The Best Sight in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Background Illustration for Sights

The compact Old City can be explored easily on foot or by bicycle. The system of one-way streets can be confusing, but the plan keeps traffic moving quite effectively around the moat, which is crossed by bridges at regular intervals. The moated "one square mile" of the Old City contains 38 of Chiang Mai’s temples, including its oldest and most historic ones. The so-called Lanna style of architecture—stepped eaves, dark teak, and gleaming white stucco construction—has been adopted by the owners of boutique hotels in the Old City, where high-rise buildings are banned.

Ku Chang Ku Ma

Lamphun has one of the region's most unusual cemeteries, an elephant's graveyard called Ku Chang. The rounded chedi is said to contain the remains of Queen Chamthewi's favorite war elephant. On the same grounds is Ku Ma, a chedi containing the remains of the same queen's most revered horse.

38 Soi Ku Chang, Lamphun, Thailand

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