Hi all - just wondering if I could get your thoughts on our Chiang Mai itinerary. Less than 6 weeks until we go now so trying to finalise all the details!

We are:
John, Lucy and Bella (2 year old) - we are in our early thirties and this will be our sixth trip to Thailand I think. We backpacked around SE Asia for the first two summers after we met and fell in love with it. We are going back to Thailand for a five week break - in the middle of which we get married! This will be Isabella's first trip to Thailand.

My parents and 20 yr old brother - they have never been to Asia before.

John's parents - John's mother has never been to Asia before but John's dad has travelled through some of SE Asia over 30 years ago but not since.

Chiang Mai:
We (L, J & B) plus my parents and brother are spending 3 nights at Baan Orapin and 3 nights at Yaang Come Village. (I know some would stay in one place but I really wanted to stay in both for different reasons!)

John's parents are staying 6 nights at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Devi.

This is what we have planned so far:

Day 1 - arrive CM about 2.30pm. Go to hotel/B & B. My brother and I are being picked up by a lot of thai cookery school at 4pm to do a short cookery course that evening until 7.30pm.

Day 2 - we are all heading up to the Oriental to spend the day with John's parents there. In the afternoon, again around 4pm, John's mother, myself, Michael, John and Bella are being picked up by a lot of thai cookery school (again!) to go and have a private course. I have arranged this for John's mum as she doesn't like chili and wanted to do some cooking but NOT with any chili at all. Bella is going to play with Yui's little boy (nicely! we hope) under John's supervision whilst the rest of us cook.

Day 3 - Today, John and Michael go off on a three day, two night trek. I've done this twice before and didn't really fancy it again - although is a v good last minute weight loss strategy for the wedding! Michael is desperate to go so John agreed to go with him. The rest of us are heading off to Doi Inthianon National Park to visit a waterfall with Sergeant Kai. We are then going on to visit some hill tribe villages. Sergeant Kai offered for us to go on a two hour trek but my mother broke her leg a few years ago and is not too stable on it. Plus we figured with a 2 year old, 2 hours would become more like 5...So we are driving to the villages we would have walked too. In the afternoon, we head back to where we are staying to relax. I have also got to pack that day as the following morning, we move to Yaang Come Village.

Day 4 - we plus my parents move to Yaang Come Village. Also I start a 2 day thai foot massage course. I have just trained as an aromatherapist and massage therapist and would have loved to have done the full thai massage course but not enough time this trip. Next time...I am doing this at www.tmcschool.com and it costs 3200 Baht for the two days and is open to all.

Day 5 - still at YCV, Lucy still on massage course, John and Michael arrive back from trek.

Day 6 - Sergeant Kai is taking us to the Elephant Conservation Center, then to a market & handicraft villages & Doi Suthep at dusk. This is a full day trip.

Too much? I think there is quite a lot of downtime for the youngest and oldest in our party. Isabella is being looked after by our lovely parents in days 4 & 5 whilst John is on the trek and I am on the massage course. I think we would greatly appreciate any suggestions for little trips out for her from the YCV. They have the pool there but I wondered if there were indoor play centre type places like they have in Bangkok?

Which restaurants should we be visiting in the evening?

Thanks all,
BB

I think your plan sounds great. You will love Yui for cooking...she is just a genuinely nice person. Her son is really sweet and I'm sure Bella will enjoy playing together with him. They will probably play right within your sight outside near where you are cooking. She is also really good about showing you alternative methods for making dishes...with ingredients you can more easily get at home, with or without spice, vegetarian...we got her book (you will too) plus we had the recipes she wrote out for us on paper, as we did a custom class too.

The pool at YCV will be enjoyed by your daugther...though I'm trying to remember if it had a place with steps into it, I just can't for the life of me...it might be deep all the way around??? Maybe an e-mail to them to ask might be a good idea. You might also want to bring along something floaty for her...pool noodle or kick board or something...they didn't have any pool toys when we were there. At 2, Teaghan could sit on a noodle with me alongside her and pretend she was riding a horse...a good hour of fun there.

We didn't shop much or go to malls in Chiang Mai so I have no idea about indoor play areas. YCV's manager is more than willing to help guests enjoy their stay and is just lovely, so I'm sure she can come up with some ideas for you.

Restaurants...I guess eating wasn't on our list of priorities last trip. We had a dinner at Tamarind Village one night that was mediocre at best...skip that. Right in front of YCV is Whole Earth (Good Earth? my memory is foggy this morning) and we found it OK...although we specifically ordered "not spicy" for Teaghan, and they could obviously see that she was a child, her food was the spiciest of all of our dishes and we ended up having to order something different for her, which was also spicy in spite of the waiter telling us it would be OK for her, so she had 2 mango lassis for lunch.

We ate quite a few things at YCV that were quite nice. Aree, the manager, was very helpful for us and chose a menu for us one night that was excellent. They were also very accommodating to special orders. There was a family there with us that kept kosher, and their daughter ate dinner with us one night. We ordered pad thai for her...no fish sauce, no shrimp, no shrimp paste...they understood perfectly well and her pad thai was still lovely and she enjoyed it. Teaghan also tends to special order, and it was never a problem.

The best food we ate was what we cooked with Yui.

There are some posts on here about Chiang Mai restaurants that you've probably seen.

I, too, think your plan looks great. You're making a wise move on skipping the 2-hour trek with your mother and small daughter. If it's the one we did, I think it would be too much for either of them (several steep places - mostly down - but a bit precarious - I think I mentioned this to you earlier). You'll love Yui and, as Kim says, I think your daughter will enjoy playing with her son. He's a cutie. I can't comment much on your other questions, but I do want to mention that you should work in a little time for seeing some sights in Chiang Mai. There are some interesting wats worth a peek, and strolling is also enjoyable. And while you didn't mention the night market, I'm sure that must have been an oversight and you plan at least one visit (for me one visit wasn't enough!).
You'll have a great time. One other comment - some think it's tacky, and the food is only mediocre, but we enjoyed the evening at Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center. It's touristy (very), but it's a fun evening if you go with an open attitude and just have a good time. It would be especially good with a group. Your hotel can book it for you (and get a discount).
Have a great trip!
Karen

Thought of one other thing as soon as I hit post - you might want to ask Sergeant Kai to drive back from the Elephant Conservation Center via the old route past the "gum trees" - he may well take you that way anyway. It's really a pretty drive.
(P.S. Your daughter will go gaga over the elephants - mine did, and she's 25! Definitely a trip highlight for both of us.)

Bella
I'm trying to figure this out. If you are going in 6 weeks, and you plan to stay in SEAsia for 5 weeks, I think you'll be there while I am there (and guenmai also). I'll be in BKK from about the 29th of Aug until the 7th of Sept. Will you be in BKK then? We should get together for a visit! Gloria and I (plus coripep and husband) met at the Bamboo Bar at the Oriental. Then, on a different day, I met Isismonroe and hubby at the Intercontinental. It's great fun meeting fodorites!
arol

Forgot to suggest several restaurants in CM. I like Dalaabaa. It's in a house, so a very pleasant atmosphere. Only problem with this place is that there is only one restroom, and it's a his/hers variety. UGH. Other than that, the place is really very nice.

I have been to Good View. It's good if you want noise and live music and lots of activity. I like Nuan Nual better (not sure of the spelling, but it is pronounced Nong Nu-won). Great seafood, and dining outside along the Ping River is a treat. It's fun to watch the little geckos catch bugs in the outside lighting!
Carol

the waterfall is quite a walk, be forwarned....it is hot as hell there as well...i found it boring quite honestly...there is a small cafe down there...

Thanks all for some wonderful tips.

Kim - thanks for tips on ordering food for children. We bought her pad thai from a thai restaurant the other day and she devoured that so we are hoping that will be a stalwart back up! I'll get some pool toys for her too. It is great news that the manager of YCV is so helpful, as I've read that the owner of Baan Orapin is too. I am really pleased with our hotel choices for CM.

I had forgotten meandering around CM time! Mum and Dad will be doing this whilst I am on the massage course I think but I will have to do some meandering on the afternoon of Day 3.

I think YCV is near the night market so was planning on going when we are there a couple of times. We will also go to the Sunday market (walking market?). I am in two minds about the Cultural Centre - I think Bella would love it however, will probably want to join in the dancing but I am worried about needing to get back if she wants to go home all of a sudden! We are trying to decide whether to have thai musicians at our wedding in Samui and as an added option we can also have thai dancers. Again one of the main reasons for doing that is for Bella.

We are now going to a different waterfall - nearer the hilltribes, called Mae Sa (sp?) that Sergeant Kai suggested. Has anyone been there?

Carol - we leave on 27th August! We are just a couple of days apart - how disappointing. I would love to have met up, the US GTGs being slightly out of the way for me! If you are arrive any earlier for any reason - post me a message on here or to [email protected]. We will be at the Peninsula from the 24th. We are in Thailand from 22nd July to 27th August if anyone else is going to be there? I should probably post a separate message.

Getting so excited now thinking about our trip - it has been a long time planning and so short a time until we go now!

are you going to have a blog for us to follow your progress....you will of course have a huge trip report on fodors...??

yes - v long and detailed post-trip report! and probably on-going trip posts and blog too

Sorry we won't cross paths in BKK. I see no way to get there any earlier. Guenmai will be there, staying at Emporium, maybe the last few days of your visit to the Pen. She's a very interesting lady from LA.

Enjoy your trip! Wish I could get away to Thailand for more than two weeks at any one time, but it just doesn't seem to work out for me.

Carol

Our visit to Doi Inthanon with Sargeant Kai was one of the highlights of our trip.

We pressed for going on a cloud forrest hike. He chilled in the car, and hooked us up with a pal of his in the Karen tribe. It was utterly magical. You are in a tropical forrest for much of the hike, so the sun is filtered, and then you come out above the cloud line. I'll let you imagine...

Then we had a decent lunch, before taking the waterfall hike (not on the regular map) and going to the "coffee house" that the guy from the Karen tribe runs. Excellent visit.

A day at the Mandarin would be torture for me but that would be my only issue. I would, however, strongly suggest that you try to visit School for Life which is a real inspirational experience. Also do walk around, look at some of the wonderful high end craft shops (not the factories) and don't forget the markets -- food ones and other local ones.