Shelby's Travels

Today was our only full day in Chiang Mai so we had lots to fit in! starting with breakfast at the hotel.

Then we set off to see the town. The central part of town is the Old City or Inner City. It used to be enclosed by a wall and surrounded by a moat, that is actually still there today, to protect the city and keep out danger. The original wall was built in the 13th century. There are also many temples in and around Chiang Mai. So that is a lot of what we saw today.

Wat Chedi Luang construction started in 14th and ended in the mid 15th century. It experienced an earthquake in 1545 and the upper 30m collapsed and were never rebuilt. The original structure looks like two images below.

Not a great picture but you can see some remains of the original city wall below.

The city is right up against a mountain range and you can see off in the distance. So beautiful!

I made mom walk too far in the heat so we had a stop in some air conditioning and a cold drink at Jing Jai Market.

Then opted for a taxi rather than a 30 min walk 😅 to Wat Lok Moli.

And more walking. I love to see the little things. The way people live , their houses, their streets, the transportation they use.

Okay now to the best part of the day. Per the recommendation of my aunt Elena (great rec once again), we went on a street food tour. We learned that there are 4 types of cuisine in Thailand varying by region: North (which is where we are), Northeast, Central (Bangkok), and South.

This was probably the best food tour I’ve done. We had so much food and our guide was so informative and we learned so much!

Stop 1:

Stop 2:

Water Buffalo is a specialty of the north. They only serve it for special occasions. They need water buffalos to help on the farms, so they only use the meat when the animal dies of old age, so by that time the meat is really tough. So this is why then mince it. It is custom that the men make this dish because it requires strength to do the mincing.

Stop 3:

Our guide also took us through a local market. This is always one of my favorite things to see.

The kitchen is the smallest room in houses here. They don’t have large fridges where if they have leftover meat they put in the freezer. It is normal for people to eat out almost every meal as food is very affordable here. Locals go to the market everyday and can either buy premade meals/dishes, or the ingredients they need are portioned in a way for them to only make one meal for that day, and it’s expected they come back the next day.

Also… WARNING, a few raw meat picture coming that may not be pleasant.

The most eaten protein in Thailand is pork. In the old days it used to be fish but in the early 1900s, the Chinese brought white pigs over.

Bugs!

Stop 4:

Stop 5:

This restaurant is Shan food. It is a state in Myanmar that is close to Thailand. There has been a civil war going on in Myanmar for about 70 years and the Shan people flee to Thailand to escape and have a better life. There is a heavy influence of their cuisine in Chiang Mai.

Stop 6: DESSERT

Soooo if you’ve learned anything, it’s to take a food tour in every country you travel to, sometimes more than once as the cuisine can change depending on the region. This was so so fun and so so delicious! I am happy to share this specific tour with anyone who may be visiting Chiang Mai in the future. Highly recommend! I