My Trip to the Chiang Mai Province, Thailand

Chiang Mai is located in the most Northern part of Thailand and is an escape from the whirlwind pace of life of its southern counterpart. Despite the buzzing of planes and trains full of sightseers and tourists, this area in the Kingdom of Thailand is blissfully calm and laid-back. This is a place of  relaxation to recharge your batteries with culturally ethnic food or if you so choose, exploring leisurely without any worry. If you don't want to participate in the vast array of activities at your fingertips, just stroll around the streets, gleaming with nightlife, and discover a city that is still firmly Thai in its aspect, atmosphere, and attitude.

Nightlife in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai's nightlife can be whatever you want it to be, the city offers a variety of nightlife activities like live music. Having dinner by the riverside whilst being serenaded by a live band  is a common activity in Chiang Mai. The genres includes music like: blues, jazz and rock tunes – a hallmark of any Chiang Mai visit.

Nightlife in Chiang Mai

Nightlife in Chiang Mai

Pictures of interests in Chiang Mai

     

Temples of Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is well known for its significance in Buddhist temples. It's a common occurrence  to see a buddhist temple along every street or so,  If there isn't, its probably quite far apart from each other but only by a few kilometers maybe less than 5 kilometers at most. Some temples are iconic to Chiang Mai that if you think about that temple, you'll definitely think about Chiang Mai. An example is the Wat Rong Khun.

Wat Rong Khun

Thailand's and Chiang Mai's most iconic and most unique (in my opinion) temple, Wat Rong Khun. The gleaming and shimmering temple is ridden with tiny mirror that makes the temples looks as if really sparkling but we know its just the sun reflecting off the mirrors which is jaw dropping and awe inspiring. To add to the already stunning temple is the snow white paint that is all over the temple's exterior making the whole temple look like something out of the heavens. This temple is truly a marvel of  Thailand and Chiang Mai.

The gleaming white temple of  Wat Rong Khun

Cross the gleaming bridge into the temple.

A demon guardian over looks you as you make your way to the realm of the temple.

The Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle is another well known area in the Chiang Mai province. The Golden Triangle is one of Asia's two main opium-producing areas. It is an area of around 950,000 square kilometers (367,000 sq mi) that overlaps the mountains of three countries of Southeast Asia: Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. Most of the world's heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21st century when Afghanistan became the world's largest producer. The Golden Triangle designates the confluence of the Ruak River and the Mekong River, since the term has been appropriated by the Thai tourist industry to describe the nearby border tripoint of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

Pictures of interest in the Golden Triangle

An indication of the countries in the Golden Triangle

The confluence of the Mekong and the Ruak in the dry season: the foreground is Thailand, the sandbar is Myanmar and the opposite bank is Laos.

Buddha statue next to the Mekong river

The treasure ship the Buddha is seated on

The valley of the Hall of Opium

Summery of my trip.

My experience in Chiang Mai had been wonderful and superb. Chiang Mai is such a exquisite and gorgeous city filled with ancient temples. Its a dazzling city that is vivacious, especially at night. All in all, if  I was given the chance to visit Chiang Mai again, I would jump at the chance without and hesitations.