Chiang Mai Temples and Old Town

 On one of my last days in Chiang Mai, I had the pleasure of meeting up with one of my favorite vloggers, Jason Pizzino and his friend Bethany.
We checked out a temple that was on my list of places to see, as well as some of the backstreets in the old town -- looking for the real Chiang Mai. We had such a great day exploring the streets and I loved the contrast to the Nimman area (where we lived), which is mostly newer construction.

The temple that we visited was called Wat Chedi Luang Worawihan and even though it was quite overrun by tourists, it is definitely still worth a visit. We had to pay 40 baht to enter and girls need to cover their knees and arms. I had brought a scarf with  me to cover my shoulders but it stayed on for all of 2 minutes before I started overheating so that came off pretty much straight away. Nobody said anything about it once we were inside, but I had it ready just in case. Bethany had worn shorts and a tank top and they provided her with a long skirt and shawl to wear over top of her clothes. I can't imagine how hot she must have been! 

These temples are some of the oldest I've seen and were built in the 14th century. They are much different than the other temples in Chiang Mai and really worth a visit. You can't go inside the temple that is in ruins, but I would kill to see what it's like in there. Also, women can't enter one of the smaller temples -- Men Only!

After visiting the temples, we hopped on Jason's scooted and headed into the old town to see if we could find some interesting back streets. We zigzagged our way in and came across a corner with local sitting out on lawn chairs, a lady cooking in a little makeshift stall attached to her house and stray dogs lounging in the middle of the road. We stopped to shoot some photos and the locals just watched with smiles on their faces.

Even in the side streets that seemed to be void of any foreigners, there were still tons of little shops with tailors, restaurants and bike rentals. I'm not sure if they do quite as well as the others, but at least you don't need to go far before stumbling across whatever it is that you need. 

My impression of the old town wasn't very positive before this day -- having only visited the main tourist areas and being surrounded by heavy traffic and too many people. But once we ventured off the main path, it really was quite lovely. I always love to see the way locals live to get a better feel for the city. I'm glad to have seen the real Chiang Mai.

Photos by Jason Pizzino, Bethany and myself.

WHAT I WORE:

NOUL DRESS

NORDSTROM SANDALS (similar here, here and here)

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XOXOX