CHIANG MAI

We got to Chiang Mai the next morning with the whole day in front of us. After checking in at Bunchun Hostel, we stayed put for about an hour playing with their two puppies of only a couple weeks as well as what seemed like millions of cats/kittens. I won’t even go into how incredible it was, you all know.

That afternoon we went with five people we met at Bunchun to the Chiang Mai Grand Canyon. It was gorgeous. The pictures don’t capture half of the beauty, so you just have to take our word for it.

Later that night we went to our first ever cabaret. It was a ladyboy cabaret. The costumes were beautiful and the talent was above and beyond what I was expecting. Overall just such a great day.

The next day we went to the university district in search of a small restaurant where Sasha 2 used to eat everyday when she studied/lived in Chiang Mai for two months during her sophomore year. Unfortunately it was closed on Sundays. Ugh. Despite her disappointment we still had a fabulous lunch of Pad Thai and Khouy Soy (a really yummy curry with noodles and crispy noodles on top-- found ONLY in Northern Thailand. So, SO, SOO yummy!). Afterwords we enjoyed some dessert at a cat cafe. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like. They had about 10 full grown cats and a litter of tiny babies. It was heaven.

After we finished pigging out, I went back to the hostel to do some work on the computer when both the Sashas and Victoria got a Thai massage. We got Mexican food for dinner (don’t judge us, we were all craving guac) and spent the night in, chatting and making friends with everyone at Bunchun.

After a wonderful, long sleep, we set off the next morning for the Sunday Markets. We first just explored around the town-- then we got into hardcore bargaining zone, which really doesn’t work very well in Thailand. We found that the salespeople were pretty strict with their pricing and walking away usually ends with you missing out on a purchase you really wanted. The market was huge and magical. We had so much fun buying tie dye, bags, wallets, and food. 

Chiang Mai was definitely better than Bangkok. It had a really nice vibe-- much like Siem Reap, but with 7-Elevens on every corner. It was also really cool because we ran into a lot of the same people, and even some travelers that we had seen in Siem Reap weeks before! The world really is such a small place!