Top 10 Reasons I love Chiang Mai

Top 10 Reasons I Love Chiang Mai

It’s true, I love Chiang Mai

Now that I have lived in Chiang Mai for over two years, it’s nice to look back and realize that I still love it here. Although the chaos, smells, heat and traffic may not appeal to everyone, here are just a few of the reasons I love it here. This list is in no particular order.

1. Beauty is everywhere – both in nature and human made

Just a bunch of elegant orchids hanging in a parking lot.

An organic farm – part of The Royal Project – right in the middle of the city.

A view of Panyaden School, where I work, through rice fields.

View from Panyaden School

The lake at Huay Tung Tao

Waterfalls at Doi Inthanon

Infinity pools in the mountains – here at Verandah

Lovely boutique hotels in the Old City

My local wat, a one minute walk from my house.

A lotus flower in my backyard.

Also, it has a warm tropical climate year-round.

2. Massage and other types of wellness at an affordable price. Thai massage is available just about everywhere you look. It can cost as little as $5 per hour. You can upgrade a little, or a lot.

Pre-massage foot wash. This was the beginning of a 180 baht ($6.00) an hour massage.

3. Yoga

There are so many places to do yoga in Chiang Mai and loads of fantastic teachers. The three places I tend to go to regularly are Namo, Yoga Tree, and my favorite Wild Rose.

Yoga at Wild Rose

Acro yoga at the park

 4. Delicious food

In Chiang Mai I regularly get my dinner from street vendors for around 30 baht (this is about $1 USD). There is Thai food everywhere, of course, but there is also cuisine from around the globe… it will cost a bit more than 30 baht. It’s super easy to be a vegetarian here.

Getting late night gway tiao (noodle soup) with Alana at Chiang Mai Gate…

…after our afternoon tea at the Chedi

There is always an abundance of delicious fruit

The best Thai iced tea I ever had

And thankfully there is outstanding sushi that is less expensive here than any other country I’ve been.

5. Easy to be a farang here

It’s pretty easy to be a foreigner in Chiang Mai – there are oodles of foreigners here and plenty of things to do.

Perhaps wade in an inner tube at Huay Tung Tao

climb up the ‘sticky waterfalls’

Maybe get a massage at a spa

Or go to Doi Inthanon National Park for a hike in the mountains

6. People are friendly

The way to react is with a smile.

Kru Neung and me planting rice

7. There is always something new and happening in this ancient city

Galley openings – Lili Tan’s work shown here at Sangdee Gallery

Music festivals and environmental consciousness

Ceramics classes

Cute and functional art

Go find something new for your house in Baan Tawai

You can see elephants in many places…hopefully they are being treated well

Go shopping for handicrafts in Bo Sang on the way to Sam Kampaeng Hot Springs

8. Big city culture and small town safety and community

It’s nice to have something to do, but it’s also nice to go out and see people you know.

Especially if those people make you laugh

9. Buddhism and meditation

Buddhism is alive, well, and omnipresent in Chiang Mai.

Monk at Chiang Mai Gate market

A monk on his alms round right outside my house – excuse the window screen

Even children know how to meditate

The Silver Wat off Wualai St.

Detail from Wat Nantaram

Making an offering at a Wat Jed Yot

10. Festivals

Thailand has some amazing festivals that are both fun and beautiful.

Yee Peng at Mae Jo University

Loy Krathong dancers

Floating away krathongs on Loy Krathong at Panyaden

splashing water at Songkran

Sure there are more cosmopolitan cities with more to do, but for me Chiang Mai is just right.

Buried Dreams

Buried Dreams

When I awoke I was having a dream that I didn’t want to end. I was showing someone a portfolio of my old art work. I was like, “Oh yeah, I remember that. I like that.” I had a hard time getting out of bed because I wanted to know what else I had created.

When I got to school I was thinking as I retold the dream to another teacher, that this is my buried dream. I can tell there is something in my soul bubbling up to the surface and I know it deals with my creative life. It’s obviously something I’ve forgotten about. The thing is, I don’t know what it is, though I have some ideas.

There are the literal meanings of spending more time on art, something I forgot about. What kind of art? Painting? Writing? Photos? Now, of course, I also think that I need to decorate my classroom a bit more artistically.

Is it the creation of a new being? I look around at the children here, and would like to have one of my own, but I’ve never really found the right man for the job. I need a good partner first. I don’t know who he is or where he is, but it’s getting to the point where I’d really like to meet someone. It’s funny, it’s not like I cry about this or worry about this. I’ll admit that I used to. Somehow in 2011 I just let that idea go. I know better than to think I can make it happen.

Here I am at this amazing school. I would definitely send my kids here. Delicious healthy breakfast in the morning, the running club, flag salute, breathing in breathing out as flowers bloom Thai English song, prayer to Buddha in Thai, then Sanskrit. It’s reading week, so Kru Neil reads a Buddha Bedtime Story. Each story has a moral, much like Aesop’s fables. Then the DEAR program starts. Some of the cute little Thai students are a bit shy when I ask if I can read to them.  I’m trying to get to know the other students in the school.

I need to get my artistic hat back on. I need to buy a car and have a real place to live. I would like a partner. I’m wondering about the solitude. I hear the dogs howl at night and worry. I see the drunk men and worry. Then, for 99.9% of the time, I feel like I am in a very safe place. I just need a network of safety. Not sure if Nugent Waterside is that, or if it’s claustrophobic.