First Day Exploring Chiang Mai

A view of the outside of Wat Phra Singh and the great detail in its architecture

The Fairer Traveler:

Upon waking up in the early hours of the morning, Kelly and I proceeded to test out the shower/toilet/sink room and get dressed for our first day out on the town. As usual we turned to the trusted Lonely Planet Guide for its walking map/tour around Chiang Mai. We opted out of breakfast, hoping to find a place to eat along the way. With out guide in hand, we walked to the first of many temples called Wat Phrah Signh which is the most famous and largest temple at the end of Th Ratchadamnoen road. The temple itself was average size, but the grounds encompassed a much larger area with a lot of different little buildings with Buddha's in them. There was also a shaded courtyard with stone table/chair sets where Kelly and I rested for a while to escape the heat and to rest our swollen feet. It was in this courtyard that all the trees with wisdom boards were. I had a wonderful time walking around leisurely and taking pictures of the ones I felt were important to remember for my life and for those closest to me, plus there were humorous ones too.

A bit of wisdom from one of the many trees at Wat Phra Singh

After that temple, we backtracked back down the Th Ratchadamneon road to see all the smaller temples we missed. There was one with a shallow pool of water that had many stone monks sitting in it, all facing a larger Buddha in the middle. There was a real monk sitting in the shade next to the Buddha calling all the nearby dogs to him in the shade. There are a TON of apparently wild roaming dogs on the streets, which one might assume is fatal in this country where the traffic laws aren't really laws or even rough guidelines, but they seem to be pretty street aware. After viewing many little temples we walked down a side street to see another two beautiful temples (be sure to look at ALL the pictures on Facebook, as they are much more descriptive than I.)  Then we backtracked up that same road past the main road we had been on earlier in search of lunch. We stopped off at a couple more temples and tried to find the sandwich shop recommended by LP, called Amazing Sandwich, but an increasingly cranky Kelly and I couldn't find it and headed to the next destination hoping to find some place to eat on the way. Next we passed the Three Kings Monument, took some pictures and decided against going in the cultural arts center because of how expensive it was and made our way to the Chiang Mai Women's Prison where the LP recommended getting a massage. It turns out the vocational training in massage is part of the rehabilitation program for the women and they take it quite seriously!! The wait for a massage was going to take too long, and Kelly was SUPER anxious for food, so I picked a place to eat that I thought he would like and we caught a red truck. We got dropped off at the nearest wat and went in a circle down a back ally, passing a family with dogs and kids and settled on having a meal at the Chiang Mai Saloon - known for the best burgers. Ok kids settle down, I know burgers in Chiang Mai sounds strange but Kel was craving a sandwich and this was the next best thing to curb his craving. Plus its not like we're ever going to run out of curry to eat ok? So calm down.

Tha Phae Gate early in the day before many vendors had come to set up their stalls.

After a nice sit down meal (I had a grilled chicken salad - I was dying for some fresh greens) we walked back to our guesthouse, changed into less covering clothes and headed back the way we came to check out the Sunday Walking Street - which is essentially an open air market along the Tha Pae gate which is part of a large stone wall that surrounds the inner (old) city. Kelly and I spent all evening walking up and down the street amongst the stalls - I bought a pair of dark green loose pants and a journal and Kelly bought a tank top with a Chang logo (a Thai brand beer) on it. Then after we had covered the stalls in front of the gate we headed to Starbucks to cool down for a bit and put up our feet. Then, as we had barely scratched the surface of the market, we continued down Th Ratchadamneon which had a completely new look with stalls on both sides of the street. We browsed and soaked up the lively commotion and stopped at a LP recommended journalist bar to have a drink and watch the crowd from the patio. We had beer and peanuts and amused ourselves watching the geckos argue on the neon sign advertising the bar we were in.

Kelly and I enjoying a beer after a very long day of exploring

When we'd finished we headed back through the crowd, got sidetracked by a movie showing in the square by the Three Kings Monument (it was Resident Evil 4), and headed home. We quickly passed out, aircon blasting, anxious for our first day of school.