A short plane ride took me to Chiang Mai, a city of about 170,000 people in northern Thailand. It is Thailand’s fifth biggest city (about 1 million with suburbs) and is a tourist hub for those wanting to see the northern sights. I stayed in the older part of Chiang Mai, which made it quite easy to walk around and see most items of interest. A moat surrounds most of the old city, with its fountains and city wall remnants providing a useful landmark. Restored city gates served to assist in orientation as well.
While a few tuk-tuks (auto rickshaws) could be found, the dominant form of public transportation was the songthaew, a shared taxi formed out of a covered pick-up truck with two long wooden benches. Many of the red songthaews had names of several tourist sights printed in large letters, indicating (for a price) that they could take you to such places. The other common form of transport was the motorcycle/moped, popular with locals as well as the more adventurous tourist or expat.
No comments:
Post a Comment