“By night the city sparkles with gold and the
evening sky is a dusty royal purple”
1
23local lunch of spicy green papaya salad, grilled fish, and
local whisky while admiring the blue-green Doi Suthep
mountain ref lecting on the lake’s surface.Tell us about the colours and light of your city.
With its ancient brick walls, wooden buildings and
shady trees, Chiang Mai is a rich brown and emerald
g reen by day. By n ight , t he cit y spa rk les w it h gold a nd
the evening sky is a dusty royal purple.Tell us about the people who live in your city.
The local Thai people are wonderfully friendly and
their smiles are contagious. They are very welcoming
to international travellers and love talking about their
city. In fact, if you know a few phrases in Thai, they get
excited and you’ll hear the ubiquitous response, “Ooh,
you speak Thai very good.”Where are your favourite places to go with friends?
Nimman (short for Nimmanhaemin) is our favourite
place to hang out. It’s the hippest place in town and has
the highest concentration of restaurants, rooftop bars
and boutique shops.Tell us about eating in your city?
Dishes to try include khao soi (yellow Thai curry with
egg noodles), gaeng hunglay (stewed pork with ginger)
and nahm ngieow (spicy Thai pork and tomato curry),
whether from the street-stall vendors at the North Gate
(ChangPuakGate)orSouthGate(ChiangMaiGate),or
fromaposhrestaurantinNimman.What’s your favourite way to get about the city?
Definitely by moped. The narrow city streets are
overcrowded with cars, red truck taxis, and tuk-tuks,
so a moped quickly gets us where we need to be. It’s
satisfying to zip between the larger vehicles and
squeeze into tight parking spaces.What’s the shopping like?
It’s a shopper’s paradise! There are five malls where
you’ll find local vendors and international brands. The
Night Bazaar sells touristy knick-knacks, great for
bargain hunters. The Saturday and Sunday night
walking street markets are where the real treasures lie.
With the traffic barred, stalls set up selling handmade
pottery, jewellery, embroidered bags and clothing,
sculptures, paintings, and more.Where do you like to escape to?
Once a month we like to escape to the countryside. A
little more than an hour’s drive and we can relax on a