Escape to Chiang Mai

The flower festival in CM is our favourite event, always the first weekend in February at the end of the cool season. Sadly this year there will be no parade which is our very favourite part. We loved watching all the decorated floats, marching bands, kids, everyone in their National dress in a parade that lasted at least 4 hours and was great fun and a real spectacle. There will still be a beautiful floral display not just in the park where it’s normally held but now in another venue as well near the Town Hall outside the city next to a very large lake. There was no flower festival last year at all so we should be grateful.

We arrived early for the flower festival at the Town Hall it’s on for 15 days. At every event now your vaccination certificates are checked and your temperature taken.

We came back later in the day for the sound and light extravaganza on the lake, fairy lights everywhere.

The original venue, the park inside the city was on for 3 days. We went early again as rain was forecast. There wasn’t a parade but there were beautifully decorated floats outside the park, the floral aroma of millions (literally) of flowers, lingering in the warm still air. The skill shown was outstanding.

Inside the park was just as beautiful, hordes of workers had spent 2 weeks planting and building the tunnels and features. We kept going for sneaky peeks through the netting…

As we were there so early the bonsai, bromeliads and all the other exotic plants were still being judged in the competitions.

Glad we went early. The heavens opened. Coming from Manchester we think we ‘know’ rain but this was biblical in it’s intensity. The noise of the water ever increasing, the black grey sky lit up by lightning and soon after booming thunder vibrating through your body, rolling through the mountains. At least they won’t have to water anything for a while.

We are leaving CM today and heading south. White sands and azure water for the next month, meeting friends, can’t wait.