Chiang  Mai   

Last time we visited Chiang Mai in 2009, and so it was time to visit the Rose of the North again. We rented a scooter for 5 days and drove first the 11 km long mountain route up to the landmark of Chiang Mai, the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Unfortunately, the spiritual peace, that radiated the place earlier, was due to the many people up here no longer exists, instead of it photo madness at every nook and cranny. We admire the religious people who pray, sacrifice and do not let disturb in doing their ceremonies by all the hustle and bustle. Like everywhere else is the expansion of tourism not to stop. But it is still fantastically beautiful up here and the temple complex with all its gold is more than worth seeing.

In the city itself there are also plenty of magnificent temples and you can make different temple tours by foot, because the Wats are all pretty close to each other. Besides some smaller Wats, is the Wat Chedi Luang one of the highlights. A special experience is it to be in the temple complex during the mealtime of the monks.

Thapae Gate, is one of the 4 entrance gates to the old city. The atmosphere here is totally relaxed, everywhere there are small restaurants and shops, it's nice to stroll here around. Full and total touristy is it however at the night market and on weekend on the Walking Street.

We drove out the 12 km way to the well-known Craft Village, where we would like that our helmets to be decorated by a painter in one of the many umbrella manufacturers. With the result we are very happy, and we hope that the decorations keep quite long.

From Chiang Mai, you can make wonderful excursions to the mountains. We risked the so-called “Loop” by our scooter from Chiang Mai via Mae Rim to Mae Sai Valley and back, a total distance of 100 km. This is the must see route for all tourists, because you can find everything, from Orchid- about Butterfly- to Snake - Crocodile farms, Monkey Shows, the Sirkit-Gardens, waterfalls and elephant camps. We reduced our personal must sees to the Mae Sai waterfall, after the rainy season it was really great and the Mae Sai elephant camp. Both are really worth seeing. The attraction at the camp is the Elephant show and the Elephant Bathing, both indeed a real Tourist spectacle, but pretty nice, interesting and funny.