Chiang Mai, or Muang Mai as the locals call it, sits right up in the North of Thailand. There are no beaches, the winters can be chilly, and compared to Bangkok it would barely warrant its own MRT stop. A thousand people will tell you that Chiang Mai attracts 'a different kind of tourist'. The ladyboys are few and far between and I don't think I ever once had to deal with the angry feelings that come from seeing an old, fat Western man with a very young Thai boy or girl in tow.
Chiang Mai is renowned for its handicrafts, both the sheer range and quantity. A good place to sample of of them is the Night Bazaar and night market area. Celadon pottery? Check. Tribal weavings? Check. Handwoven silk? Check. Silver jewellery? Check. The local produce is a feast for the eyes and the digs we stayed in were a feast for the soul.
We arrived stressed out, worn out (thank you Qantas for the six hour delay that meant I got in at 4.00am) and rung out. The first thing I did was what you do on any holiday after working hard, I fell sick.
But what a place to be sick in! Located outside of Chiang Mai and set up like a palace surrounded by its own rice paddies, it was the perfect place to just sit and enjoy your surroundings. Hell, they even had music playing under water. The hotel staff fussed over my cold and insisted on me drinking copious amounts of fresh ginger and lemongrass tea and approved of my choice of spicy sweet and sour tom yam soup for lunch most days to kill off any germs lurking in my throat and sweat out the rest. It felt like a bone fide slice of heaven. I can never sit still for more than about half a day and here I was content to just sit and read for days in a row.
We did, however, decide to have a day out and it was a wise choice. We went to visit some elephants and there was no trekking or painting involved. Trekking damages elephants' backs and is cruel. Painting is similar in that elephants are abused into picking up a brush and drawing. How many elephants have you ever seen voluntarily pick up a paint brush and draw? If you're in Chiang Mai, don't do it. Do go to the Elephant Nature Foundation, though. It is a sanctuary for abused and abandoned elephants. They have 33 in total and we spent the day feeding them and bathing them in the river. It was pure magic and they all have such different personalities. The little ones we got to bathe were three and four respectively and they fully submerge themselves under water and blow bubbles with their trunks.
Another of the young ones loves creeping up behind one of the dogs (there are fifty) and then tapping it on the shoulder to make it move. The dog pretends the elephant isn't there and then shuffles a couple of paces away like it was going to move anyway. You can stay anything from a day to several months at the Foundation which is about an hour's out of Chiang Mai.
If you're after taking a part of Chiang Mai home with you, first consider leaving part of yourself behind in the form of a donation to the Elephant Nature Foundation. If you feel like rewarding yourself for doing so, try a day exploring the various handicraft villages and shops. I didn't. Unfortunately I married someone who would rather stab his own eye out than have to look at handicraft. And, if that handcraft is located in a building known as a 'shop', the reaction is likely to result in stabbing the other eye out. Seeing as I wasn't prepared to lead around a blind man on this particular trip, I had to forgo the villages in favour of marital harmony. So please visit the craft villages if you are there, if only so I can live vicariously through you.
Many shops selling handicraft are run as fair trade projects so you can bag yourself something beautiful while helping out hill tribes and aid projects. You can't help but do good by buying local! Places to explore close to town include Jolie Femme for silk products (ask to see the weavers working out the back), Sop Moei Arts for hill tribe woven products, or Baan Celedon for pottery. Or support local up and coming talent in the night bazaar such as the Chiang Mai Cotton Co.
The other Olympic sports in Thailand, other than shopping and arm wrestling, are eating and smiling. The Thais, mainly Buddhists, have a smile for just about everyone. They also have a dish to suit everyone and every meal is a riot of flavour and colour. It would be wrong not to fill your belly with spicy soup, stir fried noodles, young mango salad and, my personal favourite, rubied water chestnuts in coconut milk.
Thailand is the kind of place where it would be impossible to leave with an empty hand, empty stomach or an empty heart.



































