17 hours in Chiang Mai
4.30 a.m. I was standing at the Chiang Mai bus terminal, after 9 and a half hours bus ride from Bangkok. The weather in Chiang Mai was cooler than in Bangkok. Since it was too early, there were few people around the terminal. Few Red Song Taew’s drivers (red taxi’s driver) were waiting and tried to make passengers to use their services. I asked one of the drivers for the fare to Wararot Market. He told me that I had to pay 50 baht because there was no one to share my ride. I decided to wait for the next bus to save my cost.
When the bus arrived, there was no passenger to share the fare. I decided to pay 50 baht instead of waiting and losing my time at the bus terminal.
The Song Taew took me to the front of Kard Dok Mai (Flower Market). He told me that Warorot Market is located at the back of the Kard Dok Mai. However, it was too early. There were only few vendors around. I chose to have a sticky rice with a fried pork for my breakfast. I bought it from the market I walked along Mae Ping River and sat on the sitting area next to the river. Fresh air made my breakfast taste better.
It was Monday morning. As the sky was getting brighter, life in Chiang Mai started getting busy. People were exercising on the bridge. Monks were walking around to receive food from local people. Cars and motorcycle were flocked to the road. Students were walking on the pedestrian to school.
I had only 17 hours in Chiang Mai today. It was a new experience for my lonely one-day trip in Chiang Mai. To save my cost, I decided to walk around instead of take a taxi. All shops in Chiang Mai opened late. I thought of Chiang Mai the same as Pattaya where the city is more alive at night time. Most of travelers in Chiang Mai went out of town during the day and came back to the city at night.
Anyway, I chose to travel in the city center. My first destination was TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) office on the bank of Mae Ping River. This was the place that I obtained the city map and destination guide.
After I got a map, I decided to go to Nimmanhaemin Road. I heard that there were a lot of home decoration shops here. First, I thought there would be a lot of shops along the road. However, when I was on the road, there were only few shops there. Anyway, those shops were interesting.
I had lunch at Nimmanhaemin Road. The restaurant name was “Eat Me”. The food taste was so-so. The price was a little cheaper than the restaurant in Bangkok.
After lunch, I took a taxi to the Night Bazaar area again. I walked to Loi Kroh Road after I saw some advertising about the antique and art shops here. There were some interesting art shops but the price was slightly high. I did not buy anything.
After a long walk under the sun and only few hours slept on the bus last night, I was so exhausted. I decided to take a nap at the foot reflexology, the foot massage place. I took a nap for one hour while getting my feet relaxed.
Chiang Mai Night Bazaar was located at Chang Klan Road. Chiang Mai Night Bazaar opened at night. Most of vendors came and prepared their own shops since the evening. Both sides of the street had many small shops all along. You could buy some souvenirs here. The most interesting things were home decoration, textiles , silverware and handcrafts. There were a lot of photo shops that you could take pictures in the Old Thai Style fashion as a good memory of Chiang Mai. A lot of painting by local artists were also available for your portrait or abstract. The price was quite cheap for the excellent drawing or painting.
The last place that most of visitors must visit was Warorot Market. The local people called this place “Kard Luang”. This was the place that you could buy famous food of Chiang Mai, especially Thai sausage. You should experience it yourself. Thai travelers always buy sausage here and take it home. Some famous shop were crowded with customers. Vendors had no time to rest. It proofed that the food was delicious.
9.30 p.m. it was time for my departure. Since I took only few hours sleep last night. I was so tired. I slept all the way through Bangkok. I woke up in Bangkok… my home town. The city that never sleep. The traffic jam is waiting for me.