The Beer Garden from the Guest House
Direct in the heart of Chiang Mai City you will recognize the Garden Restaurant and Guest House. This Guest House in north Thailand offer cheap and good rooms for backpacker and tourists. Here you can relax in a cozy beer garden by an international or local beer while you watch the busy Walking Street on every Sunday. The friendly staff offers a good service and helps you for any kind of booking around Chiang Mai. The Garden Guest House & Beer Garden in Chiang Mai is a good address as well for people who plan a long stay visit. Ask the management for special conditions if you stay longer than one week. From here is everything easy to reach here in this great town in Thailand. Enjoy the familiar and relaxed atmosphere at this great place in Chiang Mai Town!
The Ratchadumnern Cafe @ Chiang Mai
Direct in the center of Chiang Mai City on the Walking Street is the Ratchadumnern Café which offer many Italian and international Coffee specialties. I come here sometimes to enjoy a good cup of hot cappuccino when I stay in Chiang Mai. The Café house opposite of the CM police station is a great location to take a break if you are on shopping tour on the Walking Street Market which is every Sunday. Here you have the choice of hot and ice coffee, smoothies, fruit shakes and many more delicious specialties. The Ratchadumnern Café in north Thailand offer free Wi-Fi wireless internet and a nice air conditioned location direct in Chiang Mai. Come here to surf a bit on Travel Reports & Pictures by a great coffee.
Night Bazaar
The Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai
The Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai offers many handicraft products, t-shirts, and other souvenirs. This market near the Loi Khro road should be the main attraction of Chiang Mai in north Thailand. Every evening from about six o’clock there are hundreds of booths who offer beautiful and handmade souvenirs of the hill tribes from this part of Thailand. Another reason to come here is the food. Many booth offer delicious Thai, Isaan, Indian… food for a good price. As well the cheap fruit shakes are cheap and very healthy. If you like western food than should be O’Malley’s Irish Pub or Daddys Restaurant the right choice for you. Take the bait of the exhalation around the food area of this historical market. On the Night Bazaar you will find for sure the right souvenirs of your trip to north Thailand.
Walking Street Market
Walking Street in Chiang Mai
Every Sunday afternoon till late is in central Chiang Mai a big market direct in the center of this great city in Thailand. The whole Ratchadamnoen road from Tha Phae to Wat Phrasingh is close for cars, bikes and scooters. This is a perfect bargain for tourists who like to buy some handicrafts of the hill tribes, handmade adornments and many other souvenirs. The temple markets around the market offer nice and cheap local food. If you like to rest by a fresh coffee than you are right at Black Canyon, Doi Chaang or the Ratchadamnoen Cafe in the middle of the market. For fresh juices and healthy drinks i can recommend the Juice Box on the Ratchadumnern street. This market is a nice option to walk a bit on every Sunday in Chiang Mai as well when you don’t want to buy something. If you stay at Chiang Mai in Thailand on a weekend it’s a “must see” sight for all backpackers and tourist who stay here for traveling or on holidays. The Walking Street in CM is my favorite market here in Chiang Mai and in whole Thailand.
Cafe del Sol, Chiang Mai
The easy going establishment Café Del Sol at Chiang Mai City in north Thailand is a small and cozy Bar with a lot of atmosphere and good music. The Bar in Thailand offer Cocktails, Beers and other beverages for a fair price in Chiang Mai’s Night Life scene. From while to while the Sticky Rice Blues Band make a stop here and play some great concerts at the Café del Sol stage. If it is not raining you can relax by a Chang Beer or a Long Island Ice Tea under a huge tree on the terrace of the bar in Chiang Mai. When here is no live music you can listen to good chosen music from CD. Reggae, Blues, Classics, Rock ‘n Roll… the Café Del Sol Bar has for everybody the right mix who likes handmade music. Come in for a drink and feel the spirit of Chiang Mai. A great establishment for Night Life in Chiangmai!
Winner Inn, Chiang Mai
The Winner Inn Hotel in Chiang Mai is located next to the city wall and not far from the night market of this historical town in north Thailand. We checked in to this accommodation two times, our first time on our Pai – Chiang Mai Travel Trip and the first two nights when we came here for study. The low budget offer clean rooms with Air-Condition, Telephone, TV, fridge, hot water shower and a bath tub for a cheap backpacker price. We paid in the middle of 2009 600 Thai Baht. Next to the reception of this travel accommodation in Chiang Mai is a small restaurant which offers drinks snacks and Breakfast in the morning. To the night bazaar it’s a walk of round about 20 minutes or 5 minutes with the motorbike. Winner Inn in Chiang Mai is the right option for all who don’t want to spend so much money but don’t want to miss a good hotel service. On the reception you can book as well tours and transport too many destinations in Thailand and around the Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son Province.
In 2008 my Wife and I was for a short Travel Tour in north Thailand to travel Chiang Mai and visit a friend at Pai in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province. We start on Koh Chang Tropical Island with a Taxi to the Pier at the north of the Island in the Gulf of Thailand. From Trat we took a Bus to Bangkok from were we took the Nighttrain to Chiang Mai. The Train Start at about 10 o´clock in the evening and arrived at Chiang Mai Railway Station at 12 o’clock noon on the next day. From the Train Station we took a Taxi to our Hotel “Winner Inn”. In Chiang Mai our highlight was the Doi Inthanon national park. After some Days at Thailand‘s 2nd biggest City in the North we Travel by Taxi to a TAT office to catch a Minivan to Pai in Southeast Asia. The turn from CM to Pai took us about three hours. We arrived at the Bus Terminal at Pai City and walked to the Guest House “breeze of Pai” which we found in the Lonely Planet Travel Book for Thailand.
A new bridge in Pai
After some days in the small village in the Mae Hong Son Province we Travel by Bus back to Chiang Mai. The Minibus bring us direct to the Airport from where we had a Air Asia flight to Thailands Capital Bangkok. From the new International Airport in BKK we took a Taxi to reach the last ferry back to Koh Chang Island. From the Ferry we enjoyed the nice view to the rising Sun behind the hills of Southeast Asia‘s Elephant Island. In the evening we arrived by taxi our Bungalow at Big Elk Steak House. This was my first Travel Trip to Thailand’s North, the landscapes at Pai and the Mountains at Chiang Mai with evergreen Jungle are incredible. It was for sure not my last trip to the north of the Kingdom of Thailand.
Sunset on Ko Chang
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First at all i want to say that im a German guy in Thailand and not a english teacher. So please don’t expect “oxford-English”!
Hello and sawadee krap from the land of many smiles.
Today i want to report about Chiang Mai at north Thailand in Asia. I have bin at Thailands 2nd biggest city in the end of august 2008. My wife and I was going from Koh Chang to the north of Thailand. We was starting at our bungalow on Ko Chang at about 9am. We was going first from Klong Prao Beach to the pier in the north of the island. From Leam Ngop (pier mainland) we took the 12 oclock TAT bus to to Bangkok (need about 5-6 hours). From the Capital we took the night train at 10pm to Chiang Mai. We arrived on next day at 12:30 the train station in Chiang Mai. The run was long but nice, we don’t get any sleeping cabin because it was fully booked. So we was driving 2nd class on a chair. Open windows and the most of the time surrounding by rain forest. The sunrise in the morning was nice to see in the jungle over the teak trees. I used the Lonely Planet for Thailand for this trip. Totally tired but happy to survived 
we gone to the taxi stand at Chiang Mai station. Moun and me was staying at the Winner Inn Hotel in central-CM. It was 500 Thai Baht each night for a double room with hot water, frigde and air condition. If you like to stay direct in the old town, than are “The Garden Guest House“, “Fuengfa Place” or “Maa-T-Nee GH” good options for cheap accommodation.
At most i liked at Chiang Mai the Doi Inthanon National Park which is round about 80km away from CM. In this park is are really big and spectacular waterfalls.
You can not get closer than 50m without getting wet. The beautifulest falls here at Doi Inthanon are the Vachiratharn Waterfall and the Nam Tok MaeYa Waterfall. As well the highest spot in Thailand is located at the Doi Inthanon national park, with 2565m above mean sea level is Doi In the highest mountain in the Kingdom. On the top it was about 14 C, so really cold for old Siam. The park is really famous for the 400 bird species, nowhere else in Thailand you can find that much. Everywhere on the street are orchids and we was surrounding of evergreen rain forest. The mountains keep soft clouds in the slops. Beautiful! Than we was going to a Karen village to visit the minoritys in the mountains. If you want to watch more waterfalls around here you will like the Monthathan Falls on Doi Suthep and the Mae Sa Falls in Mae Rim about 15 km out of town.
Karen minorities
After we was driving to the “Great Holy Relics Pagoda of Nabhamethalidol – Nabhapolbhumisiri”. Here You can find two big pagodas and a huge lay outed flower gardens with the same kind of blooms that you can find in the temperate climate zone, because of the low temperature on the mountain they grow brilliant. The Thai royal air force built this constructions for memorial of His Majesty King Bhumipol 9th and for HM the Queen, the Mother of the Thais.
great holy relics pagoda
On the next day we was driving with the scooter to the “Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara” temple on “Doi Suthep” mountain about 15 km out of Chiang Mai. The 300 steps to the top of the temple are a little challenge. But it was worthwile! The temple is one of the most beautiful Buddhist temples i ever saw. It is worthwhile actually alone for the nice view over Chiang Mai city. We was burning some scent sticks and three candles for a good karma. After we walked three times around the golden pagoda to get protection and good luck for this journey. On the way back we visited the Chiang Mai Zoo. If you like Wat DS than you will enjoy as well the Wat Chiang Man, Lok Molee, Wat Morntheran and the Phra Singh Temple which is the most visited Wat here. Another highlight for friends of Buddhist temples is the Wat Srisuphan silver temple where you can have a Chat with Monks about Thai culture, the life as a Buddhist monk in northern Thailand and many other topics.
At night Moun and me was going to the night bazaar to eat yummie Indian curry and some kao pat kai (fried rice and chicken). For western food on the night market i can recommend the “Daddys” Restaurant and O’malley’s Irish Pub. I was buying some t-shirts and some souvenirs. Another tourist attraction is the Sunday walking street market where you can buy as well souvenirs and handicrafts. On the same road are some nice coffee shops like the “Doi Chaang” or the “Ratchadumnern Cafe” where you can rest for a while. An other nice place to flee from the fumes is the Suan Buak Haad Park in the south of old Chiang Mai.
As well for tourists who like night life in Chiang Mai the right destination, around the city are many disco’s, A GoGo bars and cozy Pubs with live music like the “Cafe del Sol” in the center of old Chiangmai. The most bars and western Restaurants you will find near the Pratu Tha Pae gate on the east end direct on the city moat. A nice Restaurant here at Tha Phae is the “Dada Kafe“.
From Chiang Mai we was going by minibus to Pai. It belongs to the Mae Hong Son province and is a small village about 130km away from Chiang Mai. For all motorbike travelers i can recommend the “Coffee Hill” Cafe on the half way from CM to Pai. Other travel options from Chiang Mai are Luang Prabang (Laos), Lamphun, Mae Hongsorn, Phrae, Sukhothai…
If you are looking for day trip possibilities from here than are Chiang Dao, Bor Sang handicraft village, Ban Thawai/Hangdong villages, Doi Inthanon national park and Doi Suthep good destinations for a pleasant day. For tourists who like to make sports at holiday i can recomment the Huay Tung Tao Reservoir for a day away from the fumes and pollution of the city.
Museums in Chiang Mai:
For all cultural tourists has CM a good variety of Museums and Exhibitions. The prices are mostly low which make a visit at the most Museums worthwhile and possible as well for families and individual tourists. Good addresses with nice exhibitions are CM National Museum, Chiengmai City Arts & Cultural center which tells the history of CM, World of Insects and the Tribal Museum.
My result for Chiang Mai:
Its a clean (compared to other big cities in south-east Asia) metropole with a lot of history. You can find many sights and Chiang Mai have many corners to explore. The people and the atmosphere are much more relax and friendly than Bangkok. Many locals speak English, its easy to communicate with the Thais because if they speak English the English is very easy and for everyone to understand. Like everywhere in Southeast Asia the peoples try to help you if you get lost or need any other information. The “capital of the north” have a healthy mix of locals and foreigners, so its pleasant to travel. Chiang Mai is famous as well for many kinds of Thai-culture and Thai Language classes.
Visit CM, You don’t will regret this holiday in north Thailand!
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