Arriving in Chiang Mai was a bit of a relief after Bangkok. It's much smaller and less chaotic, but still has over 1 million residents and nearly as many tourists. We did find it much easier to get around as the whole city center is surrounded by an ancient wall. You can wander and get lost, but as soon as you find one of the outside walls, you can usually determine if you're at the north, south, east, or west.
Chiang Mai has an incredible night bazaar that we got to experience on our first evening in the city. Just about every street is covered in blankets and goods for sale. We spent hours just taking it all in and came no where near to seeing it all. Among the items for sale are food stalls with excellent deals on fried rice, waffles, and dozens of things I was too nervous to try.
After one night in Chiang Mai we were going to have to give up our room in Julie Guest House, so we decided we might as well travel north to Pai. It took a little over 3 hours to get there, but the roads were incredibly curvy and the mini bus driver cut blind corners like a maniac.
Once in Pai we walked along until we found some interesting looking huts outside of town. To get to them we had to cross a rickety bamboo bridge. The hut had a fan and mosquito net and a shared bathroom (all things that are supposed to cut down on mosquito numbers) for just 200 baht a night (35 baht = $1). We were close to town and could shop and eat and wander very easily from where we stayed by the river. But Pete wanted to explore outside of town, so we rented a scooter and took some adventure drives. This was pretty fun since the northern landscape offered a lot more to see than the dirty cities we'd already seen.
On one night there was a full moon, and from the street we could see lanterns being sent into the sky from temples, creating a very cool/kind of eery night sky.
Pai tries very hard to continue a hippie tradition that apparently attracted travelers in the early days. Almost everyone wears natural fabrics that fit loosely and crocheted hats that cover mountains of dreadlocks.
On our last day in Pai we turned in the scooter and checked out of our hut. We had delicious fruit smoothies purchased from a street cart, and I took a dramamine in an effort to sleep soundly on the winding journey back to Chiang Mai. 3 1/2 hours later we were back in Chiang Mai, checking into Same Same Guest House. But actually, we aren't staying in Same Same Guest House. We were taken around the block, down a back street, to Chada's Guest House, which is run by Same Same. A little confusing but the room is big and has a clean bathroom with a western style toilet and a fan.
Last night we went to a Muay Thai (kickboxing) fight. The main fight was between a Thai boxer and a Canadian. We got seats close to the ring and watched as the first fighters came out... they were about 40-pound 8-year-olds. I thought we'd been tricked into paying for the Thai equivalent of little league. But it got better and there were nine fights in all. We sat next to a group of Canadians who were of course betting on their Canadian fighter, so Pete naturally bet on the Thai. However, when he came out, the Thai appeared to be the only chubby Thai in Thailand and the fight hardly began before the Canadian knocked him out. Our Canadian friends wouldn't accept their winnings because it had been so pathetic. Luckily the rest of the fights were entertaining and we ended up drinking and visitng with Shannon, Dave, and Justin late into the night. Fun event.
This stay in Chiang Mai has been a little longer with a visit to the Elephant Nature Park and a day spent planning our upcoming trip to Laos. After a few more street meals I think we'll have tested just about everything Chiang Mai has to offer.
