Chiang Mai is the capital city of the province of the same name in the area known as “Northern Thailand”. With a population of about 200,000, it is the second largest city in modern Thailand. The city is centered in the geography that was known as the Lanna Kingdom in ancient times.

Over the course of many centuries, the region was alternately dominated by the rulers of Burma to the north and Ayutthaya to the south until it was absorbed into Siam by King Rama V in the 19th century.

The influence of of both the Ayutthaya and Burmese styles of architecture can be seen in many of the temples and other ancient religious monuments. In more modern times Chiang Mai’s close proximity to Myanmar has made it a destination for refugees.

Domestic and international flights serve the Chiang Mai (CNX) airport with daily direct flights from many cities. In addition the city can be reached by train and bus service.

We’ve now been to Chiang Mai three times; staying a bit outside the city at Secret Gardens Resort in Bo Sang in 2010 inside the walls of the Old City at the most excellent Bed Phrasingh Hotel in 2016 and just on the edge of the Old City at the equally excellent Bed Chiang Mai Gate in January 2020.

While all three trips shared some elements in common, they were separated by the objective of each journey. In the 2010 trip, we were looking for an introduction to the city and wanted to do all the touristy things like visit the famous temples, walk the Sunday Market, see the lady boy waitresses at a Thai Boxing Match and watch an elephant paint a portrait.

The main purpose of our 2016 visit was to spend a night at the Elephant Nature Park but we also wanted to get a bit more of the inner city experience. Our overnight stay at The Elephant Nature Park was one of the highlights of our entire 2-months in SE-Asia and we absolutely loved our stay at the Bed Phrasingh Hotel located with-in the walls of the Old City. And our Old City walking food tour was a great way to learn some of the history of Chiang Mai as well as learn our way around the Old City.

Our 2020 visit to Chiang Mai was largely motivated by the need to get to Chiang Khong in the extreme Northern Thailand frontier with Myanmar to get on an overnight cruise on the Mekong River. Since we were going to be in the general vicinity we carved out a few nights for return visits not only to the Elephant Nature Park but also for well needed appointments at the New York, New York Hair Salon.

You can read about those trips in more details by clicking on the above links.