Chiang Mai

I had such a good time in Chiang Mai and met a lovely group of people. I’m now in Pai but here is a summary of the activities that I got up to in Chiang Mai.

Cooking Class

I checked in to my hostel in the late afternoon on Wednesday 12th and then decided to join a cooking class which was about to start as I arrived. It was so much fun with a great group! We were a mix of solo travellers, an older couple from the UK and a sweet french family from Bonneville (which is right near Chamonix!)

We went to the local market to look at all the ingredients we would be using and then went to the cookery school. We had choices on what we wanted to make but everyone made 4 dishes. I made the following:

• Tom yum prawn soup
• Chicken Pad Thai
• Khao Soi
• Mango sticky rice

I’ve got all full recipe book so going to be cooking up a Thai feast when I get home👩🏼‍🍳

It was Māgha Pūjā on the Wednesday, meaning no alcohol was being sold anywhere so it was slightly strange staying in a party hostel where no one could party haha

Elephant Sanctuary

I also went to an ethical elephant sanctuary called ChangChill which is completely hands off, meaning no touching, bathing, feeding, or getting close to the elephants. There are 4 female elephants who all have their own mahout who looks after them. An amazing experience which I really enjoyed.

I have signed up to volunteer at another ethical elephant sanctuary later in the year in Thailand which does a similar thing to ChangChill, so it was good to see it from the tourist perspective in advance of that.

On the evening of the elephant sanctuary, I went on a night out with people I met at the cooking class which was super fun :)

Doi Inthanon National Park

I went on a day trip to Doi Inthanon National  which is the highest point in Thailand. We went to the King and Queen Twin Pagodas which were built to celebrate the King and Queen’s 60th birthday.

We then did a 2 hour hike around Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail which was really beautiful. Afterwards, we continued along the trail to a local Karen tribe to enjoy the local coffee which they brew.

Then, we went to the Wachirathan Waterfall which was very impressive, before heading back to the hostel!

I also enjoyed the free yoga at my hostel which was relaxing after all the activities🧘🏼‍♀️