The Nimmanhaemin Area of Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, Day 70

You may have noticed that I have skipped a day in my postings; that's because we didn't do very much of interest yesterday. We had a bit of a lazy day catching up on some stuff, doing the washing, reading our books, etc. Then in the evening, we went out again to the night market to get something to eat. The market was a lot busier last night, so I'm not sure if that was because some stalls that may have participated in other weekend markets have returned to their normal weekday spots or if we were just a bit later going on, so it was a lot busier. We are not really keen on the place when it is so busy, as there are so many 'stupid people' and 'waddlers' that it drives us mad trying to get past them.

The Anusarn Night Market - Food Court

Anyway, back to today's adventure. Today's plan was to visit the Maya Lifestyle Shopping Centre, which is in the Nimmanhaemin area of Chiang Mia, to the North West area of the city centre wall. Walking there would have taken us about an hour and 20 minutes, so it was a bit far in the heat, especially if we didn't want to be exhausted by the time we arrived there. So we ordered a Grab taxi and off we went.

Nimmanhaemin

Nimmanhaemin, also known as Nimmanhaemin Road, is a commercial and entertainment area in Chiang Mai. It's a popular neighbourhood known for its restaurants, shops, and shopping malls. The shopping malls are Maya Mall and One Nimman. The area includes luxury shops, galleries, home decor stores, and scented candle shops. One Nimman has an indoor flea market, fashion, jewellery, eco-friendly products, and toiletries. It is also a popular hub for many digital nomads, expats, and travellers to stay in.

Maya Lifestyle Shopping Centre

Oh boy, do we like a nice, clean, air-conditioned mall! After not really having access to decent malls during our whole time in Vietnam, this was a luxury! Again, R and I are NOT your typical shopping addicts, but we very much enjoy having a wander around nice malls and spending a bit of time there as a change from outside in the heat.

We arrived about 11 am I think and did our usual of going to the top floor of the building and starting to work our way down. This is our usual format as it means we get to see the whole place and then we can decide if there is something or somewhere specific we want to go (e.g. where to have lunch!).

From the roof area, which you can access, you get to see the mountains in the background as well as a decent overview of the surrounding area. This location is not very far from the airport, and you do see and hear a lot of planes flying over (which was one of the reasons why we didn't stay in this area). However, it was nice to see the mountains so close by. The roof area looks like it sometimes has events held there, as there was a bar and outdoor seating area, but they didn't look like they had been used in a while.

View from the top of the Maya Mall - looking towards the mountains

Also, on the upper level of the mall is a cinema, which I think a lot of the malls seem to have in them. We had a quick look at what was showing, but nothing was of interest to us.

The rest of the mall is pretty much the same as what we have seen elsewhere. It's a big mall, but not as big or fancy as the ones in Bangkok. All the usual shops are there, and you can pretty much get anything you need.

There are also various restaurants and a food court. We love the food courts as the variety is usually so good and the cost is usually excellent value too!

We had a late lunch. R had some sort of Korean chicken and rice dish, and I had a chicken, rice, and vegetable dish. Afterwards, we shared sticky rice and Thai custard dessert, which was very nice indeed (note: I had eaten most of it by the time I remembered to take a photo - oops!). The total cost of lunch was about £7 with drinks.

Following lunch, we then headed to the other corner of the main intersection to get to the One Nimman complex.

One Nimman

The concept of this place is a centre of shops, art, culture, and contemporary art. It is a place that connects modern life with local culture. It gathers restaurants, art spaces, cafes, bars, fashion, and various lifestyles all in one place. It can perfectly answer everyone's lifestyle. In addition, there are many beautiful corners to walk and take pictures. It is very picturesque.

The area is a mix of restaurants, street food, coffee areas, craft, and stores selling various bags, shoes, perfumes etc.

We really enjoyed wandering around this area, and I think it would have been great to have split our time in Chiang Mai between this area and our current location to enjoy and experience both locations. However, at the time I was trying to book our accommodation, there was very limited availability for this area and for the dates we were looking for, and those that were available were a lot more expensive. Although the planes do fly close by, I don't think it should be too big of an issue, as I think you would just get used to them.

One Nimman - Food and Shopping Area

By about 4.30 pm, we were tired and ready to head back home. We ordered a Grab Taxi, and we had about three cancellations before the fourth one eventually turned up. The wait must have been about 30 minutes, as the traffic by this point and in this area was horrific. I guess that is why several taxis accepted our ride, and then, seeing the traffic issues and knowing how long it would take them to get us and get over to the other side of the city, they declined the ride. Once in the taxi, it probably took about 40 minutes to get back to the apartment. So we need to note that for the future, i.e. don't try to get a Grab in peak rush hour traffic!

Back home and after a quick shower, we get a message from one of the kids to ask if we can review a document they have written - and so there goes the rest of our evening.....

Our destination route for today

Chiang Mai, Thailand

28th January 2025