My weird jet-lag somehow led me to getting up at 6am, despite us sleeping at 2am, and while I was able to coax maybe 30 minutes more of sleep, I didn't really get a full night in any way. That said, as I write this around 6pm, I didn't really get tired or catch up on sleep anywhere. Not the flight, not the various ubers, not even the 45 minutes we took for R&R at the AirBNB before heading out to a craft brewery. It might all come back to get me tonight say, where I could easily get sleepy early (I really hope this isn't the case...), but alas, maybe all it was that kept me going was the energy of a new place.
Not only a new place, but a new airport as well in Chiang Mai, my 172nd (yes, I track these things...). We left the Aloft around 7:45, and reached Suvarnubumhi Airport around 8:15, quickly checked out bags and went into the domestic part of the terminal, an area I never went before. Not to say I missed out - the airport is a bit more cramped in the domestic area (basically the lower floor of the head-house - the best part of the normal terminal). The lounge was adequate, but especially after our flight was delayed 30 minutes for unclear reasons, we were all a bit annoyed we left so early.
The flight was unmemorable other than the nice peanut and chicken salad wrap they gave, which was excellent, if a bit oddly timed (the flight after its delay was from 10:30 to 11:30). Before we knew it, we were descending, to which the captain told us there was a smokey haze all around Chiang Mai, so we wouldn't be able to see much on descent. Not that it mattered to me, as I had picked an aisle seat (which is odd, usually go window on the shorter flights...), but from peeking over my friends, it did indeed seem hazy and impossible to see anything. This was a shame in the sense that the claim to fame for Chiang Mai is it being in the mountains and what-not, but alas, when we were actually on the ground, in teh city and even later in the hills, it wasn't too bad. It did remind me a bit of my trip to Denver in August 2021, where the Alberta wildfires were creating a haze where you couldn't see hte mountains in teh distance.
We quickly checked into our AirBNB, which is a two-bedroom condo in a large, upscale condo building that judging by the people walking around seems to be 75% tourists/AirBNB guests, this despite some funny fliers stuck on the front door saying this is not a hotel. Anyway, we were able to check in early, whcih was nice, put the AC on as we left, and then head out into the wild new world of Chiang Mai.
The first stop was lunch at Busarin, which even on the way we got a good view of what Chiang Mai seems to be - a supersized version of the towns like Gyeongju, or Takayama, or lets even say a Luang Prabang - places that just ooze history and purity in a way that a Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh loses slightly (not to say this hurts those megatropoles). Busarin itself was fantastic, a little four-table restaurant that serves just impeccable, unassuming Northern Thai cuisine in these lovely pink porcelain plates. We split a few dishes, the standouts being fermented rice noodles topped with crispy pork and crispy salmon (two dishes), and then a roti with lamb curry, which was just fabulous. I'm very much hoping over the course of my four days here I will get to really understand Northern Thai cuisine, but Busarin was a great start, and the curry the best of those - pungent, deep, spicy, aromatic, brilliant. The dessert we got of the sticky rice with thai custard was also brilliant. A great start for what should be an amazing four days of food.
Judging by our series of temples we visited next, this should also be a great four days of tourism as well. Each of the following three days will see us go further afield into the mountains (Sunday and Monday being group tours), so we stuck relatively close to Chiang Mai today, but even "relatively close" means spending some time in the mountains. The first stop was Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, which is high in one of the mountains right outside of Chiang Mai. The drive there takes about 40 minutes, the last two thirds being up teh mountain with many, many switchbacks. On the way, you pass a few different small shriens and hiking trails (and a small waterfall - which if you take the adjacent trail leads to a bigger waterfall). At the end is the large Wat complex, where you can either climb the 300 steps to the main area, or take a funicular. We took the latter (we did walk the steps down). The setting is pristine, even if it was still 100 degrees, at least there was ample tree cover. The wat complex featured just a staggering number of buildings, from a large, wood carved canopy with an overlook of the city, to multiple shrines, tot he main temple complex in teh middle, befit with a startingly gold temple in the middle. We would come to learn this set-up of buildings is kind of the norm, but the elevation, teh way it mixed the mountainside and greenery, and the various carvings (even down to some fancy benches!) was just awesome.
The next two stops were temples in the city, and more specifically, in the bleeding heart of the city, the large square set-up inside of a man-made canal surrounding this area on all sides. It's an unmistakable square feature when you pull up Chiang Mai on Google Maps, and that middle part is just pure bliss - rows and rows of streets with shops, stalls, cafes, restaurants, with just incredible architecture - ratan, and ornate roofs adn trims, and bamboo and so much more. It works like a Hanok Village, just blown up a bit. The real star of this middle area though is the temples.
Our first stop was Wat Phra Singh, which took the style of the one in the mountains, stripped out all the mountains parts of it, and played up the beauty. The main building was exquisitely designed with this frescoe like frieze, and the large gold structure in the middle was larger and more gold than before - thsi was almost a gold akin to the famed Kinkaku-Ji in Kyoto. The final temple was maybe the best / most interesting, but what was crazier is on the ten minute walk from one to the other, we passed like four different smaller temple complexes, all quite ornate and interesting in their own right. THere's a reasony why the more famous and larger ones are so, but these small ones offer ample picture opportunities as well, even if in minor.
The final stop was Wat Chedi Luang, which sits more or less right in the middle of the old town large square, with maybe the best main central temple, with just a stellar interior, and then more interestingly, a large old school Stupa Buddhist Temple behind it. The Stupa is giant, regal and gives off straight up Angkor Wat or Ellora Caves like vibes, despite being in the true center of this giant city (Chiang Mai is the second biggest city in Thailand). Wat Chedi Luang was a great way to end our tourism part of the day.
Right across the street from our AirBNB complex sits a little strip mall that houses the nicely named Grumpy Old Men brewing, which is a lovely little brew-pub serving up a few of its own pours. The patrons and barfolk were all Thai, but the IPA-heavy draft list made it seem it was definitely catering to American tourists.
Dinner was a bit of an adventure, as the first place we tried to go to, Euang Kam Sai, was too full and despite their door saying they close at 9, I guess their last order is 8pm, and we arrived at 7:30 where it seemed impossible we would get a table in the intervening 30 minutes. So yeah, that was a bit disappointing, but we made the best of it, heading to another similar type of restaurant, Puang Thong, which sits on the river, open air (lots of fans, thankfully) and a long menu with pictures. This is the type of place that people come to Thailand to eat at and enjoy. We'll be back in tasting menu land tomorrow, but for tonight we split a bunch of things, the best being a super spicy fish larb (we asked for "medium" and an even better sausage dish. The ingredients, the spice, the lemongrass, galangal, etc. are just so strong and pure. Northern Thai food is just pristine.
As was Chiang Mai's cocktail scene, which is crazy impressive. There's a good dozen or so reputable craft cocktail spots all over Chiang Mai. Most close at 12 (which seems to be a bit of a soft cutoff for anything that isn't a club/dance bar) and a few at 1. So many have super high Google ratings, which at first screams a bit of malfeasance going on, but you start reading the reviews and realize that, no, just for whatever reason cocktails are an art here. There was a lot of discussion on which ones to do which day, and in the end there isn't a huge logic here. For today, we went to both the Gladwell Cocktail Bar and Demon's Murmur.
Gladwell's is a bit more traditional in setup, with a long bar with about 8 seats and then some couches and what-not. Demon's Murmur was smaller, darker with only bar seating (about 12 seats). Both are dimly lit with spotlights for where your drinks are and behind the bar. The whole set-up, seriousness of teh presentations, the flavor profile, reminded me a lot of going to cocktail spots in Japan or Korea, and I say this in a very good way. Both places were excellent, my favorite being one called a "Thai Dessert" at Gladwell's which had some emulsified coconut sauce dollop taht you mix into the drink and create this almost coconut milk type taste which was just stunning. Second place goes to the final drink, a martini cut with a Thai rice wine, at Demon's Murmur. On the whole, excited to try more places over the next few days.
The night ended though at a familiar ending point - an EDM bar. In this case, I guess two of them, both housed just north of the big square. Red CNX is the EDM spot, which was classicly lit, cool, airy, with balloons (though sadly not as strong/nice as the ones in HCMC that I'm already now dreaming of) - it was fairly empty throughout as it seemed to be more gearing up for tomorrow night - shows in the price with tomorrow being 300 THB entry (~$9) vs today at 100 THB. Howver, in the same complex sits Locked In, which is more dubstep, DNB, style and today was featuring a guy who rapped (seemingly extemporaneously) over a backing track adn he was incredible. The vibe in both were great, adn I can absolutely foresee Red CNX being a ton of fun tomorrow when I imagine it will be more crowded. Will save my real takeaways of it until then.
The final act of the night was going about half a mile away where there is make-shift Super Late Night Market with about 10 different carts selling normal Thai fare, which is about as perfect way to end a night in terms of food. At least for once it wasn't gyro, even if the Thai food wasn't incredible and more standard fare (basil beef, pad thai) than Northern Thai classics. Still, just a great scene to end a great day that was the real first day of the trip. The vacation juices fully flowing now.
