Chiang Mai and the heat!
Replies: 19 - Last Post: Mar 4, 2013 8:04 AM Last Post By: Captain_Bob
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Chiang Mai and the heat!
Myself and a couple of friends are leaving for Thailand on the 7th of March. We will be catching the overnight train up to Chiang Mai a few days later.Some of the predicted temperatures are a little concerning, what are some activities that can be done to get some respite from the heat?
Either that or get everything done early morning and spend the rest of the day in the pub.
We are coming from New Zealand so will be use to 25-30 degree days but 35 + is going to be interesting.
1
There's no escaping it. Spend the hottest hours out of the sun and drink lots of water. If you rent a motorbike you can head out on the highway and catch a breeze. There are waterfalls you can easily get to, but not much water falling at that time of year. 7-11's are your friend when you're out walking - Ice cold a/c. Stop in and cool yourself down.2
Go river rafting on the Mae Tang. You can set the tour up the night before w/ your hostel/hotel. It's a refreshing way to spend a day just outside Chiang Mai!3
You'll acclimatise. Some people reckon it's best to get a room with only a fan, not AC ..... that way you can get used to the temperatures more quickly, and there's not such a contrast between indoors and out.Take plenty of cool showers. As you mentioned, get up early and enjoy the (relative) cool of the first few hours of the day. The latter activity is sadly not compatible with late nights out drinking.
Take on board at least 3 liters of water each day, you'll want to drink even more than that if you're also drinking alcohol.
Hot noodle soup contains plenty of salt and will rehydrate you, eat it with lots of hot chilli and wash it down with loads of cold water. You'll sweat buckets while eating it but feel great afterwards.
It's cooler at the tops of high mountains. Doi Pui is close to Chiang Mai and you can go most of the way up by road. The summit of Thailand's highest mountain, Doi Inthanon (alt. 2,565 meters) is also accessible by road. Doi Chiang Dao (alt. 2,175m) is stunning but you face a long sweaty hike to get to the summit.
4
As usual (late-Feb) the daytime highs here have gone from around 30C to the upper-30s and in March can even see 40-42C (105-110F) so it's worth giving some thought to how you spend your afternoons. Rise early and have your outdoor fun before noon, or find a swimming pool or a lake/river to plop in, or take a siesta in a cool room then head out again evenings, or go steal some aircon at the shopping malls. ^ As for river rafting you might want to check if the river has enough water first. As per dominic, take a motorbike and go up Doi Pui, Doi Inthanon or somewhere else above 1000M where the air is fresher, drink loads of water, etc, seek shade, take it easy. If you're lucky we'll also get some more rain relief like we have several evenings this month (unusual for Feb). Then pray for real rainy season to kick in April/May...5
definitely a time to spend a few more baht and upgrade accommodations. ac and a pool. the river sounds like a good idea, but as mentioned, make sure it has water. many very low till rainy season kicks in. motorbiking sounds decent, as long as you are experienced. thailand not a good place to learn to drive a motorbike.6
I follow #3's strategy. Whether or not you want to or can acclimatize depends partly on the length of your trip. Someone on a 1-2 week holiday, OK I can understand someone wanting an AC room to escape to. But sitting or sleeping in an AC room isn't going to help you when you're outside attempting activities. One way or the other you have to deal with being outside.I prefer to acclimatize to minimize the transition shock, use a ceiling fan for air circulation in my room, take cool or warm water showers 2-3 times a day, be active early in the day and after sunset, and do nothing much in afternoon. Stay in shade and/or carry it around with me (keeping sun off your skin helps keep your temperature down). Keep hydrated and electrolyte balance in order.
7
The way i deal with the heat is ..Firstly i always have an A/C room..
I get up reasonably early for breakfast , spend an hour or so in a nice airy Restaurant with a nice big celling fan eating a lengthy slow breakfast while surfing the net ...
Then by then it's mid morning , so back to my room for another shower , change of t-shirt , then do my bit's and bobs like maybe a temple or so followed by a bit of A/C Supermarket therapy in mid afternoon the hottest part of the day..
Just for the daily things like bread , cold cut's of meat and a six pack for the fridge ..
Back home to the A/C of my room make a Sandwich and crack open one of those beers and sit on my balcony sucking on a cold brew ..
Then a nice siesta in the late afternoon and wake up early evening and contemplate on where and what to have for dinner ..
That's my way of dealing with the heat ...
It's worked pretty well for me over the years ...
8
+1 for taking a room with A/C. If you're out in the blistering heat during the day, you're not going to feel any better knowing that the room you're going back to is pretty close to the outside temp but will have a tiny breeze to cool you. You'll want a 21-23* room where you can sleep easy. At least the humidity forecasts dont look too bad for Chiang Mai though! Im on koh samui and while the high temp is 'only' 32, humidity is up around 75%. That combination means the AC is on non-stop.For the sake of enjoying your holiday, take an AC room! You'll sweat whatever you do when you step outside in the morning, but you'll be thankful for it when you return home in the afternoon.
Happy travels
