Chiang Mai, I would love to tell you everything about this city but we didn’t see or experience much of this place. We only used Chiang Mai as a connection between Bangkok and Pai and departed from here to Laos. But a lot of people we met loved this place so definitely give it a try!
We did visit the temple (Wat) Doi Suthep and went to the Bua Tong “Sticky” Waterfall. Walking on a waterfall felt pretty unnatural but so amazing! The waterfall is not close to Chiang Mai by the way. But if you love to drive around and have the time, walk some waterfalls!
Vegan food: Chiang Mai
According to the HappyCow-app Chiang Mai only had around 8 listings. But after months of traveling I found out that this app don’t show all the restaurants by default. Read this post on how to use the HappyCow app properly. (Coming soon) So don’t be worried, Chiang Mai is filled with places to eat (or cook). I found a blogpost of Mostly Amelie with an amazing list of places to eat vegan in Chiang Mai.
Juicy4You (vegan-friendly) – $$
The only vegan-friendly restaurant we’ve ran into during our stay in Chiang Mai (but like said above: there are many!). Healthy food, fresh juices and raw desserts. I got the veggie burger which came with the nice addition of three sauces. For dessert I tried the raw cheesecake, although a bit small it was nice. You can also put together your own sandwich or salad if you like. Sugar- and Wifi-free.
HappyCow: Juicy4You
Cooking classes
Lots of cooking classes can be done in the area, most offering a vegetarian set as well. I also saw a macrobiotic cooking class where you can learn how to make organic soy milk, tofu, shiitake and kombu broth next to a lot of deliciously looking recipes.
Check out their website. And after seeing this review I regret I didn’t do it myself!
Elephant sanctuaries
A thing I can’t forget to mention is the elephant sanctuary. Chiang Mai holds one of the two elephant sanctuaries that Thailand currently has. Definitely check out Elephants Nature Park. If you got some more time, go and volunteer here. We will volunteer at the second sanctuary of Thailand: ElephantsWorld, Kanchanaburi. And hopefully unnecessary to say but still seen throughout Thailand in abundance: don’t go to a trekking camp or elephants show. I’ll write a post about this soon.
From Chiang Mai we went to Pai. Read my posts about what to see and where to eat vegan in lovely Pai.
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