Intrepid STA Explorer Isla has given Chiang Mai the once over and is quite a fan,

“Chiang Mai’s old city is surrounded by a moat and many of the streets are quite twisty and narrow so it’s all very olde worlde and I like it a lot.”

Now with over 300 odd temples, the risk of ‘temple fatigue’ as Isla called it was high, so opted for the forest temple Wat Umong and Wat Suan Dok, which is where the ashes of the Chiang Mai royal family are held.

After this there was time to jump into a graduate art exhibition before heading to what Isla describes as one of her favourite things in the city - Museum of World Insects and Natural Wonders,

“At 300 Baht, the entry fee seemed a bit steep. But it was quirky and brilliant. Wonderful, you could say […] and there are cases and cases of mosquitoes. Imagine that: 1) catching a mosquito and 2) preserving and cataloguing them.”

There was more to be done in Chang Mai, and Isla as ever was ready to get involved. It’s all in her post; most notable maybe is the Flight of the Gibbon…