Chiang Mai

Offerings at the Buddhist temple.

My friend, Kerryn, and I left work Wed. at 4:30 to make the trek across the Laos/Thai border over to Udon Thani to catch our flight to Chiang Mai for a long holiday weekend!

Chiang Mai is a popular tourist spot in Northern Thailand. It was once a city state and has an interesting layout from once having been a walled city. There is a square moat and remnants of a wall that once encircled the city. Now it's a tourist mecca, boasting lots of great shopping, spas, and beautiful buddhist temples.

Our Beautiful hotel.

The infamous Wall

We stayed at a fancy hotel with a nice swimming pool and all the luxuries that a good holiday requires.

Day 1 we spent touring an amazing Buddhist temple. They had these great caves built into the hillside, a sweet little lake with fish and pigeons that were used to handouts and some fantastic Buddhist quotes posted on all the trees.

I still don't understand why Buddhist temples are often so ornate.

Do you see the bat?

Day 2 we spent 3 hours at a fantastic spa being massaged, exfoliated, and generally pampered. We then visited a local ceramic store for some cheap purchases, made our way to a recommended tourist spot on the river for dinner and ended up in "Reggae Alley" for some Thai Reggae music. The Thai Reggae was really interesting. One of the bands we saw was decked out in Bob Marleyesque attire and you couldn't understand a word they said. Imagine a Thai accent trying to sing with a Jamaican accent....gets confusing real quick. The second band was a group of young guys, looking like Thai Beattles in skinny jeans. They were actually great though. Singing lots of popular Reggae and Ska and with a light enough accent to be understood well. It was great to see some live music and explore the new found genre of Thai Reggae!

Day 3 we spent way too long in the Thai Mall shopping for things you can't find in Lao, like quality clothing, haircuts, and small electronics. The afternoon was spent lounging by the pool, reading, and generally relaxing. We then hit up the infamous weekend walking market for trinkets and gifts.

Day 4 I struggled to recover for a long night of food poisoning in order to travel home. Luckily, the travel was relatively painless and I made it in one piece....still recovering though. Makes it hard to appreciate such a wonderful holiday when you return feeling so crummy but it was a great trip all in all.