Chiang Mai

Trekking to a Hmong village in the San Patong area

Set amidst hills and forests in a verdant valley 1000 feet above sea level, Chiang Mai presents a wonderful contrast to the capital. Despite being the second largest city in Thailand, Chiang Mai's much greener and quieter than Bangkok. The old city of Chiang Mai is a neat square bounded by moats and partial walls and many ancient temples are located within the city walls. According to Lonely Planet, many visitors stay in Chiang Mai longer than planned because of the high quality and low price of accommodation, food and shopping, the cool nights, the international feel of the city and the friendliness of the people. Well, I must say I understand why. In fact, a week here might not be long enough for me.

Anyway, we arrived in Chiang Mai about two hours later than scheduled. Our train from Phitsanulok had been delayed along the way. While budget airfares might mean that it's cheaper to fly from Bangkok to Chiang Mai than by taking the train, the train might be a more attractive option if you're not in a rush. As soon as I boarded the train in Phitsanulok, I fell asleep on my relatively comfortable sleeping berth. When I woke up and looked out the window, I had a great view of the rolling hills and lush green valleys. Seeing that Guoquan was still asleep, I went over to the next carriage to look for the girls. Only Wan Churn was awake and so we decided to sit at the doorway of the train (the train doors can be opened), looking out into the countryside as miles and miles of rolling hills went past. Soon Raudaa and Guoquan awoke and they joined us on the steps. What a pleasant way to arrive into Chiang Mai, I thought. Soon, the train drew into the station and we disembarked.

At the train station, we're immediately harassed by touts asking us where we wanted to go. Eventually we relented and followed one to a van and there we were packed like sardines while he went around Chiang Mai depositing the other passengers at their guesthouses. Finally, it was our turn to get off the van. We hadn't decided on a guesthouse, so we got off at Thanon Ratchmankha. We decided to check out the Smile Guest House which once served as the 'safe house' of the infamous Shan-Chinese opium warlord Khun Sa whenever he came to Chiang Mai, not that I knew who Khun Sa was. Anyway we decided not to stay there though I can't really remember why. Probably the price. And so we moved on and checked out more guesthouses along the way.

Finally the girls decided that since they're more particular about the condition of the room, they'll leave their luggage with us and go around searching for a guesthouse. And so Guoquan and I waited for them in front of the Lost Book Shop. Since we had time to spare, I decided to look around the bookshop. Not too bad. There's a decent used-book collection and some of the books are dirt-cheap. Eventually I bought a copy of 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell.

Soon, the girls called. They've found a guesthouse. It was the Pha-Thai Guesthouse (48/1 Ratchaphakinai Road Prasing) which is located in the quiet, southeastern corner of the inner moat area. Each room, which came with a fan and solar-heated shower, cost us 300 baht. It's definitely worth every single baht. The rooms are comfortable and clean, and the owner is extremely friendly. The place also has a cafe and it offers trekking tours, but more on that later.

After settling in and resting a while, we decided it's time to start exploring Chiang Mai. But before that, we had to get some food, so we walked around the area looking for some food. Finally, we came across a food stall that's beside the road. I can't remember which road but it was definitely north of our guesthouse. None of the food stall owners could speak English, and I can't remember what meat they served. It was either beef or pork (Guoquan doesn't eat beef while Raudaa doesn't eat pork), so I had to do a lot of pointing and gesturing to get my message across that one of us doesn't want the meat. Finally, food was served. It was some noodle soup and amazingly, they got my order right. Goes to prove that some hand signs are universal. If all else fails, use your imagination and start acting out whatever you mean. It works amazingly well, and everyone will have a good laugh.

After lunch, we continued walking. Soon I spotted an unusual structure in the distance, and we decided to walk towards it. It was the Wat Chedi Luang. Its name means 'monastery of the great stupa' which is fitting, as it is the site of a very large Lanna style chedi, which is now in partial ruins. The chedi, which was originally 85m high, collapsed during an earthquake in 1545. At one time, Wat Chedi Luang had housed the Emerald Buddha, which is the most revered Buddha statue in Thailand. The Emerald Buddha however, has since been shifted to the Wat Phra Kaeo in Bangkok. Anyway, the wat is still an impressive site to behold despite being in partial ruins. One of its most striking architectural features is a Naga staircase that runs down its front. (Try to spot it in the picture below. But don't ask me about the strange lines in the lower right hand corner. I don't know what happened. It only appeared when I downsized the picture for the web. The original doesn't have those lines)

Anyway, when we were there, there were a bunch of school children racing along the sides of the Wat. Apparently it's some school activity because there were teachers around to supervise the kids. It's very interesting to see them racing up and down, but anyway, back to the wat. The Wat has four sides because it's sited on a piece of land that's roughly the shape of a square. Except for the front where there's a flight of stairs, the other three sides have ramps leading to the top. There's a niche for Buddha images on each of its four sides at the top of the staircase or ramp. You'll also see rows of elephant heads sculpted along the sides. On the western side of Wat Chedi Luang, there's a pavilion that houses a reclining Buddha statue and a few other Buddha statues.

Wat Chedi Luang

Anyway, within the pleasant and well-kept grounds of the Wat Chedi Luang, there are several other buildings, including the City Pillar and a Buddhist University. It was also here that we came across the Monk Chat, which is located somewhere in the north-eastern section. The Monk Chat is very interesting. It gives lay people like us a chance to chat with monks about Buddhism, Thai culture and anything else we want to talk about in English. And it's for free. So we sat down with one of the monks and started chatting with him. He told us that he's a forest monk, but apparently he's been staying in Chiang Mai for quite some time, so as to study at the university. He could also speak some Mandarin and we chatted for about ten minutes. Even though I can't really remember the specifics of what we talked about, but it's nice to chat with him. He had this calm and serene air about him that you rarely see in city folks. After asking him for directions to Wat Phra Singh, we decided to make a move. 

He'd told us that Wat Phra Singh's just around the corner, but after walking on for some time after leaving Wat Chedi Luang, we still couldn't find Wat Phra Singh. However, along the way, we passed by a couple of Wats. One of them is Wat Phan Tao which is just next to Wat Chedi Luang. We didn't enter but basically we saw a large, old teak wihaan (large hall in a Thai temple) that's supposedly one of the unsung treasures of Chiang Mai according to the Lonely Planet guidebook. From there we continued walking and soon we landed up at the Three Kings Monument that's roughly in the centre of the walled city. According to legend, the three kings had worked together to lay out the city of Chiang Mai. Behind the monument is the Chiang Mai City Art and Cultural Centre, but we didn't even consider going in.

After asking a few locals for directions, we finally found Wat Phra Singh. Like what the monk had said earlier, it's just a five minutes walk from Wat Chedi Luang, but somehow, we must have spent an hour looking for it. Before you start thinking that our sense of direction is hopeless, well, we had decided that we wanted to be surprised. Therefore, we were wandering around Chiang Mai without referring to a map. On hindsight, maybe that's not the smartest thing to do when you're searching for something, but if you just wanted to spend a lazy day walking around Chiang Mai, why not? That's how we landed up at the Talat Ton Phayom, a market near the Suan Dok Gate on the western side of the walled city, but more on that later.

Anyway, back to Wat Phra Singh. It dates from 1345 and offers an example of classic northern Thai style architecture. But I must have been suffering from wat-fatigue because I didn't find the main temple complex terribly interesting even though it's one of Chiang Mai's best known temples. Fortunately, just as I wanted to leave the place, monks started streaming into the hall and they all started chanting and praying. That probably made the place much more memorable for me, seeing the monks in their saffron robes sitting in rows and chanting before the Buddha image.

But even though I wasn't fascinated by the main temple complex, I must say the Wihaan Lai Kham at the back is gorgeous. It features Lanna-style temple murals and intricate gold patterns on red lacquer behind the altar. This is definitely a must-see.

Wihaan Lai Kham behind Wat Phra Singh

However, we did not stay long as dusk is approaching and we wanted to go to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. Besides, Wat Phra Singh seems to be shutting down as well. Outside the temple grounds, we got tuk-tuks to bring us over to the bazaar. Again, we had to split up into two teams so we arranged to meet up at the Suriwongse Hotel. Now, let me fill you in on a little history about the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. It's in fact the legacy of the original Yunnanese trading caravans that stopped here along the ancient trade route between Simao (China) and Mawlamyaing (Myanmar). Not that it'll enhance or diminish your shopping pleasure in any way as you'll find no traces of that ancient trade route, but still, it's interesting to know.

The night bazaar, which has been described as the mother of all Chiang Mai tourist shopping, refers to a multiblock area stretching along Thanon Chang Khlan, and if you're not careful, you'll end up with empty pockets and many shopping bags. But that might not be such a bad thing after all, is it? Anyway, we all met up at the Suriwongse Hotel and we walked over to the bazaar.

At first glance, there's nothing really unusual about the night bazaar. You'll find variations of it in cities like Bangkok and Phuket. Moreover, while there are many stalls, those selling unique items are few and far between. In most cases, you'll find that the stalls are selling the same mass-produced souvenirs. Still, I found the place quite enjoyable, though lacking in food options. We eventually found an eatery selling khao soi, which is one of the most characteristic northern Thai noodle dishes. It's a Shan-Yunnanese concoction of chicken, spicy curried broth, and flat, squiggly, wheat noodles. Do try it. It has a unique taste.

After dinner, we decided to split up to explore the place. So I went along with Guoquan, while Wan Churn went along with Raudaa. The night bazaar is huge and it seems to stretch on forever. Besides souvenirs, clothes and fake designer goods, you'll also be able to buy hill-tribe crafts at the bazaar. That's because many tribespeople set up their own stalls here, and you'll see people from the Akha tribe wandering around on foot. While it's interesting to see them walking around in their colourful costumes, be wary of looking too closely. I realised that most of them are pretty pushy salespeople as well. Anyway, tribe-people or not, it's very important to bargain at the night bazaar. That's because prices have been marked up and if you don't bargain, you'll end up paying much more for an item which you can probably find cheaper down the road.

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

After we bought what we needed, Guoquan and I decided to go for a one-hour massage. We found one near The Peak Rock-Climbing Plaza on Changklan Road. It was a brightly-lit shop with thin mattresses lying side by side on the floor. We had a choice of either the Thai massage, oil massage or foot reflexology. We chose the one-hour Thai massage which cost us 150 baht. It was pretty good, though painful at times.

After the massage, we met up with the girls and we decided to head towards the Anusan Night Market for supper. That's because the people at the night bazaar are packing up and closing their stalls after midnight. After a delicious supper of mango sticky-rice, we took tuk-tuks back to the guesthouse. Back there, we booked a one-day trek for the following day. It cost us 700 baht each.

The next morning, we got up at around seven for the trek. After we had our breakfast at the guesthouse, the minivan arrived. There were already a few other foreigners on board and they'll be our companions for the rest of the one-day trek. Our guide was a friendly guy called Charlie. Soon, we were on the road. Once again, we passed by green fields and rolling hills before we came to a stop somewhere in the San Patong area, which is in the south of Chiang Mai. Don't ask me where exactly because I've no idea. Anyway, that was our starting point for a short trek to a Hmong village.

Charlie led us down a pathway into the forest. Within minutes, I could hear some water sounds, and I guessed we were near a river. Soon, we reached the river, and we saw that the only way across is via a rickety suspension bridge fashioned out of wooden sticks and ropes. And over to its right are the remnants of an old bridge. Before you start thinking that this sounds like some Indiana Jones movie, well it isn't the case. For one, the bridge is not suspended over some mountain gorge (the drop is less than ten metres), and also, the river isn't very wide. Still, it's fun to cross it and if you feel like shaking things up a little, you can always sway the bridge. But don't blame me if the bridge falls apart.

Anyway, after crossing the bridge, the path started sloping upwards though it's never so steep that you have to crawl up on all fours. Still, I could hear some heavy panting (hint: from some of the youngest members in the group). Along the way, Charlie stopped every now and then to point out some interesting stuff. He also taught us some of the games that the tribe people play. For example, you can get a loud pop sound when you cup a certain leaf in one hand, and hit it with the other hand. He also showed us another plant whereby if we break the stem slightly and blow through it, we get air bubbles. Sounds simple, looks simple, but it's definitely not simple. Most of us failed miserably in our attempts.

After going uphill for about 45 minutes and passing a couple of other tour groups along the way, we finally arrived at the Hmong village. Well, I don't know how authentic it is because it's definitely catered to tourists. Right at the front of the village, there's a sign that says Tribal Culture Centre Banhuay Numrin, and on it's left, there's another sign that lists out the attractions of the village. Well, in case you want to know, the attractions include a tribal museum, tribal handicraft centre, traditional house building and even overnight homestay.

After entering the village, Charlie led us into some of the huts. He then showed us some of the tools that the Hmongs use to grind their rice and so on. In another hut, he showed us displays of costumes and jewellery. Well, if you ask me, it feels like we've stepped into a museum. Outside the huts, there's a row of souvenir stalls manned by women in tribal dress. In particular, one woman who was carrying a baby on her back, kept asking us to take pictures of her. Well, I smelled something fishy, but still, I couldn't resist and I took a picture. As soon as the flash went off, her hand stretched out and she asked for money. Since it's just 20baht, I gave it to her anyway. Shortly after, I noticed that the same thing happened to a Finnish guy who was part of our group.

That aside, the visit to the village was alright, though it feels more like a tourist trap than anything else. But you can't expect too much from a one day trek, can you? At least you'll get to see some nice views of the surrounding countryside at the top. Since the village wasn't very interesting, we spent most of our time up there trying to snap pictures of the kids. They were running about and climbing trees which made them challenging subjects to shoot since they were moving around so much.

Hmong Hill Tribe

Soon, it was time to head off for our next destination. Before we went downhill, Wan Churn decided to go to the loo. Suddenly, we heard some screams coming from the toilet. Wan Churn had tore her pants (she bought it at the night bazaar the night before). Therefore, she asked Raudaa to buy a pair of pants for her. Alas, the village doesn't sell pants, and the only pair of pants that's available is a hideous green number with orange side panels punctuated with small yellow balls. And the worst thing is, one side of the pants is longer than the other. But still, Wan Churn doesn't have a choice, does she? When she came out, we couldn't stop laughing. It was so hilarious.

Well, I'm sure she doesn't want me to dwell on the topic any further so let's move on. We went down the same way we came up. At the bottom of the hill, we all boarded the minivan which took us to the Karen village. This time, we didn't have to climb any hills. It was situated just beside a road. This village definitely feels more authentic than the Hmong village despite the horde of tourists. They live in wooden houses raised on stilts, beneath which live their domestic animals such as pigs. I also noticed that the roofs were made of overlapping leaves. How interesting.

Anyway, Charlie brought us to visit a lady who was weaving some scarves. We all sat there for a while, watching her at work. Charlie told us that she's married because she's wearing blue and red, which is considered bold colours. Unmarried girls wear white v-necked blouses. We didn't stay long at the village. In less than half an hour, we were off again to our next stop, which was lunch. Lunch was a delicious vegetarian spread, which Guoquan says is the best food he had in Thailand. During lunch, we had the chance to chat with a friendly American couple who were visiting Asia for the first time. Charlie also taught us how to say hello in Hmong. I copied it down in my notebook but I can't remember how to pronounce it now. See if you can, it's spelt as nyobzoo. After lunch, our next stop was the Mae Sa Pok Waterfall.

The waterfall's near a Royal Project Development Centre. The centre aims to curtail opium cultivation and bring legitimate livelihoods to the hill tribes. For instance, it offers training to villagers in cultivating cash crops so that they can earn an income and develop their own food sources. Well, hopefully it succeeds. We didn't get to explore the area. Charlie led us to a dirt path which leads to the waterfall. The waterfall's just a few minutes walk down the path. You can see the picture of the waterfall below so I guess I don't have to describe it. It's not a very grand waterfall, but nice enough. Even before we had finished taking our pictures, we were told to move on again. Well, I guess that's a common problem when you're travelling in a tour group. You can never control the amount of time you want to spend at each site.

Mae Sa Pok Waterfall

Our next stop's an elephant camp. We were going for an elephant ride through the jungle. We 'boarded' the elephants from a raised platform. Raudaa and Wan Churn got on one, while Guoquan and I got on the other. The lurching, lumbering gait of an elephant takes a bit of getting used to. They sway a lot, and I could even feel myself sliding off the seats on the elephant's back when it's descending down a slope. Just like in Phuket, the trail here went past shallow streams and along a forest path. If you feel like it, you can even slide off your seats and sit directly on the elephant's back. That is if you don't mind the coarse skin, and prickly hairs that covers its body.

After at least half an hour (I don't remember how long exactly), the elephants completed the loop and brought us back to the raised platform. There, they've got a system going to get a little more money from you. A lady stands there offering bananas for sale. How can you say no to feeding your elephant? Therefore, we bought a few bunches of bananas to offer to the elephants who took it directly off our hands using their trunks.

After feeding the elephants, we headed back to our minivan which brought us to our last stop for the day- bamboo rafting. As its name suggests, the rafts are made of bamboo poles tied together. The four of us shared one raft. We all took turns standing at the back to steer the thing using a long pole. Of course, a local guy was standing in front doing most of the hard work with his pole. It was a very pleasant experience floating down the river, at times quite slowly, other times more quickly and getting wet. There were also parts of the river that's full of rocks and those standing in front or at the back had to push off the rocks using the poles. During Raudaa's 'shift' to steer the raft, we heard a loud splashing sound. When we turned around, we found that she's already in the water. No one, including herself, had any idea what happened. She said that the last thing she remembered was that the pole struck her cheek and she fell into the water. Anyway, it was funnier than it sounds. Unfortunately, or fortunately, none of us had our cameras with us because Charlie had warned us that we might get wet, so there are no pictures to remember that fall.

Anyway, it seems like that fall gave the other boatman the license to start splashing us with water, and so the water fight began. Whenever the two rafts drew close, we'll try to drench each other by hitting the water with our bamboo poles. It was all in good fun, and it was almost sad when we reached our destination about an hour later. This was the end of our one day trek and the only thing remaining was the drive back to Chiang Mai. On the way back, I chatted with a Finnish guy who was studying in New Zealand. He had decided to travel alone in Thailand before heading home to Helsinki for the holidays. He told me that the Thais had found it strange that he was travelling alone but in his country, it was common for people to travel alone. I guess it's a culture thing, collectivistic societies versus individualistic societies.

Soon, we arrived in Chiang Mai and the minivan dropped us off at each of our guesthouses. Ours was the last stop. After bathing and relaxing a while, we decided to check out the night bazaar one more time before we left Thailand the next day. But before we headed there, we decided to have dinner at the Chiang Mai Night Market which is near Pratu Chiang Mai (Chiang Mai Gate). It's just a short walk away from our guesthouse. There were numerous food stalls selling all kinds of food, even grilled eggs. I don't know how they managed to skewer the eggs without all its contents dripping out, but in case you wanna know, it's delicious. We decided to grab a seat and order a variety of food to share. So Wan Churn and I went around all the stalls ordering all sorts of food, but unfortunately, I couldn't find any food stalls selling khao soi. Still, the rest of the food we ordered was delicious and after having had our fill, we set off for the night bazaar.

After shopping around and buying all our last minute souvenirs, we all decided to go for a massage at the same place that Guoquan and I went the day before. Well, perhaps you shouldn't go for a massage two days in a row. It was much more painful for me the second time round. After that, we decided to have some supper before retiring for the day.

The next morning, we got up at around six to catch the monks on their alms rounds. I must have slept for less than three hours and I almost didn't want to go but Guoquan was already all prepared, so I decided to change and get ready. Guoquan went to give the girls a morning call but it seems like they were too tired to get out, so we headed out without them. The air was pretty chilly this early in the morning, but I think we must have gotten up too late because we didn't manage to see many monks, and the few that we saw seem to have completed their alms rounds. Soon, we ended up at Wat Phra Singh. Finally the light was in the right direction so I decided to take a couple of pictures. I noticed that many of the wats in Chiang Mai face east. That basically means that you'll have a big problem if you try to take your pictures in the afternoon because all your pictures will be back-lit. After that, we walked over to the Chiang Mai gate area before heading back to the guesthouse.

It seems like the girls did manage to wake up after all. And despite getting out later than us, they saw more monks. In fact, Wan Churn managed to offer alms to one of the monks. By doing so, she has received some merit for the day. Anyway, back at the guesthouse, we packed up and checked out of our rooms. We were allowed to leave our luggage in the storeroom and come back for it later in the day at no extra charge. After having breakfast at a food stall near the Chiang Mai gate, we hailed a red songthaew that would bring us all the way up to Doi Suthep which is a mountain about sixteen kilometres northwest of Chiang Mai.

Though Doi Suthep is only 1676 metres high, the number of winding turns stretches the actual drive uphill to over 6 miles from the base of the hill. Now, Doi Suthep is most famous for a large wat near its summit. The Wat Phra That Doi Suthep was first established in 1383 and it's one of northern Thailand's most sacred temples.

According to legend, the temple's site was selected by an auspicious elephant. The story goes that a monk named Sumana placed half of a Buddha relic on an elephant's back and set it loose. It was decided that when the elephant stopped walking, a temple would be built on that exact spot to house the gem. Instead of stopping at an easy site, the elephant began climbing the hill - and finally paused on the brow.

Our driver finally dropped us near the steps leading to the temple. There, we saw an elephant that's chained to a post so that tourists can take pictures with it. It's a sad sight. Because of the short chain, the elephant was unable to move anywhere, and it could only sway its head from side to side. I don't know how to react to this. On the one hand, if you oppose such activities, where will the elephants end up? But on the other hand, you don't want to encourage such acts of cruelty. We decided that we didn't want to support it. The elephants deserve better.

Back to the temple. To reach the top, you need to climb up more than 300 steps. But if you're not up to it, there's always the funicular cable-car option which takes you right up to the top for 20 baht. We chose the healthier option. Actually 300 steps is not as bad as it sounds. In fact, we were thinking how easy the 306 steps were. Along the way, you can look at the naga (serpent) lining the sides of the staircase. At the top, we followed a sign saying 'foreigner this way please'. Well, clearly there were different pricing schemes for locals and foreigners. We paid 30 baht to enter. The ticket says that the fee will be used for overhead costs, maintenance expenses incurred at the temple and also to support education for poor students in the remote areas.

Within the temple grounds, we saw many Buddhas, most covered with gold, some placed in separate smaller temples around the main central temple. There were also many gongs and bells around the outer courtyard. At the back of the temple grounds, there's a lookout point (they call it the view point) which overlooks Chiang Mai. Apparently you'll get some great views of Chiang Mai and the airport if the weather is fine, but when we're there, the city looked distant, hazy and flat. Beside the view point, you'll find the temple museum. In my opinion, the small museum isn't really worth a look, but hey, what's to stop you from popping your head in when you're there.

After encircling the outer courtyard, we finally entered the inner courtyard. In the middle of the marble-tiled courtyard is the Lanna-style, copper-plated chedi topped by a five-tiered gold umbrella. It's one of the classic images of Chiang Mai. Chances are you've already seen pictures of this chedi when you come across anything related to Chiang Mai. Parasols, which are symbols of royal regalia, have been placed at the four corners of the chedi. It's a beautiful sight.

The courtyard is lined by a cloister which contains Buddha images and murals depicting the life of the Buddha. In the middle of the east and west sides of the cloister are two ornate viharn. The inside walls of both are covered with murals. Do have a look at it.

Doi Suthep

Soon, we left the temple and headed back to Chiang Mai. Our songthaew driver dropped us off in front the Wat Phra Singh. We decided to spend the rest of the day wandering around Chiang Mai without a map. After making a couple of turns, we ended up at Pratu Suan Dok (Suan Dok Gate), which is on the western side of the walled city. Just beyond that is the Talat Ton Phayom which features all manner of fresh produce, cooked foods and clothes. This is a very non-touristy market. In fact, I didn't see any other tourists when we're there. Because the market is near Chiang Mai University and the undergraduates make up a good portion of the clientele, prices tend to be low. In fact, very low. Raudaa got a pair of slippers for just 19baht.

From the market, we continued walking and after making a few more turns, lo and behold, we're back at Wat Phra Singh. To think that we had such trouble finding it on the first day and now we found it without making any effort. It was very amusing. Anyway by then, time was running out. We decided to head towards the Three Kings Monument to see whether we can buy any last minute souvenirs there. Near the monument, we found a shop that sold some Thai snacks. Since we didn't have time to shop around anymore, we bought about 300 baht worth of snacks. The lady must have been so surprised to see this bunch of foreigners coming in and grabbing all the snacks.

After a quick dinner at a cafe for students (the portions were so small!), we walked over to the Lanna Architecture Centre. It's a two-storey traditional Thai wooden house that's been reinvented as an art space and architectural gallery. There are some models of traditional Thai buildings but overall not very interesting. A quick peek should suffice.

After less than ten minutes at the Centre, we rushed out to flag down a songthaew that would take us to the airport. Along the way, we dropped by our guesthouse to pick up our luggage before continuing the journey. The airport is 2 to 3km from the city centre, so we were there in no time at all. The airport looks modern and nondescript. After checking-in and paying for our 500 baht departure tax, we went into the departure lounge to await our flight to Singapore.

Click to view my Chiang Mai pictures.