Kids: Big Sister 10y5m, Twins 7y9m
Flights: Hong Kong - Chiang Mai - Hong Kong on Dragonair
Booked through: Had cheap flights booked on HK Express but they cancelled our flights in August due to schedule changes. Great! Dragonair was double the price and Air Asia was in between but I literally could not be bothered with a 6 am flight departure from Chiang Mai, so we opted for Dragonair. However, we booked the adults on points so we only bought 3 child tickets ... total quite similar to HK Express and better flight times (less late). Got a hell of deal for Rimping Village on Agoda (no payment til early October) about 50% off their published family room price (paid HK$4500 for 4 nights for a family of 5 including breakfast and tax, just had to pay TBH700 per night for an extra bed).
We tried last year on points but no availability and since the kids had to use their kids we ended up in beautiful local Bantayan. We were first planning to go via Bangkok and possibly do a one way by train but in the end we didn't have the time and we just opted for quick and simple direct flight, no hotel changes ... just easy. There is plenty to do and see around Chiang Mai so filling 4 days wasn't going to be the issue. Chiang Mai has lots of things to offer that I am not particularly interested in ... snake farms, monkeys, tigers, elephants, zoos with small cages ... we skipped it all. We just wanted to get a feel for the area, the culture, time to relax and not having to spend whole days in vans going from one touristy place to another. So what did we do?
My Tripadvisor reviews on Chiang Mai can be found here, all the links below are the official links to websites, FB pages and other direct communication.
Saturday:
- We booked a van from airport to hotel (bought a voucher at the red taxi counter for TBH300, normal car is TBH150), took literally 5 minutes for the van to pull up. Nice friendly driver, the van could easily have fitted 8.
- Luckily we landed on time at 5.20 pm local time, so by the time we were in the room it was close to 7 pm. Instead of eating in the hotel, which looked a little bit dull (nobody there), we walked the Night Market and had a quick and easy (not the best) Thai dinner, slightly touristy but it wasn't very busy (I think lots of people were at the Saturday night market but that was a little bit more of a hike so we skipped that). We just a few dishes and a beer, quick look around and everybody was happy.
Sunday:
- In the morning we hired a tuk tuk to Sa Paper & Umbrella Handicraft Center which was a little tacky, but fun to see for the kids. It was still quiet in the morning, we had the girls pick an umbrella to decorate their new room.
- We asked to be dropped off back in old city and visited 2 temples (Wat Chedi Leung and Wat Chiang Man) which were quite nice and the kids never seem to mind, it never takes too long either and it still gives you a feel on local culture.
- While looking for a restaurant we couldn't find (wrong location on Tripadvisor map), we eventually gave up and stopped a tuk tuk and had us drop off at Riverside Market across the Iron Bridge, close to the hotel. A fairly nice local feel (slightly upmarket) riverside restaurant. The kids had time to look at the river and have a run on the grassy area.
- We walked back to the hotel for some relaxation at the pool and the kids had a swim at the hotel.
- Later in the afternoon we hired a jeepie to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (about 45 minutes up hill from Chiang Mai) with a beautiful view over ChiangMai, and still busy at the end of the day, lots of locals though. It's quite touristy going up but worth looking around. Traffic going and coming back was bad, it seemed like every local was out, we should have done this on Monday and not on a Sunday.
- Dropped of at the Sunday night market, at the Eastern Gate, quite nice but extremely busy and in the end there are no special things compared to the other Night Markets and Bazaars. It was the same, just a million times busier, almost too busy for the kids.
- After a short cut through a more deserted alley we finally found (we didn't for lunch) Ginger & Kafe (and a look around at The House - home ware store), a nice upscale restaurant connected to home ware stores. Very few tourists, local cuisine and we chose to sit outside as inside looked beautiful but the tables were low and I was envisioning lots of stains and related drama so we chose a regular table outside.
Monday:
- Prior to coming I had searched the internet for a half day cooking course with the kids. Figured a full day would be a little bit too much. We chose Thai Secret Cooking for TBH800 per person for half day (full day is TBH1100). We were picked up just before 9 am and we stopped at the local market to buy ingredients and have a look around before heading to May and Jason's house where we picked some more ingredients from their garden before we started making our own lunches.
- After a spicy morning we were brought back to the hotel, and went for a swim.
- Then we decided to walk over the more northern bridge to have a quick look around Warorot Market, a much more local market where you get a good feel of local life in Chiang Mai. Lots of fabric stores as well.
- Walking further south in the main street where the Night Bazaar is set up, we opted for a TBH200 foot / head / back massage at Le Best ... very relaxing, big place (so no problem if you show up with 5 people), right in the midst of things, clean and very friendly personnel.
- We then walked back in the direction of Warorot Market to have dinner at Street Pizza, we decided after a morning of Thai food we were entitled for some nice thin wood fired pizza. Great pizza!
- Still being in the area, we walked back through the night market to the more covered area on the eastern side as the twins were dying for a fish massage (me never in a million years!), TBH100 for 15 minutes full of giggles!
Tuesday:
- After breakfast we ordered a jeepie to Wat Umong (jungle temple) about 20-30 minutes outside the city. Different to most temples, it was quiet and green.
- The jeepie then continued to Royal Gardens, very mixed feelings about this one but the kids thought it was great for some reason, we spent little bit over an hour there and headed back.
- Back in the old city for lunch at Taa-Peng-Cat a small cafe with paninis, salads and fresh spring rolls but also milkshakes, smoothies and baked items ... small, friendly and great value.
- We walked across the street to have a quick look at Wat Pra Singh, another temple (with a very friendly monk explaining things to the kids in English) around the corner.
- Headed back for a swim at the hotel, a beer at the pool and enjoying the nice weather so far.
- We headed out for dinner to meet friends at Dash! Restaurant, a nice local style building with indoor and outdoor seating. We were planning to go to the Night Market to do some last minute shopping but in the end (after a few beers and tired children), we couldn't be bothered.
- However, a surprise awaited at the hotel, one of the staff had prepared to have us light a traditional lantern back at the hotel. We all wrote down our wishes, we lightened it and the kids dreamed about where the lantern would have ended up ... I am afraid it was less far than they anticipated!
Wednesday:
- Slightly grey morning, a first, and since it was our last day we just walked to Warorot Market. After our cooking course I was keen on buying a good and traditional mortar and pestle to make chili paste, spend TBH600). We wandered around for a bit and caught a tuk tuk back.
- We had an early swim at hotel as we had to leave the room at noon and I couldn't be bothered with wet clothes and not having a place to properly shower, etc. afterwards. We packed up, changed and were planning to go for lunch outside the hotel but it started to pour!
- We decided to have lunch at the hotel, like many others, so it wasn't as quiet and uninviting as it normally looked at that time of day. It took some time for the food to come out, don't think they were fully prepared or staffed in the kitchen, but it was tasty and we weren't necessarily in a hurry.
- After lunch we headed to the Chiang Mai 3D Museum which the kids loved, great photo opportunities (and I had to make a picture of every single thing!). We had some time left and the kids had an ice-cream at cafe next door before we went back, repacked a few things and before we knew our taxi was there and we were off to the airport.
- The airport is small, with very few food options once you clear immigration. Luckily they allowed us all in the lounge so we set there for an hour before doing a bit more shopping and heading home. We left on time, arrived early, caught a taxi from the airport (due to Occupy and not knowing the taxi queue at the Airport Express) and were back at 11.30 pm or so ....
So what didn't we do, that many people do (with kids) ... in case you're looking for more options:
- Elephant Nature Park, I didn't feel like spending a whole day there, some reviews said it was too much waiting for something that shouldn't take a whole day. Also my kids have been lucky enough to ride and feed elephants in Laos and Cambodia already. Also, after those experiences I realise that lots of animals are being mistreated. Although in that respect Elephant Nature Park is one of the best but I promised the kids to go to do a real safari one day ... They didn't seem to mind at all.
- Tiger Kingdom, another one, tigers in cages and people having their picture taken with tigers, feels wrong to me again but my friend went and said she didn't feel the animals were badly treated or drugged. They had a good time, it wasn't one of those things I am interested in.
- Flight of the Gibbon, this was one I considered the most, wishing it wouldn't cost me HK$4000 for a family of 5, that's a lot of money. Also, I was quite convinced that Big Sister (who's easily scared, she was terrified of the fishes) or Twin B would back out at some point half way through making an expensive activity less enjoyable for all of us, having to beg them to do it, tears, stubbornness ... I just wasn't ready to risk it, not for that much money. Also, again, it's not something I would do anyway, even if I didn't have the kids with me. Many people I know had a great experience though.
- Hill Tribes, there are many hill tribes around Chiang Mai, some are very very touristy, especially when they're close to the city. The further out you go, the more traditional. As we weren't willing to travel for hours, we skipped all together, I wasn't willing to go to a human zoo.
- Doi Inthanon National Park, this was another one we considered quite seriously, a national park, real beauty, nature, etc. but I wasn't willing to spend 2 x 2 hours in the car for it ... I know it sounds silly but with only 4 days, 3 kids, a tired mom and dad, this trip just had to be easy and enjoyable for all. Relaxing, time to do nothing and not spending ours in cars or doing things...
- There are more waterfalls, orchid farms, monkey and snake shows. We almost went to the waterfall in Mae Sabut the kids didn't want go ("we always go to waterfalls"). Granted, we've seen waterfalls on almost all our trips ... Laos, Bali and we even have them very close to home, so we ended up at the Royal Palace which they loved (and it was a nice outing) but I still don't get the love part ... at all.
This, by the way, is another helpful website when travelling to Chiang Mai.
All in all, a nice, simple and easy trip. To be honest, I am generally disappointed in Thailand. I love the food, I love the people, I love the culture, but I find it sooooo touristy compared to Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines ... You need to search hard for the real local feel, it's such a shame, but at the same time we're part of the problem as well, we're going there too. So no, I won't be going back. I am happy we went, it was great, nice food, lovely people, fantastic service, an excellent family holiday ... but besides Bangkok I decided to focus on my favourites in Asia. I am now looking at Taiwan for Easter, hiking, lakes, mountains, good food ... Japan for October, need to brush up my Japanese ... and still want to go to Burma / Myanmar ...
