The Rose of the North

Flying into Chiang Mai International Airport is an easy gateway to the city, the airport itself is compact, comfortable, and competent; there are few of the frustrations found at say Phuket or certainly Suvarnabhumi. The transfer from airport to hotel was swift and I was soon settling in with a welcoming gin and tonic in hand and map and weekend itinerary before me. But first to satisfy the inner man.One of the better eateries in Chiang Mai is the Riverside restaurant that sits on the banks of the Ping River and serves excellent northern Thai and international food in generous proportions. All the usual local dishes are available, the extra-spicy tom yam khung is a must for those who like it hot, ho mok talay is so delicious you can easily imaging digging your toes into soft white sand and eating this crab-based dish on the beach. Burmese pork curry, deep fried sour spare ribs, and tangy Chiang Mai sausage will not find an equal anywhere. Besides the local food, I was impressed by the range of cuisines available from the ubiquitous hamburger to Wiener schnitzel and pizzas and pastas; it is not only possible to eat yourself around Thailand, it is possible to eat around the world at the Riverside.

As I was to discover, the Riverside is not just famous for its food, it offers an eclectic range of live music too. In the hours I was there, five bands played half-hour sets starting with mellow Simon and Garfunkel and the Carpenters, through to Reggae, Bon Jovi with a nod to the Beatles, and other greats. The following day in an attempt to work off the excess of food and drink, I hired the hotel van and driver and high-tailed it to Doi Inthanon National Park. At 8,500 feet (2,565 metres), this mountain is Thailand’s tallest and forms the eastern arm of the Himalayas range. It felt like the Himalayas too…when I arrived just after 9am, the mist was rolling in like those I remember from my northern European, winter childhood. The resemblance did not end there; the temperature was also similar at 10o Celsius and it did not get much warmer than that.

The summit is reached on foot along a designated path, and only in the capable hands of the guides. The early morning mist obscured the view but it cleared enough by the time I left to give a glimpse of the glorious panorama that this spectacular mountain is able to provide. The range teems with wildlife and unique flora, and it is the source of the Ping River that runs through the center of Chiang Mai.

It has never been my ambition to rival the achievements of Mallory, Hillary, and the other intrepid climbers who have scaled the world’s tallest mountain but I did achieve a small lifetime desire of climbing a Himalaya mountain, albeit one of the smaller ones and mainly by luxury van. Sundays in the old city is walking-street day. Thronging the street, both sellers and buyers haggle for the best price on every type of commodity; buskers play both Thai and Western music, and food venders cook typical Northern Thai dishes at ridiculously cheap prices. The Sunday walking-street starts immediately you enter the Thapae Gate, so it is very easy to find at Ratchadamneon Road. No holiday to Chiang Mai would be complete without a visit to one or more of its countless temples; many of them several centuries old.

Besides the must-visit Doi Suthep overlooking the city and its protective valley, the most important of Chiang
Mai’s temples is Wat Phra Singh. Built in the 14th century and recently renovated, the wat retains its ancient charm and features. Although the wat is inside the teeming, old-city walls, the instant I walked into this place, I felt a calmness and peace fall upon me; not just a spiritual presence but the power of silence and the centuries of contemplative meditation seems to instill a feeling of contentment, contemplation, and tranquility.

Strolling around the grounds, I stumbled upon a grove of trees—a kind of miniature arboretum with a difference. Attached to every tree was a plaque of inspirational sayings like: ‘Merit making calculated to impress is not real merit.’ or ‘When money speaks, truth is silent.’ As I wandered around it became compulsive reading—it was a living, growing dictionary of quotations and axioms. Chiang Mai is a perfect weekend retreat from the hectic pace and the tumultuous
turmoil of Bangkok; the city will call you back time after time. Oh, and by the way, Chiang Mai has a lively gay scene too…just one more reason to visit the Kingdom’s northern capital.