10 Free or Cheap Things to do in Chiang Mai - Daily Life between Training

Even though I came to Thailand just to train Muay Thai, there's still 20 hours left in the day, so what do I do?  Well, first off Chiang Mai is a bit different from Phuket and other islands.  In Phuket we would go to the beach, swim, hang out, whatever.  But honestly, most of the time I would just lay around in my room watching movies on my laptop.  I brought a hammock with me from Koh Tao so I'd often lay in it reading a book on my kindle.

In Chiang Mai, I do mostly the same expect there is no beach.  I lay around my room watching movies on my laptop, go online, and play video games.  As for food for the first two months I would walk around 1km to the Big C supermarket where they had a food court in the lobby.  I'd listen to Joe Rogan podcasts on the way, and eventually bought a bicycle to shorten the trip.  Then I finally bought a motorbike and with it, bought freedom.

My initial idea was to just train, eat, sleep and fight.  But now that I have a way to get around, I realized how many fun things there are to do in Chiang Mai and don't miss the beach at all.  Most days still consist of laying around the room before and after training as I'm exhausted from it, but quite often I'll go into town which is 15minutes away by motorbike and have a nice dinner somewhere.  On my days off I'll get a massage, watch UFC if it's on at a bar, or go explore.  

10 Things to do in Chiang Mai: All free or relatively cheap.  

#1 Cliff Jumping at the Red Mud Quarry

#2 Have lunch in a bamboo hut on top of the water at Huay Tung Tao Lake

#3 Relax in the San Kamphaeng Hot Springs 

#4 Hiking and Trekking in the mountains around Chiang Mai

#5 Spending the day at swimming pools

#6 Mountain Bike or Road Bike outside the city

#7 Go Zorbing at Tiger Kingdom

#8 Get a massage at the Women's Prison

#9 Hang out and meet traveler's at a local hostel.

#10 Walk around and explore the city, there are tons of temples, museums, there is a park where you can rent bamboo mats for 10 baht (30cents), an outdoor archery range, indoor mall, movie theater/cinema, tons of restaurants and bars, American style Karaoke at Loco Elvis, an olympic pool at the 700 year stadium, Elephant Nature Parks, photos with Tigers, Outdoor Rock Climbing, White Water Rafting, Thai Cooking Classes, Golf, Tennis, Bowling, and tons of other stuff as Chiang Mai is actually a pretty decent sized city without being too big.  

Best of all, everything I just named is either free or relatively cheap to do. The thing I really didn't like about Phuket was how everything was a rip off and there's nothing for normal people to do because go to the beach.  In Chiang Mai tons of expats live here full time teaching English, in Journalism, Writing, and other normal jobs.  No one comes to Chiang Mai to be a sex tourist and there are very few if any scams or rip offs in Chiang Mai.  This makes it a great city to live in long term, to meet normal down to earth people and enjoy life.  I'm glad to be here.

Example:  A 3 day, 3 night trekking package including accommodation  all of your meals, transportation, elephant riding, white water rafting, bamboo rafting, and a guide is 1,500 baht ($50US) in Chiang Mai.  The same trip in Phuket costs 8,600 baht ($286US).  Call me cheap, but I love living in Chiang Mai. 

Warm Regards,

Johnny

www.facebook.com/MyFightCamp

www.12WeeksinThailand.com - Read the book for more adventures