kcscheer

I'm starting to research this area for a trip in November or December of 2007 for my husband and me. We will be staying 7 or 8 nights (is that enough?). What are the MUST do's and see's in the area? We love just walking and exploring, and this city seems perfect for that. We also love hiking. Any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

rhkkmk

i would find 4 nites more than enough for the town itself....hiking and other out of town activities would add to this number...

shopping and a visit to doi sutup wat are the major activities in town...

elephant visits outside of town and hill tribe exploring are also often done....

get yourself a good guide book for the highlights or do a fodors search here as lots has been written in the past about this

Kathie

If you are going to spend that much time in Chaing Mai, you'll either want to schedule things like a cooking class or mahout training at the Elephant Conservation Center, or you'll want to spend a good share of that time treking or hiring a car and driver to take you through one of the loops in Northern Thailand.

Gpanda

A very common thing to do is to use Chiang Mai as a starting point for a 3-4 day trek through the hills. These can vary widely. Take a look at the offerings of various providers and pick a tentative itinerary. I'm sure many will chime in with their "thoughts".

kcscheer

Thank you both. I definitely love the idea of a cooking class and hanging out with the elephants. Any recommendations for the best elephant training camps or elephant rides? I have Alotofthai down in my notes for cooking classes... is that the best one or are there others? Any suggestions for a guide or driver?

Kathie

A Lot of Thai is supposed to be excellent. The other cooking school that gets good review is the CHaning Mai Cooking School.

There are two elephant camps that get very good reviews... others will chime in with the names. You have to be cautious about choosing a good camp that treats the elephants well.

Kathie

oops - That's obviously supposed to to read "Chiang Mai Cooking School"

Peteralan

I was in Chiang Mai a couple of weeks ago and the highlight for me was a day trip to the Elephant Conservation Centre at Lampang near Chiang Mai ( thank you thank you Kim Japan and Kathie ). A fabulous place with respect shown to the elephants. There was a group of Americans staying there and learning to ride and manage the elephants. They were having such a good time especially having their shower/swim. The day after we left to return to Bangkok the place was flooded!

laurie_ann

I second the Elephant Conservation Center. We did the "homestay" for 2 nights and had a ball this time last year. You should be able to find it at www.changthai.com. In Changmai we also liked the new cultural center which had a good museum about northern Thailand.

DoctorCarrie

Some of our highlights in CM:

--Taking the full day cooking class at Chiang Mai Cooking School, in the Garden location, it was beautiful, and lots of fun!

--Visiting the Elephant Conservation Centre - regretted that we didn't do the homestay or 1 day mahout program, definitely will do that next time

--Hanging out with the Buddhist monk students at Wat Chedi Luang - where they get a chance to practice their English skills chatting with tourists

--Lunch at the Four Seasons, just outside of town

--We drove the Mae Hong Son Loop - check out this guide: http://www.budget.co.th/diversions/mae_eng.pdf - and did lots of short day hikes, cave exploring, hot springs, etc. along the way- and I loved the peaceful beauty of Mae Hong Son

--Just wandering around the town, checking out the markets, buying food from vendors, touring some of the wats

We decided not to do a trek - went with the Mae Hong Son drive instead - but we met lots of people who really enjoyed the ones they were on.

Have fun!!

StanKase

You have 3 days too many in CM. But, if that is a MUST then the cooking class, Lampang Elephant (with 1/2 day trek) Doi Suiop (spelling off) but that is only 3-4 hours tops, take a driver and do the 12 hour trip to Chiangi Rai. While it is 6 hours of driving it is worth the 5-6 hours there.The Karen hill tribe near there is interesting. Make sure you go to a non-tourist area of the hill tribes. While shopping can take up 2 days tops (prices are lower on many items than Bangkok)you might want to go to furniture and antique area (something Dong, sorry I cannot remember full name even though we were there 4 mo.ago)for a 4-5 hour trip with a driver. Poon, Ratt's sister is quite good-English a little rusty but she is knowlegeable and a lovely person. Watch out for antiques they say are 18th century and are really only 50 years old but with 18C prices. Need to go to Chilles (spelling again. Get "reasures and Pleasures of Thailand and Myamar"from Amazon. This is a shopping book and will give you very good recommendations if you get the 2005 edition.The above is a 5 day itinerary, but is ar resort you can relax though temeratures can be a bit cool except from 11-3.

Smeagol

The chiang mai cookery school is FABULOUS. We did it at Sompons house lovely lovely location and the owner "Sompon" took the morning class himself although he had to hand over to someone else in the afternoon as it was Loy Krathong festivities that night.
Fantastic value and one of our favorite things we did in Thailand. It was infact our primary reason for going to CM! little did i know what a great place CM would turned out to be

kingbonza

I have visited the elephant conservation centre at Lampang and can recommend it as an enjoyable day out. It is one of the best elephant centres in Thailand. They also have a hospital caring for injured elephants.

althom1122

Unless you're planning a 2-3 day trek, I too think you have too many days in CM. We had four nights and found it to be plenty of time.

We spent one full day around town, shopping, and seeing temples. (Use the tuk-tuks! Settle on price before getting in.)

We spent another day going bamboo rafting, visiting an outdoor market, and taking a 2-3 hour trek to a very untouristed hilltribe. (Guide was Sutee who worked for Sergeant Kai - we liked him a lot).

Spent the next day with Sergeant Kai - Elephant Conservation Camp (fabulous), a stop in Lamphun (worth it if you're going by), and a visit to Doi Suthep (don't miss it).

We also managed a cooking class with Yui at A Lot of Thai (just an evening class, not the whole day). We had a great time - it happened to be just the two of us.

And we went to the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center for the khantoke dinner with traditional and hilltribe dancing. Lots of fun.

Strongly recommend Sergeant Kai - he's wonderful!

Have a great time.

Karen