Hello friends! Happy weekend!

You have clicked on this blog post because you want to know more about the adventures Chiang Mai has to offer. Have you read part 1 yet? Don’t miss out on elephants and lady boys. Catch up by clicking HERE!

With the Elephant Nature Park officially behind me (but forever in my heart), the next morning Melissa and I put on our runners to prepare for our hike through Doi Suthep-Pui National Park. The main attraction here is Doi Suthep Temple, which we didn’t explore because our focus was finding a glorious waterfall. We took a red car (taxi you can flag down and bargain a set price) and was dropped off in front of the hiking trail to Mon Tha Than Waterfall. We walked (re: danced) 3km to find the falls. You can imagine the excitement when we arrived and realized we had the hot spot allllllll to ourselves. Shoes were taken off and we jumped right in the shallow, cool water immediately.

After our private waterfall sesh, we made our way back to the Old City to chow down on (in Melissa’s opinion) the BEST food we ate in Chaing Mai. Beside our Airbnb was a restaurant called Green Tiger House, located at the north wall. I ordered tomato fried rice and Melissa had massaman curry. It was a light snack before we made our way to the south wall to enjoy cheap eats at the night market.

The next morning we ventured off to the Grand Canyon Chiang Mai. We were told by our Uber driver that there were a couple Grand Canyon attractions you could explore. We went to the one that wasn’t the water park. They’re beside each other so if you accidentally go to one, the other is a five minute walk away.

Upon arrival there was a ฿50 entrance fee, which is essentially $1 and were given a life jacket that you had to wear if you wanted to swim in the canyon. This specific destination is a popular cliff diving spot if you’re feeling like a dare devil. Or, you could play it safe and swim out to wooden pods to lay down and soak up the sun. We did the latter because nothing about jumping into deep open water seemed like a good idea to Melissa and I, who are not strong swimmers.

The next morning I went for a solo walk around the Old City and stumbled upon Wat Ratchamontian, otherwise known as the dragon temple. The detail and colours were breathtaking. You could honestly spend an entire day walking around the Old City and basking in the glory that are the ancient temples.

While on my walk, I caught these smiling kiddies before their bike ride around the city. Thai children are SEWWW CYUUTTTTEEE!

Thailand is notorious for cheap eats. You can dine like a king for less than $5. A giant bowl of pork and noodles at a night market can be less than $1 and smoothies less than 50¢. Melissa and I browsed through every market we could including an outdoor one during the day and bought fresh watermelon and corn, which we got for $2, total.

It was certainly a wild week in Chiang Mai. From drag shows, elephant treks, mountain hikes, waterfall showers, canyon dipping, smoothie sippin’, and everything in-between. I want to send a special shout out to Melissa, who pet every dog on the street with me and not afraid to put on a dance performance in public. We had so much fun exploring a new city together and there was no one I’d rather share this experience with than my favourite cousin. #MIDDLECHILDRENPREVAIL

Check out the second half of my Chiang Mai, Thailand vlogs! We eat our way through the Saturday Night Market and light candles on the street with hundreds of others in remembrance of the beloved king of Thailand. It was magical.