Chiang Mai: golden temples among the northern mountains

Wat Phra Singh, a fourteenth-century temple in the heart of the old city, houses one of the most venerated Buddha statues in northern Thailand.

Climbing the mountain, you reach Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a golden temple built according to legend where a sacred elephant, laden with relics, stopped to die.

Continuing on, you visit the Chiang Mai Night Market, where local crafts, textiles, and street food enliven the city center every evening.

Toward evening, the villages of mountain tribes in the surroundings of the city offer an immersion in the traditions of the Hmong and Karen peoples.

According to legend, King Kuena placed a sacred relic on a white elephant and let it roam freely: the animal climbed the mountain and died at the exact spot where the Doi Suthep temple now stands.

Chiang Mai was the capital of the Lanna kingdom for over two centuries before being annexed to Siam, a past that makes it culturally distinct from the rest of central Thailand.