Destination Report: Chiang Mai – Part One: What to do, see, eat and avoid

After spending a lovely summer in Europe, we embarked on a 6 months journey in South East Asia (SEA). While Mrs. NN already visited SEA before we even met, I never set foot there so there was definitely some excitement in exploring a brand new region as part of our 2nd year of nomadic travel. For our first stop, we decided to stay an entire month in Chiang Mai Thailand and we were blown away by the culture, the food and the digital nomad community. So without further ado, let’s go explore Chiang Mai and unveil in this two part article what we did, ate and saw!

Overall, we gave Chiang Mai a 5 out of 5 stars rating (see our rating legend below). Our accommodation was really modern, clean and pretty comfortable. The location was really good with walkable access to the old town, markets, grocery stores, restaurants and probably the best neighborhood you can imagine for long term stay in Chiang Mai. Groceries and food, in‌ ‌general, were really good besides the fact that some restaurants will use refined oil and MSG. The public transportation is nonexistent but you can get Grab (the equivalent of Uber) pretty much anywhere for a very low fee. The “expat” community has been the best we’ve found to date!  The drawbacks for us are the 30-day limit tourist visa (though extensions can get granted up to 90 days) and air quality (though at this time of the year we were fine). 

Our five stars rating system:

• 1 star: We hated this place and definitely do not plan to come back.
• 2 stars: We did not like this place and do not plan to come back.
• 3 stars: We liked this place but do not plan to come back.
• 4 stars: We really liked this place & we might consider coming back.
• 5 stars: We loved this place and are actually consider coming back This is a place we could call home someday. 

With that being said, let’s look into what we liked the most and what we recommend to do in Chiang Mai! 

Where We Traveled Chiang Mai, Thailand

Number of Days 1 entire month (from October 11, 2019 to November 13, 2019)

Type of Travel Married Couple, Slow Travel/Nomadic, Price Conscious

Note: Unless specified otherwise, prices are in USD and were converted from the local currency (THB or Thai Baht) to USD using a 1:30 ratio. (so 1 THB = 0.033 USD). 

Introduction

Chiang Mai is the hub of Northern Thailand with a population of over 170,000 in the city proper (1M+ in the metropolitan area). It has become one of the hottest digital nomad destinations for its extremely low price, culture, food and expat community! 

What did we do, see and eat?

There is a LOT happening in Chiang Mai so you might not be able to do everything in an entire month. This would be especially true if, like us, you are into cooking and eating local food, massages and practicing meditation. A great place to learn what is happening in Chiang Mai is to join the Chiang Mai Expat Facebook group and Chiang Mai Expat Women’s Facebook group. This is a great way to meet with likeminded people as well as to discover what is happening in this city.

Now let’s dig into our favorites places to eat, shop and get entertained. To help you, we’ve included all the places that we call out below in the following Google Maps. 

Our Favorite Sights/Activities:

We stayed a 25 minute walk away from the border of the Old Town and a 5 minute away from the MAYA Mall, which is a great mall with plenty of food options, a great movie theater and even a free co-working space.

Here are the places we recommend to check out in the Old Town of Chiang Mai:

• Saturday Night Market Walking Street – This is a must see market in Chiang Mai. It extends well over a kilometer from the old southern gate of the old town and it is of magnitude greater than similar walking markets mainly due to its size and diversity of items to purchase.
  Our pro-tip: This market gets pretty crowded so make sure to be there as early as 4pm when people start setting up their stands.

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• Sunday Night Market – This is a smaller version of the Saturday market but it’s very similar and have more of a focus on crafts. We’ve come back to this market every weekend to enjoy mostly the food (like sugar cane juice and roti) and never got tired of it.

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• Yi Peng Festival (aka the Lantern Festival) – This celebration took place in 2019 on November 11-12. (Note: the date change every year as it’s based on the 2nd full moon night on the Thai Lanna Calendar). Locals decorate their house by hanging lanterns. They also light up “sky lanterns” as Thai believe it will bring them good luck. In addition, many locals believe that when they set lantern flying, they are releasing their worries and problems away. This makes for a lovely show, but unfortunately, it comes at the price of sending a lot of trash in the sky and the river. Also, security during the event in the city of Chiang Mai was nonexistent so be ready to be part of a big crown and experience some chaos 🙂

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After that, there are a few places worth checking within Chiang Mai proper:

• Cooking class on a farm – Since Thailand has a unique cuisine, we decided to take a cooking class to learn more about the local cuisine. It was so special and intimate versus the cookie-cutter tourist cooking experiences. The host and her family were very welcoming of us into their gorgeous farm. We were able to see and pick local Thai ingredients such as morning glory, lime, mint, mulberry leaves, and turmeric. The host’s hill tribe friends were very knowledgeable about the forest and all of the use of the plants. The dishes we cook were all delicious with fresh ingredients from the farm. We even made our coconut milk! There were so many highlights and surprises during this day-long class that it is hard to include them all! If you are visiting Chiang Mai you can book this experience on AirBnB here. Trust us, you won’t regret it 🙂

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• Wat Phra That Doi Suthep – A popular temple among the tourists visiting Chiang Mai. We spent about 2 hours there (took a Grab to get to the temple and a red taxi to get back).
  Cost:  30 THB (~1 USD) for the entrance. 180 THB (5.4 USD) for the roundtrip transport.
• Monk Chat – If you are interested to know more about Buddhism and the life of a monk in Chiang Mai, you can ask them questions during these weekly sessions.
  Cost: FREE.
• Introduction to meditation (one day) [Monday or Friday]- The people running the monk chat (Phra KK among others) offer a full-day introduction to Buddhism/meditation at the same location (Wat Suan Dok temple). It was an amazing experience that was very educational. We learned a lot about Buddhism from philosophy and way of life perspective and we practiced a bit of meditation (sitting meditation, walking meditation, and focus meditation). It is a wonderful class, especially if you have zero experience with these concepts. (Register here)
  Cost: FREE (Donations are encouraged).
• Meditation retreat (2 days overnight stay) [Tuesday and Wednesday] – If you liked the introduction to meditation or already have some meditation experience and want to bring your practice to the next level, then this will be the next step in your learning process. This meditation starts from the Wat Suan Dok temple but you will be quickly transferred to a meditation center away from the city in a beautiful natural surrounding. The retreat starts with a light intro to Buddhism and then goes into practicing meditation and contemplating your food. It ends with a great Q&A session with monk Phra KK who is an amazing person. Highly recommend! Note: This is a silent meditation so from the time you arrive at the time you leave, you will not be able to speak to your peers. (Register here)
  Cost: 800 THB per person (+ 300 THB for a pair of white pants & shirt) or (~24.6 to 36.3 USD).

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We haven’t explored outside of the city during this first trip to Chiang Mai and will be something we hope to do next year because yes, we are already planning to return next year!

Our Favorite Restaurants:

In the Old Town of Chiang Mai:

• Blue Diamond – This central restaurant in the Old Town is a brunch paradise with lots of different healthy options such as fruit platters, coconut yogurt and lots of baked goods. They offer a large menu with lots of gluten free options that were to the delight of Mrs. Nomad Numbers.
  Cost: 440 THB (~14.5 USD) for a generous lunch (for 2 people).

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• Bodhi Tree Cafe – A great vegetarian Thai restaurant in the Old Town that uses healthy oil and no MSG. We liked the space as it is quite relaxing and while the service can be long, it pays off since the dishes are made as you order them.
  Cost: Between 200-250 THB (~6.6-8.2 USD) for lunch/dinner (for 2 people).

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• The Salad Concept – Finding a large amount of veggies and salad while eating out in Chiang Mai can be challenging. So if you feel like you need to detox a bit from all of the Thai cuisine you’ve been indulging on, this place is right for you. They offer great salads starting at 60 THB with 5 toppings.
  Cost: 200 THB (~6.6 USD) for lunch/dinner (for 2 people)

In Chiang Mai proper:

• CentralPlaza ChiangMai Airport food court – We stumbled upon this food court on our way back from the immigration office to extend our tourist visas. The food selection is quite large and it is really affordable. So if you happen to be in the area, we would definitely recommend to stop by this place.
  Cost: 50 THB (~1.6 USD) for a place of rice with 3 toppings, 35 THB (~1.2 USD) for a fish soup, 70 THB (~2.3 USD) for 10 dumplings.

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• Imm Aim Vegetarian & Bike Cafe – Mrs. Nomad Number’s favorite restaurant in Chiang Mai. The atmosphere is really nice and the food is really good. Plus they also focus on cooking without MSG and using healthy oils.
  Cost: 40 THB (1.3 USD) for a fruit juice, 60 THB (~2 USD) for some beautiful spring rolls, 80 THB (~2.6 USD) for a salad, 80 THB (~2.6 USD) for a Pad Thai.

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• MAYA Lifestyle Shopping Center – Oh boy, we loved this place for so many reasons and we are not normally mall people. First of all it has a great lower floor with a lot of really good food options (hence we are adding it here). This place also has a top notch movie theater and a FREE co-working space that I’ve been using quite extensively to get some of these blog post articles done.
  Cost: 30 THB (~1 USD) for a fruit juice, 45 THB (1.5 USD) for a Pad Thai, 60 THB (~2 USD) for a vegan plate.

• Tikky Cafe – This place was next to our apartment and we really liked it. It is a nice restaurant with traditional dishes and the juices are deli-cious.
  Cost: 40 THB (~1.3 USD) for a juice, 50 THB (~1.6 USD) for a pad thai, 80 THB (~2.6 USD) for a curry/veggie dish.

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• Cube No. 7 – This place is rather expensive but it’s because they cater to a weekly Crypto currency meetup group that have influenced them to provide a Keto menu. If Keto is your thing, then you will be happy to find many options at this restaurant. We only stopped by to enjoy their dessert so can’t comment on the menu but thought it would be worth adding it here. 

Our Favorite Sweets Spots:

• Khunkae’s Juice Bar – This place has been the best we’ve found for smoothie bowls. It has a large menu, service is great and while the place is small it is very nice.
  Cost: 90 THB (~3 USD) per smoothie bowl, 40 THB (~1.3 USD) for a juice.

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• Ice cream I love you – This place has vegan ice cream, a great selection of flavors (30+!) and was recommended to us by a friend who lived in Chiang Mai. We didn’t try a ton of ice cream shops but this one definitely hit the spot, especially if you want a nice ice cream tasting experience.
  Cost: 125 THB (~4 USD) for 3 scoops.

• Ikati Froyo – This place is outside of the MAYA Shopping center (in the market which stands in front of it on the other side of the road) and offers coconut based frozen yogurt which is delicious!
  Cost: 50 THB (~1.6 USD) for one cup.

• Shibuya Soft Ice Cream – This place is inside the MAYA Shopping center (ground flour) and serves milk based frozen yogurt.
  Cost: 39 THB (~1.3 USD) for one cup.

Our Favorite Grocery Stores/Markets:

Here are our top recommendations:

• JingJai Farmer’s Market – This is our favorite organic market in Chiang Mai period. The market has organic produce, prepared food, drinks and also crafts to purchase.
  Our pro-tip: The market close at 1pm with some shops starting to pack up their goods as early as 12pm so make sure to show up early. Also, this market is only open on Saturday and Sunday with Sunday being the day with the best amount of merchants selling goods. 

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• Siri Wattana (Thanin) Market – This was our daily market where we did pretty much all of our grocery shopping (along with JingJai Farmer’s market on Sunday). There is definitely a local atmosphere that you need to get used to, especially if you are used to western hygiene rules. Also, get yourself some reusable bags, tupperware and a reusable bottle so you can avoid using enormous amounts of plastic which is prevalent at local markets. (see Mrs. Nomad Number’s packing list for the zero waste items we carry with us).
  Our pro-tip: Make sure to wash the produce you bring back home before preparing them (you can wash them for a few minutes in a solution of water + baking soda).

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• Rimping Supermarket (inside the Maya Lifestyle Shopping Center) –
  This is a nice, air-conditioned western style grocery store. Only go to this supermarket for items you won’t find at the farmer’s market (healthy cooking oils, specific packaged foods etc…). Regular produce is way overpriced compared to the local markets.

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Our Favorite places to take care of ourselves:

Here are our top recommendations:

• Lapas Massage – This is your middle range massage shop in Chiang Mai. The place is really clean and spacious. We ordered a 1hr oil massage and requested coconut oil (better than the default massage oil – which is also cheaper). We went upstairs to a private room with two massage tables. The quality of the massage was really good and we could tell that our masseuses were experienced. At the end of the massage, a cup of sugary tea and some biscuits were waiting for us.
  Cost: 450 THB (~ 17.8 USD) for a 1hr oil massage. (+ tip).

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• Boon Hug Sa Thai Massage – Can you believe that you can get a 1 hour Thai massage for $5 USD? While we were happy about getting a massage at Lapas Massage, we wanted to know what we would get at the lower end of the spectrum so we went to this place and were pleasantly surprised. It was clean, empty and the quality of the massage was pretty good. Of course, the setting was very basic, there was no a/c and we did not get the nice tea and biscuits at the end of the experience but we saved 300 THB which could cover tea and biscuits for an entire month 🙂
  Cost: 150 THB (~5 USD) for a 1hr Thai massage. (+ tip).

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• Dental 4U – We’ve been looking to get our teeth cleaned while in Thailand and went to this dental office. The office speaks great english, their dentist studied in California and he specialized in implant surgery and the nurses that did our cleaning were really gentle and very capable. While our cleaning was good and left us satisfied, we noticed that it wasn’t as strong as the ones we get back in the US. It was a very good first experience in Dental tourism and we plan on continuing to get our cleaning done overseas.
  Cost: 700 THB (or ~23 USD) per person for a cleaning.

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What to avoid

While it’s great to call out what to check out, we think it is as important to also include what NOT to do. These are activities/places we stayed away from. Of course, taste is personal and so your preference might vary.

• Avoid paying hefty ATM fee (220 THB or ~7 USD). Follow our recommendation on How to never pay ATM fees while traveling abroad so you can enjoy taking as much (or little) money as you want from an ATM in Thailand without having to pay any fees! 
• Avoid refilling water at the water dispensers – We heard some terrible stories of people getting infections due to unsanitized water that came out of these dispensers. Although it’s a great idea in concept and would have been nice to reduce bottle usage, it’s a risk we weren’t willing to take. A 6L bottle of unfiltered water will cost you 40 THB (~1.3 USD) at the 7-Eleven. 

• Avoid eating at the touristy restaurants in Old Town – From our observation, many of these restaurants have much higher prices than outside of the old town wall for a quality that isn’t that different. This might be great and convenient for people visiting as tourists and who live in the old town but not for people like us that like to live like the locals.
• Go to the Saturday/Sunday Night Market Walking Street over the Night Bazaar – While the former only takes place on the weekend, it is magnitudes better than the daily bazaar. 
• Avoid renting a scooter – Traffic in Chiang Mai is insane! You need to always keep attention to other scooters, driving on the left side and dogs that will randomly be crossing the road. Also if you still want to rent a scooter, make sure you have the proper driver’s license and that your insurance will cover you in case of an accident (which isn’t usually the case if you use a US driving license). One of our friends decided to get his Thai motorcycle license in Chiang Mai. It is a 1-2 day process that is relatively straightforward and lets you legally drive a scooter in all asean countries (from an insurance & police check perspective). Please leave us a comment if you need more information on that.
• Avoid the tuk tuks! Use Grab instead. It is like Uber but at a fraction of the cost! 

• Avoid the Elephant sanctuary tours! (or do plenty of research to make sure you can find a place where elephants are treated well). We did our homework (and read reviews like the one from our friends at All Things Considered) and came to the conclusion that there wasn’t anything that we wanted to support so we skipped this activity entirely. If you do know a great place that treat elephants well, please leave us a comment.

Our Slow Travelers Tips

Slow travel is part of our philosophy. It gives us the opportunity to really connect with a place by not having to experience FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and getting unnecessarily stressed for being on a schedule. With slow travel, we can see all the iconic sights and have time to spare to find the more offbeat spots that most tourists miss. Most of the time, those are the absolute gems. And as this blog post explains, we spend much less by leveraging “local” pricing and being able to get long stay discounts.

Here are some tips to maximize a nice and enjoyable stay in Chiang Mai:

• Enjoy the amazing food. With food so good and so affordable, Chiang Mai was the first place where we ate out every single day for at least one meal. We had a simple kitchen in our condo so we did often cook one meal at home and brought back many tropical fruits for snacks. So good 🙂
• Don’t be afraid of food stalls. You might go to a market and think twice about eating some of the food you will see. It turns out that street food is probably the safest food you can get in Thailand. Use common sense (of course) by going to stalls that are busy and you will enjoy things you’ve probably never had before!
• Watch for the traffic. You probably heard it but seeing how people drive here is quite an experience. While they seem to be managing the chaos they create, make sure to watch out when walking and especially crossing roads. 
• Don’t forget to tip when applicable.This includes services like Massages (at least 50 THB per person), haircut or tours. Tipping isn’t necessary when taking a taxi, or eating out. 
• Plan your visit during good air quality season. Air pollution can be really bad (AQI > 300) during the burning season (which is usually from February to April). During our stay which was outside of the burning season, we did experience a few really bad days prior to the Lantern festival (with AQI ~150) and that sucked already. So I can’t imagine what it is like to live in Chiang Mai with AQI > 300.

What about the cost? 

Because our destination reports were getting so long, we decided to split them into two parts. Part one (this part) is about what to do/see/eat. Part two (coming up next week) will be about the costs where we will be uncovering all the juicy details about our budget and how much the two of us spent during our stay. Make sure you sign-up for our newsletter so you will get this post (and any upcoming ones) as soon as they go live. In the meantime, if you really want some numbers, feel free to check out our past destination reports.

Would you be interested in going to Chiang Mai? Does the combination of Thai food and culture appeal to you? Maybe you’ve already been? Feel free to share your experience and ask questions by leaving a comment below.