Hi there,

Around 2 weeks ago I came back from bkk chiang mai bkk.

Bkk has more to see, cultural wise, then chiang mai but is bussy and more tyring.

For the tourist hightlights check this site.

Def go to temple of dawn its realy gorgous.

I dont realy know about your budget but google kausan rd area for hotels and guesthouses. When you travel alone its a very nice area.

Chiang mai;

I stayed, traveling alone aswell, in a realy lovely place, not expensive but no backpack price either.

Shewe Wana.

296 298 charoen muang rd

+66 53 240 020

info@shewewana.com.

www.shewewana.com.

They offered great service, lovely brkfast, free internet in the little cafe next door, swimmingpool, a spa nextdoor and a yummie room.

In the low season they had a nice price like 30E per day.

Not to crazy,but no backpack price.

Google is realy handy for tons of info.

I would recommand a map of nancy chandler.

www.nancychandler.net.

She made a realy funky map of bkk and chiang mai with a little book with tons of info about shopping dining sightseeing etc etc.

If you want to do an elephant thing do it in chian mai.

In the elephant nature park.

www.elephantnaturefoundation.org

It is amazing and you will learn a lot about the horrible circumstances of the thai elephant now a days.

Very few left in the wild and many miss used to earn money in the city.

it is a rehab centre but beautifully free and spacy.

You do not sit on the back of an elephant, I did it befor and I am SO SO SORRY I did it after being to this park.

If you do a one day trip you will be picked up, buy food for the ellies, have a great lunch, go and feed fruits to the elephants and you can go and help washing them.

the have the moste adorable baby and a toddler who gives you a kiss.

What also is realy fun to do is canopying, google flight of the gibon chiang mai.

I did rock climbing aswell but that is a bit more challenging, but great.

I also did one night of home stay with local thai. extremly basic but fun for a night.

Chiang mai is the 2nd big city in thailand but soooo much more chill then bkk.

Have tons of fun, and again internet provides lots of info.

google bangkok yoga, cooking etc [which I would recommand the blue elephant] and pick what you like.

If your hotel budget isnt to low the davis is a great hotel aswell.

Hope you have a great time. I would almost say skip bali and stay in thailand.

oh and flying from bkk to chiang mai is like an 45 60 min and via air asia it costs around 70 Euro.

bey bey

Thank you so much for your reply! These are some great suggestions. Can I ask though, why you regret going on the elephant ride? Also, have you been to Bali before, and if so, what was your experience like?

I do have a budget and am trying to keep costs low.. however, I do want to have a relatively comfortable experience. The hotel in Chiang Mai sounds nice. Is it easy to get around both Chiang Mai and Bangkok on your own? How many things did you book ahead of time?

Hi Cat

Try these 2 web sites plus google Guest Houses in Chiang Mai.

Depends on your budget $ and to what you want in the room.

Im going for the Elagant because it has a fridge in the A?C Room

elegantlanna.com/guesthousechiangmaiHome.php

www.spicythaibackpackers.com/Rooms.html

Im going end november.

Have fun and let us know about your trip when you return home.

Let us know if you get any good contacts either on the forum or via Private Message as the Moderator's are starting to get tough on what is shown in the Forum

Ed