Thailand Part 4: Chiang Mai // Coffee & Cats

The ten hour train ride from Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai was a piece of cake. The train was air conditioned, came with free food and I had enough leg room to basically lay down. It cost no more than £7 and was actually on time, well only 30 minutes late which is good for Thailand.

Whilst waiting for the train we spotted a set of scales, designed I think for weighing parcels but we were both bored and curious so ran over and sneaked a “free ride”. Most people apparently lose weight when they go backpacking, I used to think this was because they were on a tight budget and so couldn’t afford to eat but after experiencing how cheap food is here I will discredit that as an answer. Me and Hatty are surviving comfortably on £25 a day each, that includes all our meals, accommodation (normally always double private with ensuite), travel expenses, experiences and the odd gift. Try getting even a place to sleep for that in the UK. Anyway I digress, food here is cheap and very good quality and as so the scales revealed to me that I have put on over a stone in just over a month. The story, although not as extreme is the same for Hatty and instead of this making us feel sad we just high fived each other and made our way to the food stalls.

To begin with the view from the train window was pretty non-descript, the train slowly goes between countryside and town and apart from the occasional temple or village nothing really breaks up the hours. I’ve got books, music and even films with me so boredom is a long way off but after about 8 hours the free lunch and our bag of snacks is wearing off. It’s at about this moment that the train pulls into a station and a conductor jumps on and tells us that we have a 20 minute wait for before we can leave the station. People start to get off to stretch their legs or get some fresh air, I pretend this is what I’m getting off for but on our way in I spotted a food market. I made my way out of the station and across the road into the hustle and bustle of this evening market. I knew I had a limited time so quickly setting about seeing what was on offer, what could be cooked quickly and what looked easy to eat on a train. I settled for a box of chicken skewers marinated in a variety of spices, two boxes of mango sticky rice (this comes with coconut milk) and a pot of sweet orange stringy stuff, total cost £1.80.

We arrived in Chiang Mai late that evening and the city was buzzing, this may be due to the high volume of 24 hour coffee shops or that I’d just come from the ghost town on Ayutthaya. Either way I liked the look of it.

We had booked an apartment to stay in for the week we were here but it wasn’t available our first night so we found a cheap room and called it a night. The following morning, around 8am the owner of the Airbnb apartment picked us up from our hostel. He took us for a tour of the city and then dropped us off at the apartment. Our pad was located near the University and as such had a fair amount on its doorstep, unconnected perhaps but the best of these coffee shops was Catmosphere. No, that’s not a typo. Catmosphere is a coffee shop with a feline twist, there are 19 cats who live in the shop and they freely wander around as you enjoy your coffee. For a cat lover like myself this was absolutely brilliant. Pay a visit to www.catmospherecafe.com where you can read the bio of each of the “space cats”.

I digress again. The apartment consisted of a bedroom, bathroom, living room, office space, it had two balconies over-looking the mountains, free WiFi,  there was a gym, sauna and swimming pool and it cost us £19 a night, certainly at the higher end of our budget but still unbelievably cheap for what it was. This acted as a perfect base for our week, the apartment sat about half way between Chiang Mai Zoo and the famous Nimmanhaeminda Road. Although both these places were within walking distance we decided to hire a moped for the week, exercise is overrated. The bike cost £30 for the week, £2 to fill the tank and gave us instant 24 hour freedom to explore the city and surrounding area.

Chiang Mai has been described as the “SoHo of Thailand” and I guess that is accurate. It’s cheap accommodation, excellent WiFi and abundance of coffee shops has made is a haven for bloggers, writers and other creative professionals. It has a hipster vibe but Chiang Mai isn’t just beards and flannel shirts.

Nimmanhaeminda Road is wall to wall coffee shops and bakeries, both of those things are very welcome in my books and so walking this road is a delight. I’d read about one coffee shop in particular, Ristr8to (www.ristr8to-coffee-chiangmai.com) and was keen to have a cup of two of their renowned coffee. The shop is ultra-cool, it has that modern “industrial” look, it’s a little pretentious but when the coffee is this good I guess it has every right to be. My flat black arrived in a mug (good start) on top of a piece of wood that had information about my coffee burnt into it, the coffee was paired with a glass of lukewarm water designed to reset my palate. Like I said, a, little pretentious by seriously the coffee is outstanding. Their coffee menu is extensive to say the least and the staff have won awards for their Latte art, which although is a little bit of a gimmick it does show a passion for their craft. The atmosphere is bubbly, loud and busy so we drank up and moved on to the next stop.

Hatty has had a few questionable meals during our time in Thailand as was craving a salad without the added surprise of meat. Her eyes lit up when we arrived at the Salad Concept (www.thesaladconcept.com). There are two options on the menu, salad or wrap but what they come with is very much up to you. The salad starts off as the house default, basically a mixture of leaves, next you add up to five free items (if you want more it’s very affordable). I chose raw tuna steak, asparagus, olives, avocado and sunflower seeds. You then add cheese, I went for Feta and finally you add the dressing, I chose passion fruit. It arrives on a plate the size of a crater and was every bit delicious as it was large, (the food not the plate).

At the junction between our road and Nimman… road is a large shopping mall called Maya which houses clothing shops, food outlets, cinema and a supermarket. It is more closely comparable to Whole Foods than Tesco, not least because of the Wine & Cheese bar in the middle of the shop. But unlike Whole Foods, you don’t need to re-mortgage every time you so much as look at the food.  We filled a basket with meal options for the week and some (ok, a lot of) treats. From fresh slabs of salmon to crates of beer the whole affair only cost £20. We balanced the bags on the bike and headed back for the apartment, went to the gym (briefly) and had a swim.

That evening we made our way to the Night Market on the conveniently names Walking Street. There are two major markets in Chiang Mai, one on Saturday night (this one) and one on Sunday. The Night Market is rammed by the time we arrive, we park the bike basically on top of another and slide our way into the stream of people. At first we were being dragged along by the crowd , unable to see anything on offer other than the sweaty back of the person in front but once we hustled out way to the edge of the crowd we were able to experience the market. Tonight the market was selling everything from local handicraft to possibly questionable designer brands and of course, food.

Hatty had been desperate to get a pair of Classic Vans and as luck would have it there they were, “new”, “unworn” the man assures us. To be fair they looked the part, every bit authentic except for the price. Vans retail for about £40-£50 back home so when he asked for a tenner  it was a no-brainer. Aware that our backpacks were slightly over full already we restrained ourselves on the shopping front and instead headed for the food stalls. I cant exactly remember what I ate that night but let me assure you that there is very little in the way of Thai street food that I haven’t now sampled.

The following day we put the amenities in the apartment to good use. Paid the gym another (brief) visit, had a swim and lounged by the pool and even used the washing machine. Having only had access to a sink and some travel soap for the past 6 weeks it was quite the treat to give my clothes a proper wash.

Just after dark we ventured out to another Walking Street to experience the Sunday Night Market. This has a much higher concentration on Thai Handicrafts, clothes and of course food. It is more spaced out and therefore less crowded. Every road has some kind of live entertainment on it, from groups of musicians sitting in a row on the floor to a dance performance on a stage. The market is vibrant and lively. It’s not long before we have accumulated a number of bags full of gifts and souvenirs. Earlier in the day we had found ourselves in a vintage clothes shop which sold its items by weight. Hatty buys and sells vintage stuff for a living so you can imagine her joy when she realised how ridiculously cheap this place was. We had also seen a UPS store inside the Maya mall and had a rough idea what it would cost to send stuff back to the UK. I don’t want to give too much away but her margins would be ridiculous (good) and we both agreed it would be mad not to fill a box and send it back. Stupidly though we started to apply this to the items in the night market, as our arms filled with bags we just kept telling ourselves its ok because we can just send it home. If you come to Chiang Mai please remember to bring an empty suitcase.

Much like the previous night the food on offer was vast and Moorish. From sushi to waffles there was something to satisfy every taste. The market is addictive but walking in the crowds for so long can become tiresome, but seeking rest in one of the countless bars and cafes along the way is an easy way to recharge while soaking in some more of the evenings atmosphere. I have no idea what time we went home that night.

Being a big coffee drinker and seemingly being in the land of coffee shops I saw it fit to comprise a list of cafés that I wanted to visit. Usefully someone had made a blog of the “best coffee shops in Chiang Mai”. They rated them on the coffee, price, WiFi, atmosphere and charge points. Finding some of these turned out to be trickier than expected and so a few quickly vanished from the list, a couple of them were disappointing and it soon become apparent that finding my own favourites would be somewhat easier and more enjoyable. Six double espressos later I couldn’t remember my name let alone the name of the coffee shops but I’d enjoyed myself.

Close to our apartment are two brightly lit areas which mesmerised me in my caffeine high. The first of these is called The Harbour, it is a fake town, much like the Italian one in Khao Yai, only this one as you may have guessed has a sea theme. The “town” comprises a number of restaurants, bars, clubs, clothing shops and a GoGo bar. It was, again like Italian Khao Yai a very strange experience. We got a drink and tried to understand it but as we were the only people in the town, aside from two old German ladies who were drinking beer it’s purpose remained a mystery. Maybe on a Saturday night it’s a bit more happening but at best it would only be a “high street” full of people drinking.

The next brightly lit area is known as the Think Park, designed by Varisa 'Gift' Passakornnatee, a St Martins School of Arts (London) graduate and daughter of the founder of  Oishi  empire (Japanese buffet restaurant chain). She wanted a space to set up an art gallery and he bought her this plot right on the corner of Nimmanh… Road. The Think Park comprises many restaurants, bars, a 24 hour coffee shop, independent shops selling clothes, homeware and other trinkety bits and of course there is an art gallery. The main draw of this space is the giant tree lit up with hundreds of light bulbs and the fantastic cat statue. The cat dons a moustache and is wearing a handbag. I don’t get it but I like it. We ate at the Think Park, in a Thai restaurant that “closes at 9pm”, we ordered our food about 9.45pm and we weren’t the last ones to be seated either. The Think Park makes more sense than The Harbour.

Having woken up every morning, stepped out onto the balcony and looked at the mountain range in front of me we decided that today we would get out of the city and go and see some nature. I also needed to detox from coffee for a while.

We took the moped and set off in the direction of the towering landscape. The winding roads gradually get steeper and more clustered with Songthaews racing tourists up to the various checkpoints. The first of which is a temple built into the mountain side. We take this as an opportunity to get ahead of the pack and carry on up the hill. The moped we had hired was a whopping 110cc, with 160kg of human flesh straddled on it the bike was not coping with the incline. I think we topped 20mph with an average of 12mph. Despite having not yet reached the top the road started make its way back down, with both breaks applied the bike was now reaching speeds of more than 40mph, steering clear of the cliff edge and trying my best to dodge the gargantuan potholes added to the excitement. Then just like the road shot back up into a steep incline and the speed dropped dangerously low again. I wasn’t sure which I preferred. Or should I say disliked more?

The road turned from concrete to gravel and we soon ran into a town, high up in the mountain. There is a sign for a waterfall and Opium garden which costs 10B to see (20p), we got off the bike and trekked up a good sized slope before wandering into a gardeners wet dream. Rows of fantastically coloured plants, it was very pretty but my eye was on the prize, ie the waterfall. Yeah, about the waterfall… anti-climax.

We got back on the bike and carried on up the mountain, next we reached a viewing spot and unlike the waterfall this did not disappoint. It offered great views off the back of the mountain, not a house in sight just nature at its best. This is the most luscious I’ve seen Thailand, and that includes parts of Bangkok (boom boom).

As good as this view was there is still one more attraction on this mountain that I wanted to find. Doi Suthep national park, or more specifically the waterfalls contained within. It cost 100B each to get into the part (£2) and despite being 10 times more expensive than the previous waterfall this one was substantially better. Although it is dry season and therefore the waterfall is less impressive than the picture on the entrance suggests it was still a cool sight. In some ways, the fact it wasn’t in full flow was a bonus as I was able to climb some of the rock and walk across the waterfall which looked a little surreal when I looked over the edge. I did also manage to find a spot where the water was falling clear of any big rocks and so could get under the waters fall. It was both freezing and extremely powerful but it has been a long time wish of mine to swim under a waterfall and so I stopped being such a chicken and dunked myself. It was brilliantly refreshing for me and entertaining for Hatty.

Back on flatter ground we went into the Maya shopping centre, more specifically to its cinema. We had heard that going to a cinema screening in Thailand is an experience worth having, the main reason for this is that at the start of every film they play the National Anthem, accompanied by a video. Everyone in the cinema stands up and some people get very into it. This display of patriotism was pretty cool and made us both wonder why this doesn’t happen back home. But the highlight of the cinema experience at this point was our seats. We didn’t have a flimsy folding chair, we didn’t have to hold our knees because of the lack of leg room, we didn’t have to share an arm rest with a stranger. No, we had a sofa, a reclining sofa with a table. We were in a cinema but sitting, sorry lying, on a double seated sofa. The cinema had a giant 4K screen, the sound was immense and I was on a sofa. Things just got better as the adverts for up-coming films, a particular favourite was a Tsunami/Zombie/Horror/Comedy film. But the main event of the evening was Birdman. I’ll spare you the film critic spiel but if you haven’t already go and see this film, if you have then go again. Total price for two cinema tickets- sofa seating was £7, you can chose to sit on a normal cinema chair for as little as £2 per person but I don’t know why you’d do that.

Aside from coffee, Chiang Mai also has an extreme number of places to get a massage and nearly all of them at more than affordable, even for the on-a-budget-backpacker. An hour Thai Massage costs 250B (£5) on average. After six weeks on the road, lugging 20kg of stuff around on my back I was feeling a little beaten and a massage seemed a good idea. Hatty was still wary after the HK foot massage but after some convincing we found one that seemed decent and went in search of it. We found ourselves at Green Bamboo massage house. They handed us a menu but with little (no) knowledge of what the different treatments meant we went for the Traditional Thai Massage (Lanna style). Turns out this is pretty brutal. The hour consists of being walked on, punched, pulled and clicked in every direction. It’s a deep tissue, posture realignment gig and despite parts of it being so agonising that I felt like I was in a UFC ring it was ultimately an amazing experience. I’ve next walked so straight and my shoulder which causes me a lot of trouble was for once actually sitting right. I would be interested to see what Hatty writes in her blog. Let’s just say she didn’t speak to me for a long time afterwards.

Getting beaten up was not the best thing to happen to us today though. Driving back to the apartment we turned on to the main road and instantly got pulled over by the Police. There is a law in Thailand that you have to wear a crash helmet whilst on a motorbike but less than 10% of road users bother, the attitude towards helmets is so nonchalant that the people we hired the bike from didn’t even offer them to us when we hired it. We had also seen a lot of police throughout the week who had definitely seen that we, along with the thousands of other riders were not wearing a helmet and never said a thing, so naively had decided that it was acceptable. Today at least it wasn’t. The officer didn’t seem to interesting in telling us off or lecturing us about the safety element he just confiscated by drivers licence and told me to go to the station and pay a fine of 500B (£10). I asked what would happen on my way to the station as I don’t have a helmet and his reply was brilliant. “We stop checks at 3pm”. It was quarter to. We went back to the apartment to get the map and find out where the station was. Turns out there are at least six police stations in Chiang Mai so the next part was somewhat of an adventure. We drove to the hire place and asked for two helmets which they dug out from the back, then we set off to find “the station”. Our first guess was wrong, we asked the officer where we needed to go but the language barrier made this a pointless ordeal. I then showed him the piece of paper with my fine on it, he burst out laughing, showed it to his mate who then joined him. They tapped my helmet and pointed in the direction we needed to go. We left the two officers bent double on the side of the road and followed their somewhat basic directions. We arrived at another police station. Again wrong. We repeated the process. Got a new set of directions. One hour and forty five minutes later we arrive at the correct one. The fine has for some unknown reason dropped from 500 to 300 and with that paid I had my licence returned and we were back on the road.

We were both feeling a bit lost so returned to the safety of the cinema arm chair. Tonight’s screening, after the National Anthem of course, was the cheery director debut from Angelina Jolie, Unbroken. The film is based around the true story of Olympic athlete come prisoner of war, Louis Zamperini. Again I will spare you the film critic spiel but in my opinion this is a truly astonishing film about an even more astonishing man.

Today, that’s right I’ve caught up with my blog, I am sitting in a coffee shop and getting this thing done. That also means that this entry will be brief, unless you want a lengthy report on the fact that I am sitting in a coffee shop writing a blog, didn’t think so.

Tomorrow we leave Thailand and fly to Laos so I’ll more than likely fall back behind but I hope this keeps you entertained for a while.

It should hopefully be clear from my previous blogs that I fell in love with Southern Thailand but despite the distance from sea or sand Chiang Mai has won me over. I could write another 10,000 words on its charm but I wont to leave some mystery so you all come here and see it for yourselves. Just remember, bring an empty suitcase. 

As always thanks for reading.