From Thailand, Chiang Mai: Long-Necked Ladies by Kyle & Dan

Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Bali, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and now Vietnam. Realtravelers Kyle and Dan are in the midst of an incredible, year-long, around-the-world adventure. There are still many destinations to come, including China, the United States, and many countries within Oceania. Jealous yet? Wait until you read their blog, replete with gorgeous photos, descriptive stories, delightful reflections, and more.

Kyle and Dan were kind enough to pause along the way to share some travel tips with our readers about one of their favorite destinations so far: Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Check out their list:

1. What was your favorite place to stay on your travels, and why?

Spicythai Backpackers. This place is very modern, clean and the people running the place are the most helpful and friendly we met in Thailand. There is free internet access and the staff go out of their way to help you and even include you in activities with them, like going out for meals, trekking or cooking with them in the guesthouse! They also offered us a personal tour when we couldn’t find exactly what we wanted with a tour company. This worked out much cheaper for us than a tour would have been.

2. If you only had one afternoon in Chiang Mai, how would you spend your time?

Visiting the temples in the old city, particularly Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Phra Singh. Also try to check out the market for souvenir and gift shopping.

3. What tourist attractions are must-sees for Chiang Mai?

As in the question above, but there are many other beautiful temples to visit in Chiang Mai, and there are many treks which can be made in the surrounding jungle. Also, the cooking school we enrolled in was amazing and fun - we got to eat all the food we cooked!

4. What was the most satisfying meal you had on your trip?

Definitely the ones we cooked at Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. But we also had delicious ice coffees at Black Canyon Coffee Co. And off the beaten path a bit, we found an Italian restaurant called M Cuisine, 500 metres from Tampayon Junction, which served great pizzas.

5. How about the least expensive, but still tasty, meal?

We had great food on our day tour of the hilltribe villages. It was a roadside restaurant filled with locals and it served standard noodle, rice and soup dishes.

6. What transportation issues did you encounter?

None, as (our tour guide from Spicythai Backpackers) Hnum helped us with all of our transportation queries. Tuk-tuks are cheaper in Chiang Mai but you should be prepared to negotiate as the asking price is always a few times higher what they can go down to.

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Read more about Chiang Mai in their interesting journal entry Chiang Mai: Long-Necked Ladies.

If you’re looking for more travel tips, inspiration, or just plain entertainment, check out Kyle and Dan’s entire blog: 2007: Where Will You Find Us? These Londoners bring a level of consciousness to their travel style that carries through to their blog entries, landing them with Editors’ Pick awards galore. Thank you, Kyle and Dan, for bringing us along for the ride, even if only virtually!

To share your own set of travel tips, visit this topic on our Forums or send an email to: carrie@realtravel.com.

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