city yet again and do more shopping at the local markets. The following day we visited another temple in Chiang Mai. This one is a bit more popular and much bigger. The temple we visited was called Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. You have to walk about some stairs but once you get to the top its a beautiful city of gold luxurious buildings. 

 This basically concluded our second trip to Chiang Mai. Yet again it did not disappoint. If you are going to Thailand I highly recommend spending a few days in the beautiful city of Chiang Mai. 

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Another weekend, means a new country to explore! Next up was Siem Reap, Cambodia. We took a bus from Khao San Road again and endured a grueling 12 hour bus ride that encountered walking across the border and through immigration at the Cambodia Thailand border. Although it was much cheaper than flying I'm not sure I would endure that long and dreadful ride again, I would much rather fly. Once we got to Siem Reap our moods were quickly changed though. We were greeted at the Cambodian bus stop by many tuk tuk drivers offering to take us to our hostel. We stayed at the Cozy Cloud Hostel which was absolutely amazing. We ended up getting a driver named Choy who kind of became our own personal driver for the weekend. He took us to any of the places we wanted to go. We checked into our hostel and our first thing we always do is we walk around the city and just see what it has to offer. We stumbled upon a night market and Pub Street. We just explored the first day, but don't worry we definitely made our way back to Pub Street. 

 After exploring the city and finding some cute stuff at the night market we went to bed early since we knew we were doing the sunrise at Angkor Wat the next day. We had prearranged with our amazing tuk tuk driver for him to pick us up in front of our hostel at 4:30 am to start the drive to Angkor Wat. We were doing the small loop of temples but there are three different ones you can do each having more things to see. Lets just say getting up that early was totally worth it. 

Once the sun rose we began to explore the many wonders this wonder of the world had to offer. There were so many different buildings and statues to admire. Once we finished exploring there we met our tuk tuk driver who then took us around to the different temples and would drop us off and let us explore each one. 

After our early morning exploring the amazing temples we headed back to the hostel for a much needed nap. Again we arranged to have our tuk tuk driver pick us up again to take us to the Lotus Farm and Tonle Sap Lake for sunset. The lotus farm is a local farm where women work and tend to the loti and the rice paddies nearby. There are little huts that you can relax in and admire the loti and their beauty. At the lake we were taken on a private boat with a driver and guide and were taken out to the middle of the lake where there is a floating barge you can dock up to and get out and watch the sunset. We hung out there for awhile and then got back into the boat to finish watching the sunset and then to head back. 

We then headed to a rooftop bar were we hung out and got some drinks. Our next day was full of adventure as we rode ATV's and went ziplining. We got picked up from our hostel by our ATV guide and we were brought back to go through some basic training. Once completed we headed out into the beautiful countryside. We saw a completely different side of Siem Reap on ATV's which was super fun. Be careful if you are in the back of the group you are definitely going to get covered in some dust and dirt but it's totally worth it. 

After a few hours of ATVing we then got dropped back at our hostel where we got some lunch and waited to get picked up for our ziplining adventure! We got picked up and driven deep into the jungle to start our adventure. It was the shortest course with 4 ziplines and 3 spider bridges, one of the ziplines was double which was super fun! We went through Angkor Zipline and they were amazing! 

 Once our adventures concluded we then made our way back to Pub Street where we ended up at Yolo Bar. We met so many fun people there and spent our night there until we had to make our way to the bus stop for our long ride home. Cambodia definitely exceeded expectations!!!