After our jaunt with the elephants, the rest of our time in Chiang Mai was spent walking around the old part of town, admiring the many beautiful temples, wats and eating as much as we could.

On one particular afternoon this included waiting for school to finish so we could partake in all the delicious snacks being sold to the youngsters. Back home, after school finished, you might wander into the local supermarket and just grab a bottle of softdrink or some chips for a snack. Here, it is a whole different story. Ladies pull up with vans and start unloading buckets of equipment and BBQ’s. Little school girls are queuing up to grill baby squid and prawns which they dunk in chilli sauce before heading on their way. We opted for skewered fried wantons smothered in BBQ sauce…..delish! Best after school snack I’ve ever had. And yes, we did look like creepers hovering around the school gates waiting for food.

I realise that I mention coffee in nearly all of our posts but we have now, without a shadow of a doubt, found the best coffee on our trip so far. Ponganes Espresso Bar (127/1 Moon Muang rd. Soi 5, Muang, Chiang Mai) is owned by Pong and his wife who just happened to live in Sydney for three years where Pong worked as a barista around the city (Hallelujah!). We got talking to Pong when we applauded him for making such beautiful coffee and we just happened to spy an empty coffee bean bag for Campos Coffee (our local coffee supplier in Sydney) nailed on the wall. Practically jumping up and down, we asked him how he knew about Campos to which he responded; “Why? Are you guys from Newtown?” (Yes!). We returned later in the afternoon for more coffee (we each had 4 coffees that day) and to talk about Sydney for a few hours and received some great tips for where to find good Thai food once we get back home.

If you happen to be in Chiang Mai, definitely stop by Ponganes Espresso, you will not regret it. If you are pining, craving and just plain desperate for good coffee, this is the place.

We are now finished with the Thailand leg of the trip. It has been fantastic and it definitely surpassed my expectations! Thank you for the delicious pad Thai, Leo beer, endless massaman curries, fried chicken, pork and wonton noodles soups…the list could go on forever!

Next stop, Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur here we come!

Staying: Top Garden Boutique.

Getting there: Train from Bangkok; 17 hours (normally around 14 hours, although running late seems to be a common occurrence).

Tip of the trip: For your coffee fix, definitely hit up Ponganes Espresso. Best coffee in Chiang Mai!

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