This post is a bit delayed - sorry! Wrote it in November last year and found it hiding in my drafts - eek! I'm off to CM again tomorrow - so stay tuned for CM Take 2!
So after the super fun overnight train ride to Chiang Mai (see post on overnight train to Chiang Mai!) - we arrived in the city bright and early and well rested after our lovely sleeper train experience! We got a tuk-tuk to our hotel and had breakfast while we planned our day excursions while the rest of CM woke up. We stayed at Le Naview Hotel in the heart of CM which was just fab...besides a comfy bed, air-con and the little elephant sculptured towels....it had a pool - and after walking around a super hot CM - the pool was the best place to be!
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So after the super fun overnight train ride to Chiang Mai (see post on overnight train to Chiang Mai!) - we arrived in the city bright and early and well rested after our lovely sleeper train experience! We got a tuk-tuk to our hotel and had breakfast while we planned our day excursions while the rest of CM woke up. We stayed at Le Naview Hotel in the heart of CM which was just fab...besides a comfy bed, air-con and the little elephant sculptured towels....it had a pool - and after walking around a super hot CM - the pool was the best place to be!
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| Le Naview Hotel - Chiang Mai |
First stop was Wat Phra Singh Woramahawihan,
which was a 3 min walk from our Hotel. It's one of the most popular Wats in CM
and after visiting...you can see why! It's just beautiful. Golden Buddhas fill
the Wat, and behind it is a massive golden temple adorned with golden elephants.
There we met an artist (with no fingers) who drawers Buddha images on leaves - they were truly
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| Wat Phra Singh Woramahawihan |
Out next Wat stop was Wat Chedi Luang, it's built around an old temple ruin that was once the tallest in ancient CM. This Wat also offers 'Monk Chat' - this a chance for tourists to chat to Monks about life, religion, culture or just say hi! This gives the monks a chance to practice their English and a fantastic way for foreigners to learn more about Thai culture. You are requested to be polite to the Monks, not to argue with them or push your views at them. Women must cover shoulders, not sit next to or pass anything directly to the Monks. There was a long queue, so we thought we'd save our chat for another day!
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| Wat Chedi Luang Worawihan |
After our morning of viewing Wat's, we headed back to the hotel pool for a much needed cool-off swim and a few ice-cold beers! Later, a spot of dinner - Papaya Salad and Chicken Larb (Thai chicken salad thing) we hit the Saturday Market - OMG -I love a market but this was insanely busy! Not sure if CM is always that busy or if it was just crazy busy due to the Festivals - but it was too busy! We couldn't even move...so we surrendered and head to the night bazaar that was less busy, I was so over shopping by then (very unusual for me), so we found a quirky little bar that had beer and a live band! Great night!
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The next day we attended the Yeepeng Lanna Festival (YLF) - the YFL happens once a year, it usually coincides with Loi Krathong and is part of the festival of lights in Northern Thailand that shows respect to Buddha. This year it also coincided with the Super moon...so it was set to be a spectacular evening! Tickets to the event cost 3,500 baht (£80.00) and was worth every penny! The festival is a controlled event as in the past lanterns got in the way of flight paths and caused fires, so now they are held in designated safe areas. The Lanterns are also almost 100% eco friendly...so what doesn't burn away is bio-degradable.
We arrived at the meeting point to register and collect our tickets, then hopped onto the bus for the 40 min journey to the festival. Our tickets included 1 souvenir voucher (a branded bag with water, Thai dessert snacks and funky elephant travel pillow!) 5 snack vouchers (you could choose from pad thai, pork and rice, dim sung, noodles, fruit salad, ice-cream and loads more!) the food was super yummy and after we stuffed our faces we headed to our designated seats and waited for the festival to begin.
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We arrived at the meeting point to register and collect our tickets, then hopped onto the bus for the 40 min journey to the festival. Our tickets included 1 souvenir voucher (a branded bag with water, Thai dessert snacks and funky elephant travel pillow!) 5 snack vouchers (you could choose from pad thai, pork and rice, dim sung, noodles, fruit salad, ice-cream and loads more!) the food was super yummy and after we stuffed our faces we headed to our designated seats and waited for the festival to begin.
The festival started with a mediation session and we were given very strict instructions on how to set-up and light our lantern - one lantern between 3 people. Once dark enough, we had the go ahead and the festival of lights began! We were asked to wait and release them all together - but some bright sparks set theirs off before time (eye roll) - holding the lantern was hot work i tell ya! The lantern is much bigger than it looks and filled with a giant fame and hot air! You really gotta hold on!
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| Its getting hot in here... |
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| Up...up...and away! |
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| And go...! |
Once the lanterns were all up in the sky - the view was just spectacular! We watched for ages as they floated away in the night sky! I lost track of our one, but sure it was way up there getting us good wishes for the year ahead! YLF was a truly awesome experience, hopefully we'll be lucky enough to experience one again!
Until next time CM xx
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