Chiang Mai is a cool place. Much more mellow that Bankok and less touristy (read more Thai) than the islands. We spent the first two days exploring the city.
The area close to the University is a posh and charming neighborhood with many small shops selling local designer clothes and interior decorations. It felt a bit like the Chiang Mai equivalent of Soho in New York, or Chelsea/Notting Hill in London. Very few westerners were seen, and the wi-fi connected coffee shops were filled with Thai university students on their laptops.
The area by the river has many art galleries. Chiang Mai is known to be a center for local artists. Some of the work we saw was really good. I almost spent half a fortune on a large oil painting that I fell in love with, but luckily came to my senses before the damage was done. After all, I am not earning any income this year.
There is a daily night market with the normal touristy things like cheap DVDs, fake watches and the like. What made this one special was the artist corner where about 15-20 guys were making reproductions of photos. The quality of their work was the best I have ever seen. Even up close they looked like black and white photos. Amazing. Another interesting thing found on the market was a stand selling garlic-marinated and deep-fried insects. I was tempted, but resisted the urge to buy myself an evening snack.
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