eilee

We will be in Chiang Mai with my two teenage kids in mid- December. I'm trying to figure out how many side trips to book vs having leisure time in the city . Our itinerary thus far is:

12/23 - arrive around 1:30 pm - 2 hr. city tour wtih our guide
12/24 - 8:30-11:30 - half day to Doi Suthep& White Hmong Hill Tribe
rest of day to walk around/shop
12/25 - either a day of leisure to explore city or a day trip. The options our guide suggested are:
1. Elephant safari ride (Chiang Dao Elephant Training Camp) to Lisu village and bamboo raft trip.
2. 1/2 day biking trip - souther Chiang mai
3. Trip to elephant camp and visit to Long-Neck Hill Tribe.

My kids have seen/ridden on elephants when we were in South Africa many years ago, so I'm not sure how imortant it is to do it again. My inclination is to keep the day free to wander, shop (which my kids love to do) and explore, but I don't know how much there is to actually see and do in the city itself if we've already had the half day the day before. Lastly, I'm not sure if anything will be open on Christmas day to begin with, though we could switch day 2 and 3 around.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Kathie

Almost everything will be open on Christmas day. Thailand is a Buddhist country and while Christmas has become a day to exchange gifts, it is not a holiday.

I would nix most of the things on your list. The visit to the long-necked tribe in particular is of the worst of the human-zoo variety. And the other hilltribe visits will not be to places where the people live in their traditional ways (you have to do an overnight trek to get to such villages).

If your kids are interested in elephants, take them to the Thai Elephant Conservation Center near Lamphang rather than the commercial camps.

If it was me - and it isn't - I'd opt for the 2 hour city tour (mostly to orient all of you to the city), the half day trip to Doi Suthep (but I'd start earlier - get there as early as you can) and I'd skip the hill tribe visit. If your kids love to cycle, the cycling trip might be nice - but remember that Chiang Mai has terrible traffic. I'd want to make sure we were riding somewhere that had much less traffic. If they want to see a real elephant camp where elephants are treated well, go to TECC. Otherwise, stroll and browse.

jenskar2

We enjoyed our trip to Doi Suthep -- we had a very good guide who explained how to use the ablution oils and had us blessed by a local monk -- when I loop back on the pictures from that trip I'm struck by how serene it seemed that high in the air. Very smoky/misty, so you really couldn't tell you were on a mountain.
I definitely visited some traditional Hill Tribe women who were still living traditionally. One is a Hmong grandmother who still weaves with hemp -- she showed me her entire process (including batiking the pattern after the cloth is woven) and I found it quite interesting. She was recommended by a woman who has become a friend of mine who lives South of Chiang Mai and deals in ethnic artifacts -- not tourist level stuff -- things from her collections have featured in some major shows. Her name is Susan Stem and her web site is www.tribaltrappings.com She and her husband tend to know what ceremonies may be going on off the beaten path and she has a very good guide and driver she uses personally who I hired for 2 days.
Have fun !

crellston

Kathie has summed it up pretty well particularly the comment re the hilltribes/human zoo. There is, arguably, nothing inherently wrong with visiting the mountain people in their villages but any village within half a days walk is almost certain to be overtly touristy and the villagers exploited by the trekking organisers. It is also probable that you will find the villagers agressive in trying to sell their products etc. (can hardly blame them as they are VERY poor. It is still possible to trek to less exploited and more "authentic" villages where the people still live a reasonably traditional lifestyle but this will involve a trek of at least 2-3 days. That said, Ching Dao's reputation for trekking is much better than CM's. We are planning to spend a few days there in Dec possibly to trek to the mountain top.

Doi Suthep is excellent but you do need to get there early morning or late afternoon partly to avoid the crowds and partly because there will be less haze at those times of day and you should get a much better view from the top.

Lots of mountain biking trips around - we are considering :

http://www.clickandtravelonline.com/

Traffic is in CM is nowhere near as bad as CM but I don't think I would cycle there. Much better to get out into the country where it is quieter.

I would avoid the commercial camps many of which which are renowned for their miss-treatment of the elephants. A day at http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/go/park would get you closer to the elephants and would be more interesting.

Whatever you decide, have fun it is a great part of the country to visit