Chiang Mai: my favorite Thai city! I love Chiang Mai because it is so diverse, quirky, and fun all at the same time. I can prove it to you with a few pictures I took around this amazing city.

It is full of colors! This is the fun part of the city, the decorative part. Where most things are a rainbow of enjoyment, even the tuk-tuks are awesome.

Tuk-tuks are the pretty much taxis, but they are very common here because of the traffic. It’s better to walk everywhere or take a rickshaw (tuk-tuk) because there is almost no organization when it comes to transportation! Most people just walk in the middle of the road, like this Thai local in the picture below:

When you get over the traffic you can really start to enjoy the city… especially at night! There are many trees covered in lights 24/7,  like it’s Christmas every day.

note: this pic looks better when it is smaller :) i don't have that great of a camera.

There are many malls all across the city, and all of them are really nice inside. My favorite mall is the Maya mall, because it has AC inside (which is vital in a place like this) and music synchronized fountains on the outside. The other day I was walking back home and they were playing Beethoven with the fountain shooting up water reflecting the colored lights under it.

Now that you know more about the outside, let’s focus on the inside of the mall. Let’s be real… we all use the bathroom. And Maya recognizes it. They have the fanciest toilets I have ever seen! It’s like a carwash but for your bottom.

There are also random cat statues; big cat statues!

After a nice day out, us humans naturally get hungry. A common misconception about street food is its quality: that it isn’t clean and that’s why it is dirt cheap. Well that’s WRONG! Thai street food is some of the best food you can buy. It is really cheap, and most of the time high quality. I could eat all day.

That is why I love Chiang Mai!

(That wasn’t the end so keep on reading!)

A few months ago, when I first came to Thailand, I was astonished by the weird food. But feeling culturally brave, I decided to eat a scorpion! Yes, they sell insects… for people to eat. That was in Bangkok, by the way.

Lars Wagoner is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program

All photos courtesy and copyright Lars Wagoner