Top 5 Memories
#1 Elephant Nature Park
We had a blast on our trip to the Elephant Nature Park which we wrote about in more detail in our previous post, Elephants and Friends. This tour definitely exceeded our expectations and we got to spend a day enjoying the sunshine, elephants and making new friends with cool people who were on our tour. We would highly recommend this to anyone who plans on visiting Chiang Mai. These will be elephants we never forget!
#2 Organic Coffee Tour
The Organic Coffee Tour at Suan Lahu was also another trip that exceeded our expectations. The scenery on the farm is gorgeous and we have a new understanding and appreciation for coffee production. This trip also came with an added bonus of learning more about the Lahu people who are one of the indigenous hill tribes in Northern Thailand. You can read more about our experiences in our previous blog post, Coffee Special: Organic Coffee Farm Tour and Best Coffee Shops in Chiang Mai.
#3 Ristr8to
Ristr8to was the very first coffee shop that we stopped at in Chiang Mai and it set an extremely high bar! I think we visited Ristr8to and the other 2 coffee shops under the same ownership about 8 times! We wrote more about Ristor8to in previous posts if you want to learn more, Coffee Special: Organic Coffee Farm Tour and Best Coffee Shops in Chiang Mai & Happy Holidays from Chiang Mai, Thailand!
#4 Kintaam Ice Cream
Kintaam (กินตาม ไอศกรีมแซนด์วิช) is a bit of a hidden gem because it is tucked away in a garage and served out of a cute little food truck. It is a “create your own” ice cream sandwich experience.
This sweet treat is the perfect size to satisfy your sweet tooth. The ice cream sandwhich comes in a cute dish with one of our favorite quotes “the time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted time.”
Over this past year I have come to realize that Zach is a closet ice cream fiend. I say this because he will buy ice cream bars and eat them all without me knowing. Kintaam helped me to realize that he is a bigger ice cream fanatic than I realized. He went here about 6 times…that I know about!
#5 Chiang Mai Sunday Night Market
There are a number of lovely night markets in Chiang Mai but our favorite was the Sunday Night Market. This market is open every Sunday from 4pm until late and is located in the Old Town along Ratchadamnoen Road. We recommend going early as it gets super crowded around 7pm.
The streets are lined with local vendors selling food, clothes and souvenirs. There are so many street food stalls that you can spend a whole evening tasting the unique food they offer. We tasted so many different foods and desserts including squid, jellyfish and Thai pancakes. Of course Zach stopped at a stall to get his ice cream fix while we were here ?.
The market is a great place to get souvenirs which you can bargain for to get a really cheap price. We got two adorable coffee coasters that reminded us of our trip to the elephant sanctuary as well as our owl latte art from Ristor8to. Here is a link to a really good blog post that I found that has more detail about the Sunday night market if you are interested.
Honorable Mentions:
Maya Mall
Maya Lifestyle Shopping Center or Maya Mall as we started calling it deserves an honorable mention because we actually spent quite a bit of time there. If you are visiting for less than a week it would not be on my top list of things to do, but if you are staying for more than a week in the Nimman area it is a really great resource. We went there for movies (We saw the new Avatar movie…twice!), groceries, and lunch/dinner. They have a grocery store in the basement with all of the staples you would need and there is an awesome food court on the upper level that is super cheap and really tasty. Maya Mall is a great place if you need to buy clothes or just want a place to hang to get relief from the heat. An added bonus is the the rooftop which gives you a beautiful view of the city.
Above: Maya Mall and the crazy intersection we had to cross getting there!
Khantoke Dinner at Old Chiangmai Cultural Center
This was one of the first activities we did in Chiang Mai. If you are staying for an extended period of time this is a wonderful way to spend your evening. You will enjoy eating classic food and experiencing traditional song and dance from the Lanna people of Northern Thailand. We wrote more about this in our past blog post, Happy 2023!
Thank you for reading about our memories from Chiang Mai. This city truly has some of the most friendly people you will ever meet and we can’t recommend it enough. We are off to Vietnam next and look forward to sharing more of our adventures soon!
