Real Life Captured #46: Chiang Mai Thailand! Part Two (15 photos)
My steemit friends! I just love Chiang Mai. I love it so much I lived here for two months about five years ago. If you know anything about this "Travel Pro" that's a long time for me to stay in one place. Before we go for our little stroll I'll tell you a quick story about how I found myself there and what I was doing.
I was bicycling through South East Asia with my girlfriend at the time, and we were getting a little concerned about running low on funds. So we employed a "Travel Pro Strategy" to cut back on spending and let investments and accounts rebuild themselves a bit. So we heard about Chiang Mai offering a great standard of living while being one of the least expensive cities in the country.
We boarded an over night sleeper train with our bicycles from Bangkok and made a deal for a week at a hotel. I'm sure it was no more then 10 dollars a night, but hard to remember. I immediately started searching online for house sits, or just cheap apartments to hang in for a month or two.
Well, we ended up taking care of two dogs and a huge two story house in a gated community for the following 6 weeks while the owners were out of town. A maid came twice a week so we didn't have to clean, just take care of the dogs and watch the place.
We found the deal on craigslist and everything worked out well. We had a great place, lovely dogs to keep us company, and best of all a fantastic huge kitchen. We got more food than the two of us could eat from the local market for about 15 dollars a week and cooked our own meals.
Mission accomplished we brought our expenses all the way down to about 120 dollars for the entire six weeks. Money built back up and we continued on to Bali Indonesia. Now that's how you "Travel Pro" pulling all the long-term travel budget strategies out of a hat when you need to without sacrificing on quality of life! Now let's go for a walk in one of my favorite cities in the world, Chiang Mai Thailand!
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With over 11 years of travel experience I answer travel and international lifestyle questions. Leave a question in the comments and I may make a Steemit post just for you!
Does not vary much with Indonesia, only language and culture is a little different, life was like in my hometown Aceh province, thank you for share this post
I will resteem.
Thanks buddy. Much appreciated, the resteem and your comment!
Thank you so much my friend
chaing mai s a nice place !! thanks for sharing story and pics.
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a very strategic trade where traders are close to the highway. but greatly resulted in accidents with the peace of people who approached the merchant. hopefully traders and buyers can be saved from death by the roadside .. I like with your ponting
Never knew that was such an issue. Thanks for the comment. -Dan
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Gracias Amigo. Me haces felice para ver q te gusta mi blog. Hasta Pronto! -Dan
Love it up North in Chiang Mai. Also, Chiang Rai. My family are in Bangkok, so we mostly stay there when visiting. Have you made it up to the north-east? We traveled up to Bueng Kan, to see the Wat phu tok. If you have not been there it is amazing. A temple built into a mountain. Another question, have you been to Pai? If so, I was wondering if it is worth going to or if it is just touristy?
I haven't gotten to the north east of the country. I was so planning on going to Pai this past trip. But I got talked out of it by a friend and went back to the islands, ended up spending a couple weeks in Krabi Town which I loved.
During my 3 weeks in Chiang Mai I met a lot of travelers saying that were coming and go from pai. They all said it is a hippy town to the max! Like hardcore. I met this one girl who traveled hours on a bus from Pai to Chiang Mai to get her visa renewed after "forgetting about it" overstaying her visa by a month. Begging her mother for money to help her. She's been living in a hippy commune for free, she was from Germany, she was wearing no shoes on the streets of Chiang Mai, looked like she hasn't showered in a week, walked into the immigration office care free...with no shoes and henna tatoos all over. This was the day I had to get my visa renewed. Turns out she paid a 10,000 baht fine and they let her stay.
Now I'm not criticizing and I enjoy different spices of life. But to my understanding the entire town is awash in this culture and everyone is smoking weed and doing mushroom, very little to no police presence.....but again I haven't been there. But this is what I learned in Chiang Mai. Kind of wish I went to see if first hand. Maybe next time I'm in the country. So if you don't mind being in this kind of tourist environment go for it. Otherwise maybe it's better to not go.
I do know that you don't have to participate and there is great hiking trails all around the area if you enjoy that. Hope this helps. so cool to know you've got family in Bangkok and we both are connected to that country. I don't have family there, but I've visited a dozen times and have spent maybe 2 years of my life there all together. I really love Thailand.
You ask some really great questions. I'm looking forward to perfecting and sharing that food poisoning post I've got in the works and seeing what you think of it.
So you are a chef. Do you work in a restaurant or privately, or more of a hobby? I too LOVE food and cooking.
Have a great day! -Dan
Hey Dan, Thanks for the Pai info! My wife and I were thinking of getting a small place in the upcountry someplace. I like how the weather is a bit cooler in the North. I would probably still go to Pai one day just to check it out. Not sure I could deal with that scene full time! I do like hiking and the mountains of the north.
We visit my wife's family in BKK once or twice a year, usually for three weeks at a time. We have been doing these trips since 2000. It would be cool to meet up some time if our paths ever cross. We could have you over for an incredible home cooked Thai meal.
I started out in fine dining restaurants. I did that for several years. Then I switched to working as a private chef. I have been a private chef for the last 15 years. It has been a great time. I prefer this work to restaurant work. I am currently planning my next step. Something to free me up to spend more time in Asia.
I look forward to the food borne illness post!
Best,
Steve
Hi Steven! So interesting what you've written. Having some experience as a private chef as well, I can imagine it's much less stressful than being in a restaurant. I'm so happy to have connected with you here. Until our paths cross and we have that home cooked dinner in Bangkok; we'll definitely stay in touch on steemit! Actually I just clicked to follow you. Sorry I forgot to earlier. I'll throw my up-vote bot on you too, to give you a little help.
Will be working on that food illness post tonight. Should have it out tomorrow morning.
Have a great day! -Dan
Great to meet you! Thanks for the support. Looking forward to the post.
Best, Steve
Oh man, I really need to find a long-term housesit soon. Sounds like you landed yourself a great deal. Pets + kitchen = awesome!