3 days in Chiang Mai

Start at Wat Chiang Man. It is the oldest temple in the city, begun in 1296 while the walls themselves were going up, and the quietest of the three. Its chedi is held up by a row of elephants coming out of the brickwork.

Walk south to Wat Chedi Luang, about twenty minutes away. The chedi went up in 1441 and stood at close to eighty metres until an earthquake took the top off in the sixteenth century. What is left is the best ruin in northern Thailand, and it is more affecting than it would be intact.

Both are inside the moat. Take no transport at all today, and start early: the walking is the good part, and it stops being the good part by eleven.

Stop properly, and stop early. From March the middle of the day is not walking weather, and an hour sitting down buys back the whole afternoon.

Shoulders and knees stay covered inside the temples, for everyone. Dress for the walking, not for the restaurant.

Wat Phra Singh, at the west end of Ratchadamnoen. Walk straight past the big modern hall to the Wihan Lai Kham at the back, a small wooden building with gold stencil on red lacquer. That is the part worth the visit.

If two temples have already been enough, stop here and do not feel bad about it. Two or three inside the walls is the right number for most people. A fourth is where they start to blur into one another.

On a Sunday, the Walking Street runs the length of Ratchadamnoen and it is the big one, the one to take if this trip only gives you one weekend evening. On a Saturday, the Wualai street just south of the moat is smaller, more local in feel and considerably easier to walk.

Any other night, the Old City goes quiet by about eleven. That is either the appeal or the problem, depending on your age.

Wat Pha Lat first. A half-ruined temple in the forest halfway up the mountain, built around a stream, moss on the stonework, almost nobody there. It is our favourite temple around Chiang Mai and most visitors never hear about it.

Then Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, at about 1,050 metres and roughly fifteen kilometres from the Old City. From the base there are 306 steps between two long naga serpents, or a funicular if the knees say no. The terrace at the top looks straight down over the city and the plain.

A Grab up and a red songthaew down is the cheap compromise. The songthaews near the zoo do not leave until they fill, which is fine coming down and a wait going up.

Back down in the city. You will have done the hardest part of the trip before lunch, which is the whole idea of the day.

Leave it empty. This is the afternoon we would not fill, and it is what makes day three possible.

If you want one more thing, Wat Umong, west of the city: brick tunnels cut into a mound, lined with old Buddha images and lit badly on purpose, plus a lake and a lot of trees. It is a working meditation temple rather than a monument, and it takes an hour without asking anything of you.

Wat Suan Dok for the last half hour of daylight. The royal cemetery of the Lanna princes is a field of whitewashed chedis, and when the sun drops behind Doi Suthep the whole thing turns orange against a black mountain.

Wat Umong and Wat Suan Dok are both on the Suthep side, so they chain without crossing the city. We would not go back east for anything tonight.