Attractions — Chiang Mai

Doi Inthanon National Park is home to beautiful waterfalls such as Mae Ya, Watchirathan and Siriphum.

A park with hot springs about a 50-minute drive from the city. You can bathe in a hot pool with blue water, soak your feet, or stay a few days for a full detox. There is a café and a massage salon on site. Entrance fee is 100 baht.

Other interesting places around Chiang Mai: Namtok National Park, the man-made Land of Angels, Mok Fa and Mae Sa waterfalls, the Chiang Dao and Nam Lod caves, the Fang and Pong Kwao hot springs, and the Mae Hong Son village of Myanmar refugees.

Wood carving is an important element of Thai architecture. In the past valuable Thai teak was used in the craft, but makers now increasingly use other hardwoods. This traditional craft is practiced in the village of Baan Tawai, a 20-minute drive from the city center. You can take a tour here and watch the woodcarvers at work.

Oasis Spa offers four-hand massages and Tok Sen treatments, where a practitioner taps energy meridian lines with a special wooden mallet to help energy circulation and release blockages, then rubs the muscles with a special balm. Many centres also offer massage training courses.

In Chiang Mai you can watch muay thai fights at Chiang Mai Boxing Stadium or Tha Phae Boxing Stadium. They aren't as large as Bangkok's Lumpinee or Rajadamnern, but the bouts are still spectacular.

At the entrance to the Wat Phra Singh complex stands a beautiful viharn built in 1925. Inside it is painted from floor to ceiling with frescoes in the style of the northern Lanna kingdom. Behind that viharn are two smaller ones dating from 1345.

Wiang Kum Kam (65 km) is the ruins of an old city that briefly served as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom. On the site is Wat Chedi Liam — an ancient temple that is still active and home to resident monks. The temple is about seven kilometers south of the Old City; it's more convenient to get there by taxi or scooter.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (15 km from Chiang Mai) offers a great view over Chiang Mai from the summit. The temple grounds include a waterfall that flows in gentle cascades across the site. You can reach it on foot via the monks' trail, which starts near the red-and-white radio tower (near the zoo); the walk one way takes about three hours. By songthaew (local shared pickup) it's about an hour — catch them at the North Gate or the zoo. Opening hours: 6:00–18:00. Entrance: 100 baht.

All the architectural structures in the Wat Ban Den complex were built recently, but they stand out for their fine detailing: from the scales of the colorful statues of mythical creatures to frescoes carved on the temple wall.