2/6/2014 - Meandering Through Chiang Mai

Where were we?  Ah yes, safely in Chiang Mai and not having the air con on in our room at night in what seemed like ages.  The cool evening air and the miracle of screens on your windows, not your average Asian luxury, meant that we could actually sleep with a ceiling fan on and the windows open.  Again, something we hadn't experienced since we were back in the States.  With a cool breeze coming in through the window, we got ready quickly to start the exploring before it warmed up too much.

Our still jet-lagged friends were up before us and after some Thai coffee and banana pancakes we were out the door.  About 10 minutes later we found ourselves crossing the river into the older part of the city, wandering past a variety of trinkety shops on the way.  Chaing Mai was clearly different than other Asian cities we have explored in the past year and a half.  A brick wall surrounds the oldest part of town, almost like an Asian Medieval Wall.  If not for the temples and rapidly warming air, it would almost be possible to confuse your continents.

After another 10 minutes or so we happened across a gong that was taller than I was.  I can't remember if it was considered good luck to ring it or not, but lets just pretend it was.  After ringing it with what looked like a giant turban wrapped around a baseball bat, you could feel the reverberations deep in your chest.  Too much fun, we need one of these things outside our house so visitors can announce themselves in style.  We continued on to temples and shopping with lunch on the second floor of a shophouse overlooking the main street.  Next was drinks overlooking the river in one of the bars/restaurants on the caramel colored riverfront.  Spring rolls, Singha, our usual, predictable Thailand treats.

After resting up for a few hours and changing into jeans and a long sleeve shirt (it was 68 degrees, it was cold!) we made our way back to the riverfront for dinner.  Now this, we could not have been more excited about. We love our spring rolls and Singha, but its always nice to check another item off the travel list.  The 2nd Hangover movie made sky lanterns more accessible back home, but where else can you send one off for $3?  Once we had finished our dinner and drinks, which to be perfectly honest was one of the better Phad Thai dishes I had ever had (thanks River Market restaurant) it was outside to send some mini hot air balloons to infinity and beyond.  Much easier than expected, soon enough the 4 foot tall lantern was filling up with hot air from the flaming, donut shaped fuel "device" that was burning underneath it.  Eventually it was airborne and time for the second set of amateur pilots to send their contraption skyward.  Our necks started to get tired from staring up at the sky and at some point, much longer than expected, the light went out and you sure hoped it was plummeting earthwards over a lake or rice paddy and not someone's thatched roof home.

Next stop was the night bazaar as we were still on a mission for elephant end tables.  Apparently, a large majority of the wood carvings you buy in Thailand come from Chiang Mai, so we had hopes that returning to the mother territory would yield some good luck.  Unfortunately, luck was not with us tonight.... at least not yet.  If you were in the market for some illegal movies, knock-off sun glasses or designer handbags you were in the right place.  Variety of woodcarvings, not so much.  Bangkok, you will be seeing us soon to rectify one of the last souvenirs we have not tracked down yet.

We had of course gotten lost finding the night bazaar and after wearing ourselves out walking and shopping we needed to find a place to cool our heels for the rest of the evening.  As we walked back towards the hotel, we noticed what appeared to be a bus parked by the river and multiple picnic tables set-up around it.  As we had all dressed appropriately, the expats in fall clothes because we are cold weather wimps and the visitors out for a summer day because they came from the frozen tundra, we prepared to settle in for a fun outdoor evening.  Before we had even sat down though, we noticed we may have officially wandered off the beaten path.  All day long it had been mostly tourists strolling the streets, having drinks, eating meals.  Suddenly, the tables had been completely flipped on us.  Not to worry, one of the "waitresses" stopped over to take our order and we spent the next two hours having drinks under the stars.  The music flipped between American Top 40 and what we could all only presume was its Thai equivalent.  I may be overusing this statement, but what a uniquely Thai/Asian experience.

Sadly, the weekend had to end.  My voice was rapidly leaving me, I sounded like an off key Louis Armstrong, so I'm blaming the cold air for that one. After lunch, we went back to the airport for a flight south to Singapore while the Whittingtons flew south to Phuket for the beaches and diving.  Final, obvious conclusion after multiple visitors in the past month or so.... we need more!  Better hurry though, the time for cheap, knowledgeable tour guides is dwindling rapidly.