When it comes to a Far Eastern holiday, people may have some concerns. We usually believe that we need to make a very good plan and look for the right time. As a citizen who went on a Far East trip for the first time and has just returned to his country, I can say that “Make a plan without overestimating the content of your journey, and go to Thailand, especially to Chiang Mai. You will be surprised with the level of civilization, service concept and accessibility in this city, which is much easier than it is in Istanbul, the city where I live! Everything you want or plan to do will be just in front of you or come to your door. Chiang Mai, a city that you can easily reach by a connecting flight from Doha with Qatar Airways, offers almost everything…”
Transportation in Chiang Mai:
As a tourist, we have used the “Grab” application in during our visit in Chiang Mai in order not to take risks and to communicate comfortably. I can’t make a price comparison as we didn’t use any other option, but if we compare it with other applications in our country, I can easily say that it is much more convenient even than popular applications such as Uber or BiTaksi. All the vehicles that we called from the application have arrived. Grab is an application that allows you to find your car in about 10 seconds and have it next to you in 3-4 minutes. As you write your destination point, you don’t need to be worried about any language barrier (by the way, all the drivers we called spoke English). You can pay in cash or by credit card, and you travel in very clean vehicles. The Thai Baht is used as the currency in Thailand. 1 Turkish lira is equivalent to about 6 Thai baht. Grab application for Turks remains very affordable like many other services. In addition, buses, taxis and small vehicles called “tuktuk” are very common in Thailand. However, I have heard stories that tuktuks stop at some tourist spots and take the tourists to some “undesirable” places, I would like to warn you about it.
“This city is a temple paradise. The architectures of all of them are also quite magnificent and impressive.”
Eating and drinking:
It is very important for me to discover the food and beverage culture of a country I have visited. I can also say that I am not biased in this regard. It is a great pleasure for me to taste new flavors. Besides, I feel like “completed” within the society I am in, and during that time I really feel like I belong to that culture. I believe that even a prejudiced person would have no reason not to like Thai food. They have a really delicious cuisine. You can also see the effects of the surrounding cultures in their kitchens. You can taste a lot of noodles, seafood and spicy flavors. Moreover, you can have a really hearty meal at very affordable prices. Some restaurants I can recommend: Khao by Four Seasons Chiang Mai, B Samcook 16, David’s Kitchen and Riverside. Also, since coffee production is widespread in this city, there are many coffee shops in this city. Moreover, they are all very modern and successful. The best coffee shop in the city is Graph Coffee, but I can also recommend Impresso. If you are a coffee enthusiast, you can buy one of Graph’s coffee beans to take home. Frankly speaking, I didn’t expect such modern places, delicious food and drinks, and especially coffee, from a country with such a low income level. Also, it is for a reason that this is a city that the locals also love very much. Rest assured that you will love this place too.
Elephant tours:
One of the main aspects that make Chiang Mai so important is the elephant tours. I would like to share some important details about these tours. You have probably seen photos of many tourists going to Thailand riding on elephants and touring, watching or taking photos with the elephants. But these activities are actually contrary to the nature of elephants and this is being protested by many organizations. However, it is still one of the activities that are not completely banned and have an important impact on tourism. We chose the “Elephant Nature Park” to spend time with elephants. The most important factor in choosing this place was that the elephants in this area were rescued elephants. At this park, elephants were only doing activities that were appropriate to their nature, that is, they were eating, playing games, bathing and spending their time with their friends. We accompanied them for one day only. There are various types of tour. You can go to their offices and choose whichever you want. We preferred to do activities with three big and two baby elephants, where we spent almost a full day. In the morning, the tour picked us up from our hotel, took us to the park, which is 1.5 hours away, and we spent the whole day with the elephants. We gave them food, we took a walk together and we washed them. It was really an indescribably enjoyable experience for us. I think everyone should experience it once in their life. The price of such tours ranges from 1500 to 2500 Thai Baht and both transportation and lunch are included. Actually, it’s not a very cheap tour, but I think it’s worth it to support organizations that host and protect animals like this. Elephants eat for 16 hours a day. Therefore, such organizations face significant food and maintenance needs. If you want to experience this, you only have to visit their offices in the old town and arrange for your tour. As I mentioned before, you can easily access such tours like everything else.
One of the main aspects that make Chiang Mai so important is the elephant tours.
Accommodation and places to see in the city:
Chiang Mai is a temple paradise. The architectures of all of them are also quite magnificent and impressive. Since the city center is flat, you can walk around many areas, especially the old town. During this, you’ll see many temples. As you know, the official religion of the country is Buddhism, and 92% of the population is Buddhist. So they perform their worship in these temples. As the Buddhists worship Buddha, their statues also often appear in these temples, and it is an official crime to disrespect them. Chiang Mai temples also provide special clothes at the entrances and exits if your clothes are not covered enough. If you try to visit all the temples, be sure that it will take days. Therefore, visiting a few important temples will be enough to have a general idea. Wat Phra Singh, Silver Temple, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Sri Suphan, Wat Ched Yot and Wat Phra That Doi Suthep are the major temples worth seeing. I can recommend two areas in the city for accommodation. The first is the old town district, which is also where we are staying. The Pastell Oldtown Hotel was really a very cozy and well-located hotel. The new popular area of the city is Nimmanhaemin. You can choose this place both for accommodation and shopping. You can also experience beautiful coffee shops and restaurants. Another nice activity that should not be forgotten in the city is, of course, getting a massage. I don’t think there is anyone who hasn’t heard of Thai massage. Here, you will come across a massage parlor everywhere, and I would say that “Don’t come back without getting a massage at very affordable prices”. Some parlors even provide the opportunity to pick you up from your hotel and drop you off again. In short, everything here is designed for your comfort and you can easily access everything. I recommend you explore this city as soon as possible. Happy travels already!
