Chiang Mai, Thailand
May 15, 2014
With Britney Spears and Kylie still ringing in my ears we pulled into Chiang Mai station around 11am. It was hot. Very hot and with no where sorted to stay we parked up in the nearest coffee shop to grab some internet and a morning cuppa as we had no clue where to head to for places to stay. Once sorted with somewhere we haggled a Tuk Tuk fare to our guesthouse sat just South of the old city walls that form the town center of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is the largest city in Northern Thailand and as we tootled through the streets in our Tuk Tuk I was surprised by how small and quiet the place seemed for a major Thai city. We whistled past small coffee shops and book stalls, local stalls to eat at and the obligatory 7- elevens.
First impressions were good though. Once dropped off we flung the bags in and went out to explore. We had heard that Friday night was the best night for the market here so we went on a stroll to grab some food and then down towards the ‘Night Bazaar’. The Bazaar was a quite a size and packed full of the usual touristy stalls you would expect. Elephant print hippy pants galore and wood carvings the size of a fridge that you would never be able to carry home were the main offerings here but it was interesting enough to waste a couple of hours strolling around, they even had the finest local lady boys out on display as well…bonus!
The next day was a lazy affair. We went for a general wander round town and checked out how much scooter rental was compared to other transport for getting around the various sites nearby. We indulged in some of the good local food on offer and disappeared into a bottle of Sang Som for the rest of the night. Chiang Mai has a nice lazy feel about it. There isn’t too much traffic about and there are some lovely little bars and cafes around the town for you to disappear into. As always I knew we would end up here longer than planned.
Sunday was the last day of the Premier League season. We had been in touch with Kelsea and Michael the English couple we met in Bangkok who had just arrived in Chiang Mai and arranged to meet up with them later to watch the final games of the season together. Before meeting up we decided to check out another market that we had been told about by a guy who lives in Chiang Mai. The market is only on a Sunday and we were told it is the best market to visit so off we plodded through the city walls and into the old town again.
The market was huge. I like a good market but this place was ridiculous. It is spread out across four streets that run out from the center of the old town in a cross shape. We stumbled across the first of these streets and made our way up to the center of the cross. It was a really bustling place. So much food on offer, I’m sure I left the market a good half stone heavier than when I entered. A wander up the road to the left and back down the other side which took a good hour and once back at the center we decided it was time to try to head off to meet up for a few drinks and some footy. This was easier said than done. The next street was even longer and felt it like an age to get down it. I felt like an absolute goon at one point. I had finished some tasty local sausage nibbles and went to put my rubbish into what I thought was a bin on the side of a food stall only to hear a scream and realise it was actually the ladies carrier bag of chopsticks, take away cartons and plastic cups for her food stall. What fool, I made my apologies and sloped off. By this point I had had my fill of markets. It took another hour and a half to actually get out of the market and onto quieter streets.
We found the Irish bar where Kelsea and Michael were parked up under a big screen and we settled into the last day of the season with a Sang Som bucket. Michael is a Liverpool fan so the less said the better really as they were always going to be up against it. As the drink flowed and another bucket was consumed my memories became a little fuzzy. Apparently we went to another bar after the one we met in closed up for the night but I have no recollection of that at all. I’m not quite sure when or how I got home either come to think of it. I woke the next morning in a warm fuzzy mess and tried to piece my night together the best I could but to no avail and I gave up quickly. I did not get far that day. Wallowing in my own self pity and slowly pulling my head together. It was a good night though and cool to catch up with decent folks I had met before.
The following day I was back on top of my game and ready to get cracking. We sorted out a scooter for the next 7 days and decided to spend one more day in Chiang Mai before heading over the mountains to Pai. We had heard of a Tiger Sanctuary not too far out of Chiang Mai and decided to take a look. I was a little skeptical as I don’t believe in funding profit from animals being caged and the info I found online was sketchy at best as to the intent and purpose of this sanctuary but we headed off on the bike to see what the craic was. An hour later after riding through mud and dusty roads we arrived at the Tiger Kingdom. The ride was fun, you certainly stay on your toes when riding in mainland Thailand. It’s a good laugh if not a tad scary at times.
If you want you can pay to go in and sit with the Tigers here as they have all been reared by hand and are used to humans. But you can also view them from outside first for free before deciding what to do. The question I had was “why were they still here?” and “why were they still obviously breeding them and hand rearing them with humans”.
The Tigers themselves were obviously beautiful stunning creatures as you would expect and they had various age ranges from 2 months old up to fully grown adults. From where I stood you could see around 30 tigers in total of various sizes. Generally kept in small enclosures with 3-4 tigers sharing a small cage between them. I read the literature they had on offer and there was not one single word that related to conservation or what your money went towards when paying to go inside with the tigers. It appeared to be a purely profitable project for those who owned the place. We stayed a couple of hours taking in what was happening as various couples and groups took their turn to go in and spend time with the beautiful beasts.
2-3 trainers would go in with each group all carrying sticks which they tapped whenever they wanted to keep the tigers in line. They didn’t seem too forceful with it but I wondered how these tigers had been reared if they responded to a small tap of a stick in front of them. As it approached 6pm all the other tourists had left and the tigers were herded from the small enclosures they were in back into their even smaller cages. Two trainers were struggling to get one particular tiger back into its cage and they kept checking to see if we were still there as they started to use their sticks more forcefully on the poor beast. You knew they would have used it much harder as well had we not been there. I had seen enough and knew exactly what this place was about. If you are ever in Chiang Mai please do not visit the Tiger Kingdom. It is obviously owned and ran by rich people making money from the containment of these poor animals when they should be released and running free in the wild. Do not encourage these people to continue this trade by giving them your money. It was a horrible and sad sight to see.
On the way back as the sun set and darkness came I was cheered up by the sight of hundreds of sky lanterns floating in the air. Spiraling their way upwards like a swarm of bees. We followed them to see where they were coming from and ended up at a temple just outside of the city walls. We parked up and headed in and once inside we were greeted with a smile and some free refreshments. This was nice. It was a celebration of Buddhas birth, enlightenment and death and it’s one of the biggest events in the Buddhist calendar. We watched as thousands of locals walked around the temple with their candles, flowers and incense. It was a great sight. Everyone so happy and calm. It was great to see how welcoming everyone was with us as well as I only saw two other westerners in the space of an hour. Such happy and friendly people who looked genuinely pleased to see you. We sat for a good while before eventually hopping back on the hog and making our way home.
An early night was on the cards. The ride to Pai is 3-4 hours over winding mountain roads. It climbs up and down over some of the highest peaks in Thailand with a total of 762 bends in over 135km. It looks like it will be good from what I have read and is supposed to be one of the best bike rides in the world as well so should be really fun. I can’t wait to see what it’s like.
