Last weekend we went to Thailand! Our visas expire every 70 days which means we are tasked with the strenuous job of traveling to out of the country every two months (unlucky us, I know). For our first visa excursion, myself and three friends from the teaching course decided to venture to Chiang Mai. Though a short 2/3 day trip, it was great to get out of Yangon and see somewhere new.
While solo traveling in Thailand in 2015, I also visited Chiang Mai for a few days but I found that I had a very different experience this time. Upon my first visit, I really came to love the city. It’s much less overwhelming than somewhere like Bangkok, easy to navigate, quaint but still happening, and has plenty of activities in the surrounding area. Though I still found all of this true, yet my feelings towards the city had shifted. After arriving on Saturday afternoon, my flatmate and I wandered around the old city. Though beautiful and pleasant, all we could think about was how quiet it was. There were no car horns, no roosters or chickens howling, no dogs barking, no people selling produce on the street or locals coming up to you to say hello. It was silent. Later that night we went to a night market right outside our hostel and it was still so quiet! It was as if someone had grabbed a giant volume dial and cranked it all the way down on the whole town. Even amongst a crowd of people ordering street food and haggling prices of elephant trinkets, we could whisper and still hear each other. This isn’t to say this was a bad thing, it was quite relaxing actually, but it was a very different vibe from our usual lifestyle.
Chiang Mai is also quite different from Yangon in the people that it caters to. Yangon has a solid expat community, but it is quite rare to see more than maybe three unknown western people in one day (unless you eat at my favorite western cafe or visit a rooftop bar). Many of the stores are run down and a bit dingy, but you can usually still find what you need. Chiang Mai on the other hand feels as if it’s built for the foreigners. I’m sure there are parts of the city that have a more ‘genuine’ Thai feel, but wandering the streets you’d be hard pressed to find a restaurant that didn’t serve American food or an air conditioned store that didn’t sell the typical traveler elephant pants (of which I bought 3, I will say). I know I shouldn’t be directly comparing the two cities, as both are great in their own way, but this is something I didn’t even think about on my last visit. I didn’t take note of how much this place had developed to attract the tourists or how easy the living could be there, I just enjoyed the street food and took advantage of the cheap pant prices. Coming back here I have a whole new perspective on travel and exploring Asia and it was impossible to not think about how much more western this Thai city was compared to anywhere I had been or heard about in Myanmar.
Though I love being in Yangon, there were some things about Chiang Mai that I couldn’t help but wish were a part of life in Yangon. Unquestionably the number one thing I would take back to Myanmar is the street food. Oh my goodness it is so good. We never once questioned if something was prepared sanitarily or if it had been sitting out for too long. You can eat any snack, meal, or treat without thinking twice. We had some amazing shumai dumplings, mochi, and of course pad thai. It was delicious. The availability of western food was also quite a nice luxury. On Monday I had a sandwich. This doesn’t sound like anything to write home about, but when you can’t buy bread that doesn’t have sugar in it in Myanmar, eating a sandwich is a magical experience. I also got pancakes and french toast, it was heaven. My flatmate and I also took a cooking class! Everything was spectacular and I took many photos of our finished dishes. Though I enjoy Burmese food, I felt pretty pampered while eating in Chiang Mai.
shumai
a beautiful veggie sandwich
Comparatively, living in Chiang Mai would be much easier. You can have western food any time you like, you are constantly surrounded by other travelers, you can actually eat the street food without worrying about getting sick, you can hop on a quick tuk tuk ride instead of a taxi…but I must say I am quite happy I’m not living in a place like this. It’s a great city, but living in Yangon I feel as though I’m getting a much more challenging and interesting experience. Even if I can’t pick up street dumplings on the daily, I’m learning a lot here and feel pretty lucky to live in a funky, unique, non-western place like Yangon.
To see some of my photos from the trip click here!