"Chiang Mai good. Bangkok no good."

…was the opinion offered by the dude giving me a Thai massage on Khao San Road. Point taken, but only now fully understood.

Having finally arrived in Chiang Mai by sleeper train, I am left shaking my head and wondering why I didn’t get the hell out of Bangkok (crawling with tourists and gimmicks) sooner than I did. I was an immediate fan of the quiet beauty of the small city; the streets were narrow and clean, not bustling with cars, people, and activity as they were in Bangkok. The city is only about one-square mile, and has remnants of a defensive wall surrounding it. We wandered around in search of a guesthouse, and in doing so, slipped into a number of the numerous, gorgeous Buddhist temples throughout Chiang Mai.

We crossed the little moat running through the city to check out the marketplace – a daily occurrence in the main square – and snapped up some hawker treats (“ancient ice cream,” anyone?).

Sunday night of every week, a huge pedestrian night market pops up, extending through all the main roads in Chiang Mai. It takes quite a while to peruse everything, but it really was a sight to see. Vendors set up shop with everything from jewelry, paintings, lanterns, clothing, fabric, tools, carvings, candles, the list goes on. Musicians could be found every block or so, hoping to collect some spare change (I was in awe of the talent of a group of four blind singer-musicians). Entire portions of sidewalks were set aside for massage operations. Hawkers at their stands were pretty persistent at getting people to buy up fresh fruit, soups, noodles, smoothies, snacks…there were even extensive pop-up “food courts” in each temple courtyard (these were actually the death of me; everything is so cheap, I just made a loop and loaded up on mussels, phad thai, curry, sushi…).

Rainy season is a total downer. It actually started pouring at one point in the night. It was amazing to see how the vendors were completely prepared. As soon as a few fat drops came down, they were rolling out tarps, awnings, and umbrellas…then it REALLY started coming down and everyone on the streets ran for cover, either under storefront overhangs or under any coverings of street vendor displays. Maybe lame of me, but I got a fun sense of camaraderie from it all. Individuals were helping vendors dump out rain from the tarps because the water collected so quickly, we helped cover up the table filled with candles which we were standing by, and Lum was holding up the umbrella at the center of the table. I got a kick out of getting everyone who was standing under the overhand just across from us to wave for the camera.

We finished up rounds at the night market, and decided to grab a drink at a chill bar. Alcohol is so pricey here – and by pricey, I mean comparable to prices of drinks in the U.S. Lum had a small beer for 60 baht ~ USD 2, and my cocktail ran me 110 baht ~ nearly USD 4.

The roads of the night market were entirely packed with people (this holding late into the night), but I love the peace and dark you experience once you slip into the side streets and walk down the narrow pedestrian alleys that wind through all the residential areas (as we made it back to guesthouse).

I LOVE CHIANG MAI.