Southeast Asia II: chiangmai thailand

I just got back from the Chiang Mai Night Market which is different from the Chiang Mai Sunday Night Market. The nightly market is outside the old city and is much much larger than the Sunday market. However, I thought the Sunday market was more interesting with more authentic items. The nightly market had lots of ripoffs and not as interesting street food. The Sunday market brings in craftspeople from the hill villages and is in the old city surrounded my temples. The most interesting temple so far was Wat Phra Singh. Great wood carvings, artists painting the wall murals and an emerald Buddha. There was some military brass getting a tour of the temple. They were from several countries and didn't seem to be above the rank of colonel. My guess is they were the embassy military attaches. I took a tuk-tuk to the mall to get some more clothes and look for a new bag. The tuk-tuk driver spoke half-way decent English. When he found out I was an American he asked what I thought of Bush. He seemed to be a fan. He also doesn't like the new military junta and wants deposed PM Thaskin back. Thaksin is from Chiang Mai so the city is almost universal in wanting his return. Martial Law was lifted in Bangkok but not in Chiang Mai. Not that you can tell from all the chaos. Here are my pictures from today's temple hopping. Tomorrow is my last day in Chiang Mai.

Wat Chai Phrat Kiat Hosted on Zooomr

Wat Phra Singh Hosted on Zooomr

Big Buddha at Wat Phra Singh Hosted on Zooomr

Wat Phra Singh Hosted on Zooomr

Nice Detail at Wat Phra Singh Hosted on Zooomr

Inside Wat Phra Singh Hosted on Zooomr

Buddha Door Hosted on Zooomr

Emerald Buddha at Wat Phra Singh Hosted on Zooomr

Shrine at Wat Phra Singh Hosted on Zooomr

More of Wat Phra Singh Hosted on Zooomr

Wat Phra Singh Hosted on Zooomr

Wat Pa Pong Hosted on Zooomr

Wat Montien Hosted on Zooomr

Wat Tok Molee Hosted on Zooomr

Wat Ku Tao Hosted on Zooomr

Wat Muang Kum Thong Hosted on Zooomr

Words of Wisdom Hosted on Zooomr

I arrived at Chiang Mai, Thailand at 9pm local time(9am EST). The city is much cooler than Bangkok. It was around 70F. Lots of motorbikes and lots of night markets. In many ways it has the best of Bangkok (markets, some chaos and temples) without some of the bad parts of Bangkok. However, there still are way too many obnoxious tourists(mostly Aussie sorry to say). I am staying at the 3 Sis Bed and Breakfast and I have a semi-unobstructed view of Wat Chedi Luang. Because my bags is still missing and I have no toothpaste, shaving cream and etc I went straight out shopping even though I could use some sleep. Luckily I almost forgot about the Sunday Night Market so I stayed out until 11:30pm checking it out. Lots of interesting items and my personal favorite Thai street food vendors. I had an interesting mango chicken dish and some strange but interesting tasting broiled egg dish with shrimp. I decided to skip the fried insect stand. Time for me to go to bed. I have been up for 50 hours.(I stayed up the night before I left Buffalo) Below are a few pics from the airport and my quick night tour.

Bangkok: Suvarnabhumi Airport Hosted on Zooomr

Chiang Mai, Thailand Hosted on Zooomr

Southeast Asia II

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

More temples and wats: Buddhism , WOW!

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Arrival at Chiang Mai, Thailand