From Vietnam we got a flight to Bangkok – our home away from home! There are so many convenient and cheap flights here. After a few days in Bangkok, we took an 11 hour train to Thailand’s north – Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai has something for everyone: gorgeous Buddhist temples, elephant sanctuaries (legit ones), great hiking, and amazing night markets. After travelling around Southeast Asia, I thought I would be sick of temples, but Chiang Mai’s are at another level. They are so ornate, gold-plated, ancient, and all over the place! Check out the photos.

We went on a 3 day trek in the mountains around Chiang Mai. The terrain was challenging, but not crazy! We saw all kinds of interesting critters, including: snakes, a millipede, massive termite mounds, and 3 friendly dogs that joined in for the adventures.

On this three days we checked out mountains, jungles, waterfalls, and local villages. Our accommodations were quite basic – a thin straw mat next to the stored dry goods! Hehe, I recommend turning many times in the night to spread out the aches/pains.

After the trek we headed back to Chiang Mai for a few days. We hit the weekend night market, which was AMAZING! The selection of food and drinks was staggering. All kinds of barbecued meats, seafood, noodles, soups, sweets, smoothies, etc. I was so full afterwards that I pretty much rolled back to the hostel.

Chiang Mai was a blast, but now it’s to the west in Myanmar!

Cheers, Shawn

Asia Trip – Early 2016