Putting aside its traffic, Chiang Mai is a leisurely place best for relaxation. There are not too much attractions or distraction, and all we’re left, were visiting the many wats, the one and only big shopping mall in town and riding motorbikes to Doi Suthep.
Doi Suthep is the highest point in Chiang Mai with Wat Phra That Doi Suthep at the top and it’s accessible by taking the red Songtheaw, renting a car or if one is slightly adventurous, motorbike is a good option. If you’re taking taxi, take note that if can only brings you to a certain point where you must changed to a songtheaw with an extra fare. It seemed like taxis are not allowed to go up Doi Suthep.
We rented a bike for 200Bth/24 hours and CS had his happy time zig-zaging the hilly road up to Doi Suthep.
Entrance fee for Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is 30 Baht and 10 Baht per way if you would like to take the lift. As we had plenty of food while we’re in Chiang Mai, I thought walking up 309 steps to the wat will be a good workout to lessen my guilt. The Naga Serpent staircase was very well built with mostly consistent depths and width, so the climb was better than I had imagined. It was only when we reached midway, I had to stop to catch my breath and adjusting to the chill breeze.
The view would have been great if not ruined by the pavilion built here for the tourists to sit and watch the dancing performance.
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Monks giving blessing and tying a string on our hands.
Food court in Kad Suan Kaew shopping mall, biggest mall in Chiang Mai.
We jumped at the chance to have mussel omelette. The mussels were sweet, without a doubt, but the omelette is a little oily.
Beef noodle wasn’t something to write home about as it taste like zow zow instant noodles again, although I did enjoyed the juicy beef slice on it.
The last time we were in Thailand was 2010 and I thought CS would have forgot about Blizzard. Fat chance! The first thing he tried to find in shopping mall was Dairy Queen’s outlet for their Blizzard. Nowadays they even turned the cup upside down for us to prove that the sundaes were solid enough not to drip.
One shouldn’t miss trying out the Pad Thai from Sunday Market. They were having such a brisk business that it’s hard to overlook it. For a mere 40Bht, we were served with Pad Thai with big fresh prawns.
We stopped at Morradoke Restaurant for our dinner after seeing the good reviews about it from Tripadvisors. (Yes, I am a Tripadvisor addict). We haven’t got our first taste of tom yam in CM, so ordering a bowl of tomyam was inevitable. Maybe they was worried we couldn’t handle the spiciness or what (CS was constantly mistaken as a Japanese), the tomyam has very little ‘kick’.
Sweet and sour prawn was flavorful cooked to almost perfection. Almost. The flaw was on the amount of prawns given. There were only 4 pieces of prawns given in this medium portion of dish.
To be honest we regretted eating at Morradoke as their portion were smaller and pricey, with a slow service to match. There are plenty of cheaper and better food in Chiang Mai.
