What is worth seeing in Chiang Mai?
I arrived to Chiang Mai at 7 am, caught a red truck at the bus station, which dropped for 50 Baht at my hostel Sixty House. As it was early in the morning and check in was at 2 pm, I left my backpack in the hostel and began to explore the city. The first task on my list was finding a place to eat, luckily I did not have to look for a long time, as after a few minutes of walking, I’ve spotted a very pleasant cafe called Morning Glory Cafe. In Moning Glory Cafe you can order both European and traditional Thai cuisine, so everyone will find there something that he’ll like, at really affordable prices. The owner of cafe is really nice and friendly and I every time I visited cafe I had an interesting conversation with her or other fellow travelers visiting Morning Glory Cafe for breakfast. If you are in Chiang Mai, be sure to visit Morning Glory Cafe – you will certainly not regret it! After my belly was full, I went to the old city area and began my journey around the temples visible on the map, which I got at the hostel.
Wat Chedi Luang
After a few minutes of walk I crossed the Tha Phae Gate and found myself in the Old Town. Few minutes later I entered Wat Chedi Luang, which is located in the center of Old Town. As usual, I walked around the temple to find a side entrace used by local people and use it to go inside, instead of going through the main entrance for tourists and paying entrance fee. Construction of the temple has began in the fourteenth century, but was completed in the fifteenth century, so it took a century to build it. Within the temple grounds there is a Buddhist Manuscripts Library and Museum Located and few other interesting buildings.
Wat Phra Singh
Next stop after Wat Chedi Luang was Wat Pha Singh. Getting there took me just another few minutes of walk and I was inside the temple grounds. The entrance to the temple is guarded by two lions and on the temple grounds you can see many Buddhist monks walking around, talking or studying. The temple itself is one of the largest in Chiang Mai and is home to important Buddhist statue – Phra Buddha Sihing. There are a lot of various Buddhist quotes hang all around temple grounds for example “Peace is the highest bliss” or “To do good and evil unseen by others are always seen by oneself”.
Of course during my few hours walk, I’ve visited a lot more places, like Wat Phan On or Burirat Mahains Residence, but I will not describe here all of them. While being in Chiang Mai it’s best to explore the city on a bicycle, you can rent one for 50 Baht for whole day. You can thus discover a lot more and quickly move around the city. What is worth seeing in Chiang Mai? Definitely Wat Phra Singh and Wat Chedi Luang, consider a visit to Morning Glory Cafe and try the best rotee in the city, which can be found every evening at Wat Mahawan (Tha Phae Road, soy 4).
