First few days in Chiang mai

Well we’ve been here in Chiang mai for a few days now and thought it about time to update our blog! Our first few days have mainly been dedicated to sorting out our months accommodation and figuring out the lay of the Chiang mai land. There has been a lot of wondering and exploring the city, mostly around the Nimmen area which appears to be a great mix of old school traditional Thailand and cafes/bars that would not be out of place in Melbourne… We have had no problems sourcing decent coffee either :) and have become particularily fond of thai iced coffees (amazing in the hot humid weather here!)

The food so far has not disappointed, with awesome Pad Thai available everywhere and amazing Spicy Papaya salads…. Tonight is the Saturday Street Walking markets in Chiang mai where we will hopefully be extending our experiences to street food!

Spicy Papaya Salad

During out explorations we came across the impressive Maya shopping mall… Super fancy looking with all sorts of clothing and electronic stores, along with a pretty cool co-working space up top!

CAMP space @ Maya Shopping Mall

We spent a bit of time there yesterday looking for accommodation, eating Chinese buns (yum!) and just escaping the heat for a bit… the outdoor area had a fantastic view of the mountains surrounding Chiang mai as well…

And finally one of our favourite experiences in Chiang mai was taking a red share taxi home yesterday (we had had enough walking for the day!)… these are the main form of taxi transport in Chiang mai and are basically a ute with a roof. You let the driver know where you want to go and he will nod if he is heading in that direction and you jump into the back tray! Not the most time efficient way to get home (our driver picked up more people on our trip and decided he was no longer going our way and so hailed another red taxi for us to change to!) but an awesome way to see the city! and for the bargain price of 30THB each (about $1.20AUD)!

So all in all, we are loving Chiang mai so far!!