Chiang Mai Photo Gallery -- National Geographic Traveler

Chiang Mai Summer
Photograph by Palani Mohan
Carefree boys leap from Chiang Mai's old city walls into a cooling moat. The city's walled old center is woven with quiet, narrow lanes.
Read more in “Last Goodbye in Chiang Mai” from the July/August 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
Golden Viharn
Photograph by Palani Mohan
The sprawling Wat Chedi Luang compound in Chiang Mai includes this viharn (assembly hall), which houses a 14th-century standing Buddha.
Read more in “Last Goodbye in Chiang Mai” from the July/August 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
Local Market
Photograph by Palani Mohan
Chiang Mai's nighttime food market—noisy and crowded, but also warm and dynamic—provides the ingredients for peppery local fare.
Read more in “Last Goodbye in Chiang Mai” from the July/August 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
Daily Life
Photograph by Palani Mohan
Two girls walk between rice paddies in a Padaung village near Chiang Mai, where ties to family and the land run deep.
Read more in “Last Goodbye in Chiang Mai” from the July/August 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
Parasols
Photograph by Palani Mohan
Paper parasols come in eye-popping colors at a factory outside Chiang Mai.
Read more in “Last Goodbye in Chiang Mai” from the July/August 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
Elephant Nature Park
Photograph by Palani Mohan
Free to roam, a resident of the 200-acre Elephant Nature Park comes close enough to visitors to touch and feed. Unlike at other preserves, visitors are forbidden to ride the elephants.
Read more in “Last Goodbye in Chiang Mai” from the July/August 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
Wat Tham Chiang Dao
Photograph by Palani Mohan
A woman prays at the Wat Tham Chiang Dao complex, where Buddha images have been placed in sacred caves.
Read more in “Last Goodbye in Chiang Mai” from the July/August 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
Mae Taeng Children
Photograph by Palani Mohan
Young monks just back from a trip to a waterfall get caught in a rain shower in the town of Mae Taeng, north of Chiang Mai.
Read more in “Last Goodbye in Chiang Mai” from the July/August 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.