How easy/difficult is it to get into downtown Chiang Mai from the outskirts?
 

We are staying at the Fern Paradise resort in late December. How easy and/or difficult will it be for us to get into the city in the evening? We'll be with Sergeant Kai during the day, but I'd like to go to the night market and such some evening.

You will need a car.

Okay...so maybe we WON'T be going to the night market...not all that crazy about renting a car for one night...

check with the hotel-- they may have vans or some other form of transportation that takes people into town on a regular schedule.

I would expect the reosrt could hook you up with a car and driver for the evening if you really wanted to go. Frankly the night market is mostly geegaws - you'll find better and more intersting items in Bangkok.

You won't have any trouble getting anywhere. I didn't like the Night Market...touristy, expensive and poor quality goods. But, I really liked the Sunday Walking Street, and on Saturday nights, there is apparently a smaller street market as well that is supposed to be interesting.

Thanks for all your help. We may really enjoy hanging out at Fern Paradise in the evening, who knows? I just was curious about our options...

I know when we were in Egypt last year I much preferred the night souq at Aswan over the Khan in Cairo...thought this might be the same.

You didn't like the Khan in Cairo? I thought it was very vibrant and colourful. We didn't go to the Souq in Aswan since we chose the wonderful sound and light show at Philae instead.

Back to CM - although the night market is not that great in CM you might still want to go into town for the restaurants at night. Flag down a "tuk tuk" or a "songtaew" and negotiate the price before you go in to them. Also, a few restaurants will pick you up at your hotel or resort.

For a rough guide to the transportation option in CM check out this web site:

http://www.chiangmaieguide.com/gettingaround.htm

you could have kai leave you in town and then take a taxi from there back to fern

Okay- we'll diverge for a minute and I'll tell you why I didn't like the Khan...I knew exactly what to do and NOT to do while shopping there. My husband, on the other hand...well, let's see. To start a shop owner asked him his name. He told him. ALL the way down the street shopkeepers were calling out to us. Then he got talked into going WAY off the main drag by a shop owner because he said he was looking for a camel for his dad. That's when it got ugly. Let's just say we ended up having to get the tourist police to intervene. It was a good lesson for him. (That being said- we still LOVED Egypt!)

Now, back to Chiang Mai...

Having Sgt. Kai drop us off isn't a bad idea at all. I'll have to look at our itinerary and see what day would work out the best to do that.

Apparently you didn't take tourism 101. When a vendor ask for your name, in my case, I would tell them "Brad Pitt". They look at me in a state of confusion and didn't bother me again!

Even with my Brad Pitt routine I still got shafted. By the Giza pyramid I bargained with a camel tender and got the price down to $1 to sit on a camel and have my picture taken. After that I ask to be be let down and the boy said $5 please!

I understood it...my husband did not. I can still hear all the shop keepers yelling...Bill, come see my shop Bill...UGH!
It would have all been okay if we hadn't had the encounter with the shop owner who physically grabbed me when I told him he didn't have what I was looking for. It got real ugly real fast.

I'm not anticipating that in Thailand...

Brad Pitt, huh? I'll have to remember that one!

If you do want to go into town for the night market -- make sure you get to the main white building. There are some very good little shops inside (the stuff in the streets is mostly of the geegaw variety). I think I posted into your other thread -- looks like you've picked your CM accomodation.