Chiang Mai, Chiang Mine❤️

June, 4th, 2025

Finally, a break.

You can call it a vacation,

but really—it felt more like arriving at a place where your soul could breathe.

This time in Chiang Mai, I wasn’t here to chase temples or check off must-sees.

It just a tired soul wanted to see how life unfolds in a different place.

 Tha Phae Gate would be just another sightseeing stop?

But the moment I stood beneath those old red brick walls, something shifted.

A flock of pigeons took off into the sky,

and for a split second, it was like I slipped into a time tunnel—

back to some unnamed day,

just sitting in the sun, chatting with an old friend.

Some places are like that.

Just being there, holding a coffee by the gate,watching strangers walk past, I felt like I’d somehow lived an entire lifetime.

And, yes, finally made it to the outskirts of Chiang Mai—

a place wanted to visit last time but never got the chance.

The winding mountain roads felt like a conversation with myself,

looping and looping, quietly asking,

“How have you really been?”

Up on the hill, the air was clean.

The stupa stood there silently, like it knew everything,

but wasn’t going to say anything out loud.

I stayed a long time.

A soft mountain rain fell.

Inside the stupa, the statues gazed quietly at the city glowing with neon far below.

And just like that—nothing is really urgent.

Nothing needed to be fixed.

Even the parts of life I thought I’d lost felt like they came back to sit with me for a while. :)

Chiang Mai to me is not a destination.

It's a conversation—

one of those slow, honest ones you have with yourself when no one’s listening.

Kind of like a Stefanie Sun slow song,

the ones you only play on days meant for you.

Kind of like Norah Jones,

a little husky, a little lazy, but real.

Yes, Chiang Mai,

for giving the soul space to breathe again!

Stay 1 – the Old town (still my favorite).

Stay 2 – Around the corner