Lamphun is a province in Northern Thailand and is located just 19 kilometers south of Chiang Mai. It is host to one of northern Thailand's most important temples, Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, which was built in the 11th or 12th century and is also considered as "the oldest temple in the province." Lamphun lies along the Ping River Valley and it is surrounded by lush farmlands, rice fields, and orchard of popular fruit, Longan. In fact their celebrate a Longan Festival in August every year.
During our recent Amazing Thailand Adventure, we visited Lamphun Province to have a taste of Northern Thai cuisines. What makes it special and very memorable is that we didn't just went there to eat, but we were also part of the whole process of preparing the dishes.
But first, how to get to Lamphun?
Most tourists and travelers visiting Lamphun, arrive in Chiang Mai from from Bangkok. You can get to Chiang Mai by taking the plane, train, mini van, or a bus from Bangkok.
From our accommodation at The Astra Condominium in Chiang Mai, we were fetched by TakeMeTour's Local Expert named Kim. She's a young lady who works during the week and welcomes guests to their home during weekends to have a taste of authentic home-style Northern Thai cuisines which she learned to cook from her mother.
We drove to Chatuchak Market in Lamphun and bought the ingredients needed for the cooking experience. I really enjoyed walking around the market and learned how the locals shop everyday. Their market is not crowded, clean, and the vendors are also very kind and welcoming. They even gave us "free taste" of their products. Nice noh?!
She then brought us to their farmhouse in Lamphun where we met her family. She also let us help her in the cooking and also explained to us the procedures in cooking Northern Thai food that her mother taught her. This is what makes this tour extra special. It won't just let you taste the dishes, but also make you part of it.
We enjoyed our lunch at our local expert's humble home with a stunning views of the rice fields and the mountains as backdrop. The Northern Thai menu is composed of delicious and mouthwatering dishes such as Khanom Jeen Nam Ngiao which is Rice Noodles with Spicy Pork Sauce, Pakkad Jor or Northern-Style Vegetable Soup, my favorite Minced Pork Belly Chili Paste(yummy!), Sticky Rice with Longans, and some fresh vegetables and crispy pork rinds. We ended it with a warm dessert of Pumpkin in Coconut Milk. So yummmmm!
After our lunch, we rested for a while an enjoyed the amazing views from the farmhouse. We then prepared and had a tour to some of Lamphun's interesting sites such as the train station, a wet market market where the locals go, and a temple, before heading back to Chiang Mai.
This train station is so IG-worthy! Don't miss it!
In this wet market in Lamphun, you'll find different local products and many exotic food items.
There are many places to learn history in Lamphun and Kruba Srivichai Monument is one of those.
We truly had an awesome and memorable home Thai cooking on Lamphun. I highly recommend it for anyone who are looking for things to do in Lamphun beyond the usual tourist attractions. It’s a local experience you should not miss when visiting Lamphun. You can book this tour via TakeMeTour.com.
Lamphun Thailand Itinerary
- 08:30 AM - Meet up at our meeting point
- Bus Terminal (Lamphun Provincial Transport Station, Chiang Mai Provincial Arcade Transport Station)
- Airport (Chiang Mai International Airport)
- Hotel lobby (in Chiang Mai area)
- 09:00 AM - Go to a local market to find some ingredients for our Northern Thai dishes.
- 10:00 AM -Arrive at my home. Then we start preparing the ingredients and cooking together.
- 12:00 NN - Have our homemade lunch while feeling the breeze and taking in rice field views.
- 01:30 PM - Go sightseeing around my pretty hometown.
- 04:30 - PM - Send you back at our meeting point.
Travel Tips and Reminders:
- For this tour, I highly recommend that you wear breathable clothes and comfortable shoes but not too revealing since you'll be visiting a temples.
- For women, shirt with sleeves and long pants or skirt with a length below the knee is required. For men, shirt with sleeves and pants, but shorts that are knee length are also okay. Sleeveless and see-through clothes are not allowed for both men and women. Please follow this dress code.
- Menu are subject to change depending on availability of ingredients.
- Please inform your local expert if you have any allergy in any food.
- To stay connected to the internet, be sure to buy a local 4G SIM card with unlimited data that you can book in advance and conveniently claim at the airport. What we used during our tour is the Happy Tourist SIM from dtac. It was good! And I love that mobile data signal in Chiang Mai is quite good.
- For your accommodation in Chiang Mai, you may check out The Astra Condominium. It is located right at the heart of the city and is near the night bazaars, food markets, shopping complex, restaurants, and convenience stores. For inquiries an reservation, you may contact MALLOO Holiday at +66 91 879 3942 on whatsapp and look for Amber. To see the list of other hotels and hostels in Chiang Mai, please click here.
- For cheap flights to Bangkok, Air Asia has daily flights from Manila or Cebu to Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) in Bangkok. For your flights to Chiang Mai, you can take a 1-hour flight to Chiang Mai via Thai AirAsia from Bangkok. Be sure to book it in advance to save on airfare expenses.
- For safe and convenient transfers from the to your hotel in Bangkok or Chiang Mai and vice versa, I recommend that you book a private car transfer:
This trip was made possible by TakeMeTour in collaboration with LocalTable, Tourism Authority of Thailand, and Thai AirAsia.
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