There’s always a city that you’ve visited that once you touch down you know you’ve made it home. You made it to the place where you can see yourself spending a limitless amount of time and know that you’ll be happiest just being there. I have had the pleasure of travelling to many different places, experienced many cultures to know what draws me in. I’ve come to the realization that I love a big city, the skyscrapers, the amount of people, the nightlife, the hustle and bustle all of it. While visiting Thailand I thought I’d fall in love with Bangkok and never want to leave but we all know how that went. When it came time to head to Chiang Mai, we were more than ready to go. We had our fill of Bangkok and let’s face it the main reason we headed to Thailand to begin with was to play with some wild elephants. Also, we had decided to splurge on our accommodations in Chiang Mai and we were hoping it lived up to our expectations.
The moment we land in Chiang Mai we are greeted by the luscious greenery of the mountains and we just knew this was going to be different. The airport of Chiang Mai is relatively small, especially compared to the one in Bangkok. After luggage claim and exchanging some more cash we were greeted by a Mercedes SUV that already had the air conditioning on blast, cold water bottle, cold washcloths infused with essential oils and chargers for our (short) drive to the hotel. Arriving at the Shangri-La Chiang Mai was like driving up to a palace. Once there we were escorted up to the lounge area where we were able to check in and enjoy the happy hour. I had become a member of the Shangri-La before this trip which gave me access to this lounge which was well worth it. Becoming a member didn’t cost anything however, I received a lot in return. I received free drinks, coffee and tea 24/7, free breakfast and snacks during their happy hour. They were also able to arrange any tours and transportation we might need throughout our stay. We decided to book a cooking class, a tour with a private driver, and explore the spa where we booked classic Thai massages for our last day there.
Our greeting in Chiang Mai
The next day we had our cooking class, there were several options when it came to the cooking class, our option was 7 courses, in a farm and a visit to the market. The cooking school company we went with was Asia Scenic, I definitely recommend them they were phenomenal. The other option was in the city, but it was also either 5 or 7 courses; we had the choice between 5 or 7 courses as well we decided to just do the 7 courses because the difference in price wasn’t much. We left in the morning from out hotel, then they took us to the supermarket. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that visiting local markets is my absolute favorite thing to do. At the market we picked out the produce we were going to use in our meal, and they explained to us all of the different ingredients, the differences in local Thai markets, how their products are picked out for the day and where they come from.
After the market we were headed to the farm where our class was to take place. We were provided with aprons and hats, then they took us on a tour of the farm to explain all of the herbs and spices produced there. The benefits of their spices, how everything is used, and they explained to us the process of each spice and herb. It was rather interesting and one of my favorite parts of the day. After exploring the farm, we got down to cooking!
Now it was time to immerse ourselves in Thai cooking. We made 7 courses which in all reality we could have stopped at 5 and have been more than happy. Some of the food that we cooked included: spring rolls, glass noodle salad, pad Thai, pad see uw, fried rice, hot and sour prawn soup, chicken spicy salad, tom sab and fried bananas. It was all so delicious. Keep in mind all of these activities are done outside where it is rather humid. We went in November when it’s considered to be the “winter” season and the cooler months. I’m from Miami so I know what that means so I was prepared for the humidity and the heat or so I thought. It was hot and it was humid I would not have been happy if we would have gone in the summer or the spring.
In Chiang Mai more than anywhere else, what I enjoyed the most was the fact that our tours were small groups of people from all over the world. We were able to enjoy our time with them and get to know them. We made so many friends over there and I love to socialize and meet people from all over the world. I believe that. ’s the best way to educate yourself.
