If you’re travelling from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, the sleeper train is a highly recommended option and also cost effective when compared to flying (especially as you can save a night's accommodation costs).
Day 1 - Sleeper Train From Bangkok to Chiang Mai
You can book through this link we found which was the most reliable:
Link to book Bangkok to Chiang Mai tickets
Just make sure you definitely book a sleeper ticket rather than a regular sitting ticket as you will have an uncomfortable ride. We booked second-class and it was relatively comfy, but if you choose to keep your backpack in your cubby (as we did) you’ll have limited space.
We arrived at the station three hours early because we had no clue what to expect. Good thing we did arrive so early, as there were hardly any signs. We went straight to the information desk and made sure we were at the right place and knew the platform number. Closer to the departure time a few other backpackers turned up (also looking confused) and we double checked with them that they were headed to Chiang Mai.
Top tips - come prepared with tissues for the loo, hand sanitiser, snacks, water, ear plugs and an eye mask. If you are allocated to a top bunk the eye mask is a must as the bright light stays on the whole night!
Day 2 - Check-in to hotel & explore
Waking up on the train after only a few hours of sleep, we were happy to hear the train conductor shout we had arrived in Chiang Mai. We opted to walk to our Hotel rather than hail a TukTuk, mainly because we were running low on Thai Baht. The walk takes around 40 - 50 minutes, we were exhausted and it was one of the hottest days. But we made it and were greeted by a pool at our hotel so we could finally cool down.
We stayed by the pool the rest of the day, planning our time in Chiang Mai.
Day 3 & 4 - Overnight Stay, Elephant Sanctuary & Doi Inthanon Trek
A few days before we set off for Chiang Mai, we booked an elephant sanctuary experience (2 days & 1 night). After a lot of research and caution over the cruel elephant camps that still exist, we chose the Living Green Elephant Sanctuary.
Link to book this experience
Seeing elephants has always been on the top of our list and we wanted to make sure we picked a sanctuary that actually treated the elephants well.
We were so sooo lucky with this experience and it’s 100% the best tour / stay we’ve had so far. Book this and you won’t be disappointed. Here’s our summary of the two days which were honestly amazing!
We were picked up from our Chiang Mai hotel in a mini-bus, which is where we met our guide, the brilliant Pao.
After a 1.5 hour journey to the elephant base, we changed into swimming clothes and a trendy overall type shirt, ready to meet the elephants. Each person was given a knitted bag full of elephant food, being sugarcane and bananas (the elephants preferred the bananas). Feeding each of the five elephants was truly a once in a lifetime, unique experience. After the feed was over, the elephants were led down to a nearby river and the whole group (approx. 20) bathed and splashed them until they took themselves back to the food area. We were able to learn each elephant's personality while we fed, bathed and played with them.
The organisation felt very well managed and ensured the whole experience for the elephants was enjoyable and caused no stress in any way. We felt really comfortable that the staff cared for the animals and knew what they were doing.
After bathing the elephants there was a sudden heavy downpour which meant lunch time (for the humans this time), Pad Thai with all the toppings to choose from - plenty for all.
We then learnt that all the half-day people would go on to visit the Doi Inthanon National Park and trek the heaven trail. We stuck around and noticed we were the only overnighters!
This truly was a blessing because Pao let us have one on one time with all the elephants in the afternoon followed by one on one bathing time as well as making elephant vitamins.
After our second bath and feed with the elephants, we were driven to our homestay. If you don’t mind basic accommodation, you’ll be very happy. The village had a lovely cafe / restaurant overlooking rice fields where we shared a Thai food BBQ cooking experience with Pao. This was followed by a few too many rice wines and then finally bed.
As we were the only ones staying overnight, the cafe was very attentive in the morning and served us a giant breakfast including local dishes and coffee (all included in the price).
We finished up breakfast and were driven back to the elephant base for more one on one time and the new half-day arrivals joined us for the drive up to Doi Inthanon National Park followed by a 2 hour trek up the heaven trail to visit the highest point in Thailand.
After all of this, we were incredibly exhausted but in pure disbelief of our adventures over the past 2 days. A mini-bus took us back to our hotel in Chiang Mai (arriving at 6:30pm) and we were shattered!
10/10 experience!
What you should bring with you:
- Swimming clothes for bathing with the elephants
- Comfortable shoes for the nature trail
- Insect spray for the evenings
- Sunscreen for the day
- Some extra cash to tip the local guides (optional)
Day 5 - Half Day Thai Cooking Course at Farm
Being in Chiang Mai and reading all the To-Do blogs, we of course booked a cooking class. Before I go on, I must make it clear you shouldn't eat too much before this experience as you’re basically cooking a three course meal for yourself! Sadly we couldn’t finish it all as we ate a load of fried chicken 10 minutes before the mini-bus came to pick us up.
Link to book this cooking class
Our guide and cooking instructor Ken was hilarious and really made our day. We learnt so much from a tour of a nearby market and their vegetable and herb garden. Ken also spoke in great detail about the spices and sauces used for each dish.
Before we started cooking our masterpieces, we chose the dishes we wanted to cook from a large selection of soups, curries and noodle based dishes.
Starter
Basically, the whole group learnt to cook a spring roll each with a side salad.
Main
We were given many options from Massaman Curry, Pad Kaprao (chicken with Holy Basil) to Pad Thai (All with veggie options).
Soup
While the main cools, we cooked our chosen soups, Tom Yum (hot and sour / creamy soup) and Khao Soi (Chiang Mai Curry Noodles).
Ps. If you can’t finish it all, you do get to take any leftovers home ;)
In summary, we highly recommend this half day experience and we used the following link:
Day 6 - Temple & Moped Day
On this day we visited the insanely beautiful silver temple named Wat Si Suphan.
The main reason we wanted to visit Wat Si Suphan is for its shiny silver interior and exterior, not to mention it’s the oldest temple in Chiang Mai. This was completely worth the trip, earning its place among the top temples on our list.
It's worth noting that only males are allowed in the inside of the temple, which meant Maggie had to wait outside (she wasn't impressed).
We then went on to pick up our moped from Happy Days Shop (we researched all the local moped shops). This was a very simple process and the owner was incredibly friendly considering our very limited experience using mopeds.
Day 7 - More Temples & Thai Police Extravaganza
Day 7 in Chiang Mai was our most daring day yet and a sense of excitement definitely clouded our judgment to ride these mopeds. We set off at 5am to climb the windy roads towards Doi Suthep, hoping to catch the sunrise. The journey itself took far far longer than expected as it was pitch black and our Google Maps wouldn’t work due to no signal. However we made it in time and the views over Chiang Mai were spectacular.
Our next stop was Wat Phara That Doi Kham, which had plenty of steps to the top. We recommend arriving early so you can get the perfect picture of the stairs, without the mass of people. The ride up to this temple was very steep so I would only proceed on a moped with extreme caution.
We didn’t enter the temple due to us anxiously wanting to return the mopeds back as soon as possible and beat the rush hour traffic.
Literally 100 yards from the moped shop we were intercepted by a spontaneous police checkpoint and were waved in to speak with this police chief and his colleagues.
We were so confident of our international drivers licenses that we whipped them out of our bags and showed them what we had. Unfortunately we didn’t actually have the right stamp on the licenses and the police chief threatened us with a 2,000 Baht fine each. We actually didn’t have any money on us (which truthfully we didn’t). Luckily Maggie had her Google Maps in her phone holder and she persuaded the police officer to let us go as we were 100 yards from the moped shop. We said we were leaving the city the next day and he’ll never see us on a moped again. Kòp kun kráp (thank you in Thai), and off we went to drop off the moped and get out of there - Phew.
Day 8 - Bus to Pai
During our stay in Chiang Mai we heard so many great things about a small town to the West called Pai. As we like to go with the flow and make no concrete plans, we booked a bus ticket to Pai and set off in the afternoon of Day 8 in Chiang Mai. Booking the bus ticket was relatively straightforward and we used the website link below, just be aware that the roads are super windy like the screenshot of the journey here:
Link to book Chiang Mai to Pai
If you haven’t already got Pai on your visit list, definitely add it. It’s amazing and so different to anywhere else you’ll go in Thailand. I bet you a Pad Thai that you'll love it!
