Photographers in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai was the capital of the Lanna kingdom, and its old city is still a square of moat and brick walls with temples on almost every street. Wat Chedi Luang's great brick chedi, broken by an earthquake in the sixteenth century, is at its most striking in early-morning light, and the carved wooden halls of Wat Phra Singh stay softly lit at any hour. Above the city, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep stands at about a thousand metres at the top of a 306-step staircase lined with naga serpents, with the whole valley below it on a clear day. The north runs on its own calendar. November to February is the cool season, with fresh mornings and the clearest skies of the year, and the November full moon brings Loi Krathong and Yi Peng, when candles float on the river and paper lanterns hang across the streets — releasing sky lanterns in the city is restricted to organised events. From about February to April, smoke from seasonal burning can hide the mountains for weeks, usually worst in March. The rains from May to October turn the rice fields around the city a bright green.