Chiang Mai’s Yaang Come Village Hotel (And Places to Eat Nearby)

So you’ve decided to travel to Chiang Mai.  But where should you stay?  Where should you eat? Here are my suggestions for a beautiful (and affordable) hotel in Chiang Mai and the inexpensive places to eat nearby.

Yaang Come Village

When we traveled to Chiang Mai we stayed at Yaang Come Village, a beautiful hotel located between the Old City walls and the Ping River.  Yaang Come Village provided the perfect home base for us as it is within easy walking distance of the walled Old City.  If you don’t feel like walking, there are always tuk tuks waiting outside ready to give you a lift.  It is also very close to the Ping River and Iron Bridge, which was the perfect place to join in the Yee Peng festival.

Our ginormous room and the view from our balcony at Yaang Come Village.
When in Siam, one must strike a Yul Brynner King and I pose, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Exploring Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is one of Thailand’s largest cities.  However, we stayed just outside the Old City and, to be honest, it didn’t feel all that big, especially having come from Bangkok.  One thing Chiang Mai does not have a shortage of is temples.  There are over 700 temples in Chiang Mai, the largest number outside of Bangkok, with over 30 within the city walls alone, an area less than one square mile. 

City walls and moat surrounding the Old City of Chiang Mai.

We took a short flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and arrived in the late morning.  As we would still have the afternoon to explore, I booked a private half-day tour with Oriental Escape to visit Bhubing Palace and Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep.  Bhubing Palace is the winter residence of the royal family and has extensive gardens. 

Taking a Thai Cooking Class in Chiang Mai

If you are traveling to Thailand, chances are you are going to want to take a cooking class.  Attending a class at a Thai cooking school is a popular activity for travelers.  If you will be spending time in Chiang Mai, I suggest taking a class at Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. 

We chose a one day beginner’s course, Shopping at the Market.  We love visiting markets when we travel, but I sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable browsing food markets with my camera in hand but not making any purchases.  Visiting the market with our instructor Pon was a very hands-on experience, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  We were each given two ingredients to find and purchase.  Then Pon walked us around the market, explaining various ingredients with which most of us were unfamiliar, such as kaffir lime leaves, straw mushrooms, and tiny green eggplants.  I had no idea there were eggplants the size of peas.  He also explained the difference between coconut milk and coconut cream.  While walking around the market we needed to be on the lookout for our ingredients.  When we found them, we had to choose the freshest looking ingredients (with a little help from Pon or the vendor when necessary). 

Dragon Fruit | Mangosteen | Eggplant | Straw Mushrooms | Kaffir Limes and Lime Leaves

Playing with Elephants at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai

Thailand, and Chiang Mai in particular, is well known for its Asian elephants.  Elephants in the past were domesticated and used for transportation and logging.  Logging has since been banned due to extreme deforestation.  Thailand’s elephants are now mainly employed in the tourism industry.  The plight of Thailand’s elephants causes a bit of a moral dilemma.  On one hand, the ideal would be for the elephants to be released back into the wild.  However, there is a huge shortage of natural habitat remaining for them to survive.  This is where places like Elephant Nature Park come in, and spending a day, or longer, at Elephant Nature Park is sure to be a highlight of your trip to Thailand, as it was for us.

It was very exciting to be so close to the elephants, but I was also very aware the one behind us could back up into us at any second.  Note my grip on Romeo's waist, ready to pull him out of harm's way in an instant.

Celebrating Loy Krathong and Yee Peng in Thailand

I planned our recent trip to Thailand to coincide with the Loy Krathong (also spelled Loi Krathong) and Yee Peng (also Yi Peng) festivals.  Loy Krathong is celebrated on the first full moon of the twelfth lunar month, which can occur in November or December.  In most of Thailand the celebration involves floating a krathong, which is a float made with banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense, in a body of water, which, as I understand it, symbolizes carrying away the previous year’s sins, thanking the gods for water for the crops, and sending out good wishes for the future.  In Northern Thailand, Yee Peng, sometimes called the floating lantern festival, is celebrated at the same time, as it occurs during the full moon in the second lunar month of a different calendar, but with the addition of releasing floating lanterns into the night sky.

When planning our trip, I had difficulty finding information about celebrating these two festivals, so I want to share as much as I can about what I learned from our experience. 

Floating Lanterns and Fireworks at Yeepeng Lanna International.