Chiang Mai Favorites: A Teach Abroad Participant’s Favorite Things List!

by: Milena Schembri

Milena Schembri is a First Time Traveler Scholarship winner who traveled and taught English in Thailand with Greenheart! You can read all about her travels and experiences in her other two blogs. Milena also included a list of favorite things from her time abroad and wanted to share!

I’ve included a list of my Chiang Mai favourites below for those who are interested:

Restaurants /Food:

• Koh Soi: MUST TRY. Its a traditional Northern dish that you can only get in Chiang Mai
  
• Big Big Shabu Shabu: all you can eat fish and meat where you grill your food yourself! Also
  has all you can eat ice cream!
  
• Slow Fish: Good seafood options
  
• The Riverside Bar & Restaurant: Right on the river. Nice to go to at night
  
• After Life: Cool hippie vibes, and amazing Koh Soi
  
• Food4thought: Good Brunch/Veggie Options
  
• Goodsouls: Good Vegan/Veggie options

Coffee Shops:

Chiang Mai is the city of coffee shops. There are endless amounts

•  Paapu House: Good breakfast cool vibes
  
•  Free Bird Coffee Shop: Hippie hangout spot! Great coffee
  
•  Fern Forest Cafe: A bit more pricey but really nice outdoor seating
  
•  Elefin Cafe: So cool! If you want to see elephants but don’t want to pay a ton, you can go to
  this coffee shop and see Elephants here for free!
  
•  Yesterday Cafe: Cafe/Cocktail bar
  
•  Mars Cafe– Instagram hot spot
•  One Nimman Cafe: Great coffee in an awesome area

Things to Do:

My favourite waterfalls

• Must do sticky waterfalls! It’s sooo cool you can climb up the waterfall like Spiderman!
  If you only have time for one, do this! It’s free entry too. Cute to spend an afternoon
  here.
  
• Montha Than Waterfall– closest/easiest to get to from the city
  
• Tat Mok Waterfall
  
• Mae Sa Waterfall
  
• Walk around the city square. Filled with temples and cute shops
  
• Elephants: I went with a company called Phupha Elephant. These elephants are owned by a
  Hill Tribe family and wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild since families have owned them
  for so long. You could book a tour with this company and you get lunch and transportation is
  included.
  
• Huai Tueng Thao Reservoir: You can hangout by the lake here at these little huts! Cute
  afternoon!
  
•  Doi Inthanon: MUST DO if you have time. It’s the highest point in Thailand. Do the Kew Mae
  Pan Nature Trail.
  
•  North Gate Jazz co-op: If you like Jazz music this place is sooo cool! Bands go up and play
  live Jazz music at night. It gets quite busy around 8:30. Tuesday night is the best night!
  
•  Karen Village Jungle Hike
  
•  Doi Suthep Temple
  
•  Drum Circle @ Paapu House
  
•  Jing Jai Market: cute Saturday/Sunday Morning market! They always have live music.
  
•  Sunday Night Market in the City Centre. It can get really crowded but its cool to see all the
  street food and temples
  
•  Zoe in Yellow: A bunch of small bars in a little square. I only went on New Years, but there’s
  also a Reggae bar right next to it which is cool.
  
•  Freedom Yoga
•  Free Yoga in the Park
  

Where to Stay:

• Chiang Mai has a main City Square surrounded by fortress walls! SO cool! This is prob the
  best place to stay if you want to be able to walk to a lot. If you stay in here your’re near a
  bunch of good restaurants and things to do. My friends stayed at Mad Monkey Hostel and
  liked it! – Its a party hostel
  
• I looveee Nimmanhaemin area. It has a lot of cute coffee shops and restaurants. Definitely
  visit here if you don’t stay here

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