Life This Week in Chiang Mai, Thailand: Jan 19-25, 2026

Monday, Jan 19

For dinner I went to Kao Soi Nimmin, a charming indoor/outdoor restaurant with lush ferns and tropical plants, the omnipresent Thai lanterns blowing gently in the light evening breeze, and a mouth-watering menu book. I wanted to taste their specialty, Kao Soi, the Northern Thai dish I’ve had here several times now and really like. It’s essentially a mildly spicy broth, with some form of protein (beef, chicken, pork, seafood, tofu), wide noodles, and crispy noodles on top. Each place has a slightly different take on it, so I’m mentally ranking them as I go.

Here, I had kao soi with pork slices and ranked it second out of three in my ranking. It was a little less spicy than I would have liked, but had an overall good flavor. And then, like a dummy whose eyes are bigger than her stomach, I also ordered chicken satay with peanut dipping saucy. The chicken had a smoky flavor and the peanut sauce almost seemed like they may have given me the wrong thing as it looked and tasted more like a chili sauce than a peanut sauce. It was spicy.  I could only eat a few of the chicken skewers being as full as I already was from the noodle dish and due to the spiciness. I was disappointed as I’d really wanted to try one of the traditional Thai desserts but I just did not have room for it.

After dinner I walked around the area a bit, enjoying the sights and taking pictures. Thailand is that girl who always wears really colorful clothes.

Tuesday, Jan 20

Today I went on a full-day tour to Mae Kampong, a charming mountain village about 90 minutes from Chiang Mai city. While we definitely had the Bat Out of Hell driver…and for once I actually wore my seat-belt, it was nice to have a long drive and just be able to sit and look out the window. I got to see the city turn into the suburbs then farmland…then we headed up the mountain that turned a little jungle-tropical. Eventually we stopped and transferred into “mountain climbing” vehicles. The guide graciously allowed me to sit up front with the driver rather than try to climb up in the back of the truck with the others. So I had a great view of how narrow and twisty the road was…and how close to the edge, and sometimes a cliif we were.

Whee!

We made several stops as we continued up the mountain…a waterfall, a cafe with a great view of the village below…an old temple with moss and ferns growing on the roof. I spent a long time walking around the temple and missed most of the “village” time 🙁 I’m not too upset cuz I think I’ll go back by myself now that I see how lovely it is.

We then drove up up up and up to a huge tree-house-like outdoor cafe overlooking the valley and mountains. We spent a little while there having coffee and snacks and taking pictures.

Then it was time to go back down the mountain. Down down down.

I was surprised to see so many tropical plant nurseries on the mountain roads. Duh. Thailand is the tropics! Not the deep dark jungle tropics, but it has a year-round tropical climate, so it only makes sense that tropical plants would thrive here.

Do you think in the tropics, they call them “tropical” plants? Or just “plants.”

It was almost 8pm by the time I was dropped back at my condo, exhausted. But in all, a very good day.

Sunday, Jan 25

After staying in for a couple days, and with a bit of a mental shove, I got out of the apartment today to go finally visit the real elephant temple, Wat Chiang Man (FYI a “wat” is a temple, so here in Thailand you see that word a LOT). It’s not truly the “elephant temple,” I just call it that because of the elephant “chedi” (a chedi is a monument often seen in Thailand that is bell or cone-shaped – like an upside down ice cream cone on the ground. They hold relics of the Buddha or revered monks. I’ve only seen them on temple grounds with the other buildings, but they can stand off on their own as well.). The chedi at Wat Chiang Man is surrounded and protected by a herd of brick & stone elephants all around the base. I’d seen it in the background in pictures and have been unsuccessfuly trying to get to it in person. I thought I had found it a few weeks ago when I stumbled into a temple that had a ton of elephant statues (link to post)…but that was not it.

But today, success! After an eight-minute walk from where the Grab driver let me off (can’t quite seem to get that right!), I entered the peacecful grounds of Wat Chiang Man.

Wat Chiang Man was built in 1297 CE (13th century) – the first temple built in the capitol of Chiang Mai.

I always thought a temple was a temple. But it’s actually a collection of buildings and structures, more like a complex. This particular temple has five separate buildings as well as a lotus pond with a pair of naga (sea serpent-like creatures often found at the base of stairs and bridges, guarding the buildings they’re connected to).

It was still a little early so the temple grounds were emptyish. There are a lot of benches around (my favorite!) so I was able to spend time at each building just sitting in the shade looking at the details of the building in front of me, listening to the birds singing, people watching, and watching the occassional monk appear to wash down a statue or sweep the ground.

In my temple visits I’ve heard chanting, but mostly have seen monks tending to the grounds: hosing offthe walkways and statues, watering plants, etc.

Visiting the temples and just sitting and enjoying my quiet time there reminds me of when I was young and we would visit Viewpark Cemetery where my Aunt Bettie was buried. It was a regular routine that after church on Sunday mornings we’d all (me and my mother, my grandparents, and aunt and uncle and my three cousins) pack into my grandfather’s Rambler or my uncle’s big sedan and head into Glendale, past all the big flower shops selling grave floral baskets and giant funeral arrangements…to the lush, parklike grounds of Viewpark Cemetery.

As far as I was concerned, it was just a big, pretty park…with a pond with swans that we lured to us with crusts pulled from our tuna sandwiches (yes, lunches were packed for our cemetery visits). My “same age” cousin Randy and I would run up and down the velvetty hills, walk along the rows of flat grave markers, reading all the “old fashioned” names, competing to see who could find the oldest marker.

But I digress, ha ha. My special gift: tangents.

The only place I did not go was inside the assembly hall. To go inside any of the buildings, you must remove your shoes…and it’s just too hard for me to get my sneakers back on without something to help me. A low bench (at home, my bed), or high step to either step up on or rest my knee on, so I can reach my foot to pull the back of my sneaker up onto my heel. That was always challenging for me, but now, after my knee injury, squatting down without support is something I try to avoid.

When I was done wandering around the temple grounds, I walked to a charming restaurant called The Little Sunday Cafe. It was the perfect dessert after the temple, retaining the peaceful, quiet vibes. My breakfast was as pretty as it was delicious – and I had the best bacon I’ve had outside the US!

It was getting warmer outside at this point, so I took that as my cue to head home and spend the rest of the day in my shady, cool apartment. Because this room has a screen door in addition to a wooden front door, I’ve taken to leaving the front door propped open during the day, and with the balcony doors wide open as well, I get a nice cross breeze coming through most days. And we know I love a breeze.

Another week behind us, another one in front.

To quote the monks, “May all beings be well, happy, and at peace.”

Other miscelleneous pictures from the week…