See what I did, my recommendations, and how I rank Chiang Mai
July 8th, 2019
We didn’t get in until late afternoon. While at the airport when you walk out there was an option for a taxi service. The price they were listing was way more than what I was reading online that I should pay (research helps) it was something like 500-600 baht. I tried to open up grab (Thailand’s uber) but wasn’t able to. My girlfriend then looked around and found a taxi that was 150 baht which was way more reasonable. We took that into the city and checked up. We needed food so we headed over to Huen Phen and I had the curry khoa. I was reading that this is a regional speciality dish and wanted to start the trip off right.
July 9th, 2019
We were only in Chiang Mai for what felt like a short time so we hired a tour, which turned out to be a personal tour, to take us to some of the bigger tourist attractions like Doi Suthep and Doi Inthanon. But first, coffee! We went to Coffee Lovers, mostly because it was close to where we were staying and luckily for us it was good! The one advantage we had with doing the private tour was by the time we were leaving Doi Suthep around 8:30 - 9 was when we saw the car loads of people showing up. While we were there it felt like we had the place to ourselves which was awesome 
We then checked out some of the forests, rivers, waterfalls, coffee plantations and more in the Doi Inthanon. It is also home to the highest peak in Thailand.
Doi inthanon was really cool but when we went to the peak and the King and Queen Pagoda it was kind of disappoint because it was rainy and foggy. It was cool, but the pictures online look way better!
After the tour was over we made our way over to the One Nimmam area. My uncle had recently had a long stay in Chiang Mai and recommend we check out La Pizza. The place was cool and is attached to a brick courtyard that had live music and lights. The pizza was like $18 each so it was a bit pricey.
July 10th, 2019
We woke in the morning and went to an elephant sanctuary. The experience was cool to be able to interact with the elephant but it for sure felt like a business but there was nothing that was unethical that took place. They did provide a rides, lunch, and an opportunity to shower which was cool
When we got back to town we cruised around to as many temples as we could before grabbing coffee at Moon Pie.
We then went back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. We randomly had a craving for sushi and went to Cook With Love Sushi which was surprisingly pretty cool. We ended the night at the North Gate Jazz Co-Op which I thought was fun and would definitely recommend if you are into live music.
July 11th, 2019
Needed some coffee we went to Ristr8to. They won several latte art championships and it shows, plus the coffee was good! We then walked over to Khao Soi Mae Shai. I wanted Khao soi and my girlfriend was feeling more adventurous and got something random that turned out to be congealed blood which is why having a translator app can always be helpful. We walked next door to Seasons Ice Cream to use their wifi to hail a Grab and heading back to our place.
In Chiang Mai there is over 20 buddhist temple and over 300 temple so we went back around to explore around to see all that we could. While we were out we were hungry for lunch we went to Ratchadurmnerm Coffee for sandwiches.
It was now time to head to the airport to head to the next city and we took a red car
Chiang Mai Review
Things To Do: 8/10
There are over 300 temples and 24 Buddhist temples in the city which that alone gives you a lot to look at! You can venture off into the Doi Inthanon National Park or see Doi Suthep. There are hour long massages for only a few dollars you can get! Then what a lot of people go to the area for, elephant sanctuaries. You can stay really busy with finding things to do! Food: 8/10 There is a wide variety of restaurants from local Thai dishes which are great to sushi and fancy pizza we had which was also good. If you are into coffee there are upscale coffee places or more locals. Getting Around: 8/10 If you are in the Old City it is extremely walkable and if you want to catch a ride you in a red truck you can do that for cheap and really easy or take a Grab, which is their version of Uber. Overall: 7.75/10 Chiang Mai provides a wide variety of things to do whether that is trek through the jungle, go to Thailand's highest point, see elephants, or stop by one of the 300 temples. The city has a mix of local options but because there are so many ex-pats living there you'll find nicer homes, nicer restaurants, or nicer shops mixed in with a cheap cost of living. That low cost of living means you can enjoy life's pleasures like a thai massage at a very cheap price! This means that you can find a variety of food ranging in prices but all delicious. The city is easy to get around and the people are friendly! Non-Obvious Chiang Mai Recommendations:
What to Bring
See what I bring on all my trips here!
If you are interested in getting travel insurance I recommend TravelInsurance.com. They are considered one of best in the industry, you can easily compare coverages and get the right one for you.  Tours**This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you and allows me to keep the lights on around here. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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I'm Jake, a dude interested in personal finance and travel creating the life I choose. In 5 years I went from living in a basement with Craigslist roommates to paying off 90k of debt, backpacking 3 continents, getting a house for myself and 5 rental units. Read my story in the about me section. All photos on the blog are from my travels
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