Chiang Mai How I Love Thee...

I arrived in Chiang Mai on Jan 6th after three and a half very full days in Bangkok. Chiang Mai has been a real pleasant surprise and I'm so glad I'm here. As in typical Thai style the people are great, the food is great, and there are temples EVERY where. It will be funny when I start uploading some of my photos because I have no idea which photo is from which temple. Here there are just about as many temples as in Bangkok but it's about 1/18th the size. So as you walk you keep running into new temples to photograph.

From the tourist perspective Chiang Mai seems like a walking city. There is the downtown which is surrounded by a moat. There are also a few streets outside of the moated area, and the river. That's what most people think is Chiang Mai. But, it much much larger than that. It's a city of over 1 million people - the second largest in Thailand.

Since I've been here I've walked the moated downtown, I've had two massages (one foot, and one head, shoulder, and back), I've visited several silver shops and purchased five new silver rings, and I've learned how to cook five Thai dishes (but don't think I can repeat what I've learned although I will try when I'm in Australia). I've also spent time at the night bazzar looking at all the things for sale. In addition I've travelled to the most northern town of Thailand (Mae-sai), and I've been to the golden triangle where Loas, Myanmar (Burma), and Thailand all meet . I took a boat over to Loas and spent  about 30 minutes there which included a new stamp in my passport. I also visited several small isolated tribes and I have some great photos of the hill tribe people Long Neck, Ahka, Padong, and Long Eared people. I also went to Chiang Rai.

My impression of Chiang Mai is that it's a city with everything you need but it's easy to get around. It's quite inexpensive too which is always a plus. It doesn't hurt that I'm in a silver area since I love silver jewlery. I purchased a third silver bracelet to join the two I'm always wearing. This third one has a small elephant on it to remind of Thailand.

Tomorrow evening I'm heading back to Bangkok to be reunited with my laptop. Tomorrow is my last night in Thailand as I'm off to Hong Kong. Thailand has been a wonderful experience and I'm so glad I've come. My only regret is that I'd like to have stayed longer because there is still so much more to see. I also wish that the beach time at the beginning could have been better with some actual sunshine. But thankfully I've seen sun everyday since I've left the beaches.

That's all for now. Sorry for the typos. When have more time I'll go back and fix them.