We have spent more time in Chiang Mai than any other city in the world.
Except, of course, Philadelphia.
And yet somehow, we’ve never done a Destination Diary on it!
So today, long overdue, is an account of some of the best places in Chiang Mai. The best restaurants (for all different types of food), the best places to stay, some of the most fun activities, and the best straight razor shave you’ll ever get!
** Also, please don’t forget to vote for us in the Lights Camera Switzerland competition so we can get our own TV show! **
Click here to download this episode directly
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In This Episode:
- 05:21 Sleeping – long term & short term
- 10:30 Eating (Our favorite part!!)
- 15:44 Western places too, because sometimes you just need a burger.
- 29:31 Activities in and around Chiang Mai
- 36:26 Shopping & custom made suits!
- 39:43 Haircuts and straight razor shaves!
and much more!
Links From This Episode
Sleeping
Eating
- Khao Soi Mae Sai
- Ab’Petite Cafe
- Tanin Market (also called Siri Wattana)
- Rock Me Burgers
- By Hand Pizza
- Archer’s
- Kabab House Indian Food
- Dash! Restaurant and Bar
- Nasi Jumpru
- Lucky Cafe
- Funky Dog Cafe
- Turtle Homemade IceCream
Activities
Shopping
Beauty
- New York New York Haircuts
- Porn Barber
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Where do we find the porn barber?
They now have a Facebook page (kindof). At least it has a map that shows you where it is:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Porn-Barber/551169331628370
Also, if that doesn’t work, easiest way is to find The Opium on Google Maps. It’s on the same side as The Opium, maybe about 300 meters down towards the 7-11.
LOVE that guy!
Hi guys, I love this episode. My boyfriend and I were planning to leaving London for a while and travel, so the first time I ever heard about chiang mai was through your podcast about 6 months ago, plugged in on my desk in London and dreaming of the Festival of Lights as you describe it. Just wanted to say thank you because of your inspiration, I am typing this message from the pool chairs at the opium and had one of the most beautiful nights of my life yesterday…. Keep on going, you affect a lot more life’s than you think :)
@Ines- Thank you SOOOOO MUCH! Really glad we could help inspire you, and appreciate you taking the time to share.
Love the Opium, and I’m jealous. You have to go to Akha Ama for coffee and Khao Soi Mae Sai for us!
Will do :) once again thank you..
Hey thanks so much for this episode! While planning my trip to Thailand I immediately looked for an episode on Epop and was excited and comforted by the destination diary. I’m now in Chiang Mai and I met a fellow traveler, rented bikes and ate at Khaosoy Maesai (of course had the khao soy) for lunch today and it was delicious!!! Fun to be in the same spot and wonder if any of the other farangs in the restaurant also took the tip from you. Thanks for what you do!!
@Emma – So glad you’re having fun and got to eat at khao soi mae sai! Not to pat ourselves on the back toooo much, but we have turned quite a lot of people on to that place, so I’m guessing a few farangs might have also listened to our podcast!
Done! Voted for you guys. Best of luck…hope you land the gig.
@Norman- Thanks!
Yay for destination diaries! I was just thinking the other day that I wanted to look for a new destination diary from you guys and today it appeared :) I’d love to see one on the Thai islands you visited? Anyway, keep up the great work!
@stacey- Ask, and ye shall receive. We will do one on the islands sometime soon. Only thing is, we haven’t visited near as many as we would like, so we can only hit on a few like Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi, and Koh Phangnan. Glad you like the DD episodes!
How timely! I’ll be heading to CM in a few weeks. Thanks for considering my travel schedule when planning the podcast, Trav ;) Should I just share my TripIt plans with you for future episodes?
@Fred Perrotta- Anything to help a friend…send those Tripit plans over!
For non-asian food, go see Loco Elvis. It’s good Mexican food for Asia, which is hard to come by. The owner is an expat from Houston and he’s super friendly and will sing karaoke with you. I think I spent three nights out of a week there because I enjoyed it there so much. Great podcast, I listen every week now. keep doing what you’re doing! ✌
@TJ- Good to know…we’ve always gone to Mario’s, and it was really bad, so we just got turned off of Mexican food in Chiang Mai, but we’ll give Loco Elvis a shot next time. We’ve heard from others the owner is really nice.
Thanks for the compliments, glad you love the podcast!
I’m so happy you guys made another episode for Destination Diary series again! These are by far my favorites – they are fun and insightful. Looking forward to your next podcasts!
@Flora- Thanks Flora, glad you like the Destination Diary episodes. Any other specific places you might want us to do one on? If we traveled there and know it well enough, we’ll record one!
You guys mentioned several times that you’ve lived in Japan. I’m just curious as to why you haven’t done any podcasts on your experience there and some useful tips. Would that be a possibility in the future?
Yes Japan! We are going there at the end of the year and have no idea what to do! We love your take on travel and would love to get your input.
Thanks for the lovely show :) Made me miss Thailand. Pai is incredible! We rented motorbikes for about a week and took them up there from Chiang Mai – totally worth it for the views. Mae Rim is also a nice day trip from Chiang Mai on motorbikes. Lots of places to see – orchid farms, the tiger temple (if you want to support it), and the elephant poo paper park!
@Linden- Never went to Pai, but gotta get there next time. We stayed two nights in Mae Rim last time, great scooter ride up there. Found it boring after 2 days, but to go for a day is nice to see all the places you mentioned.
Our favorite experience was driving motorbikes over the mountain pass from Pai to Ban Tham Lod. There is a tranquil yet social ecolodge called Cave Lodge overlooking the river that flows into a cave full of bats. You can rent kayaks and take them into the cave and explore several other caves in the vicinity.
Good write up on it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/travel/ban-tham-lod-in-northern-thailand.html