First Stop Chiang Mia, Thailand for 5 days!

Chiang Mai is filled with temples made of gold, Miles long of cascading waterfalls, and all the mopeds of the land! This was a great first place to dip my toes into southeast Asia’s culture.

 

 

I won’t lie that I was a little culture shocked in the beginning, mainly with the foods. I had never had Thai food before coming to Thailand and it took me a while to figure out what I liked. (I know I know, who am I to go to Thailand and not have had Thai food.. )

RECOMMMEND: go to a Thai restaurant if you haven’t had Thai before heading to Thailand. Pad Thai ended up being my favorite dish!

Hotel recommendation: Pingviman Hotel

I would give 5 stars all the way! An oasis in the heart of busy Chiang Mai. The location was great, right up the road from the night food market. After a long day of exploring, my favorite part was coming back and taking a dip in their wonderful pool with a cold drink in my hand. The rooms were spacious, with tall ceilings and beautiful wood carvings, and gold accents showing off the traditional Thailand style.

If you didn’t hang with elephants did you even go to Chiang Mai?  My number one activity I wanted to do in Chiang Mai was volunteer with elephants. It was important to me that I picked a place where you did not ride them.

Baanchang Elephant Park  was an amazing experience.

I would highly recommend it! A very informative visit to the elephant paper dung factory where you learn how they use the elephant poo to turn to paper… yes you heard me right, they turn elephant poo to paper.

 

 

Next were the elephants!

PRESS PLAY for lots of Elephant Lovin’

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We got to lead, feed and bath them! One of the most majestic animals on this earth and I got to spend a whole day with them! It was not enough for me to get a tattoo of an elephant but I would definitely recommend doing this experience here!

 

Waterfall Chasing!

There are a ton of waterfalls in Chiang Mai! Totally worth it to take a day and find all these hidden gems.

RECOMMEND: renting a moped. It is the easiest way to get around and will only cost you a couple bucks!

RECOMMEND: Ask front desk for your hostel or hotel for map of city. These maps were crucial for only having service when you are on wifi. You can also download google and use it while on airplane mood!

We jumped on our mopeds and headed towards the mountains! We came across many waterfalls like Wang Bua Ban which has a great view of the city! And deep poles of water for you to swim in!

The Mae Sa Waterfall was my favorite waterfall. It is an outstanding 8-tiered waterfall, stopping at each swimming hole along the way. It is a popular spot for locals and tourist. We spent most of the day here. I would give yourself a good amount of time to hangout, relax and enjoy mother nature in all her beauty!

Jordan dropped my brand new IPhone X in this river, right where those girls are standing in the picture below. As we were in sheer panic mood, one of the girls found it! And I’m writing this post with that same Iphone today.

RECOMMEND: Reading The Hidden Life of Trees.  Being immersed in nature most of the time, you were really able to apply what you were reading. Jordan and I had some great conversations. Trees are ruthless when it comes to survival and the most important thing to us on this earth.

Stumbling upon Chiang Mai’s Wat Chomphu Golden Chedi Temple was like nothing I have ever seen before. A steep stair climb to the top with big colorful serpents leading you to the a jaw dropping ALL GOLD temple that over looks all of Chiang Mai.

We spent our last evening in Chiang Mai at a popular Muay Thai Fight per Jordans request. These girls are badass!

 

 

Over all Chiang Mai welcomed us with open arms and showed me a new beauty that made me crave for more!

On to Hanoi, Vietnam.

 

 

Stay Kind,