Chiang Mai oh Mai!

When we arrived in Chiang Mai it was night time. Our flight had been delay, but at least China Southern
was  consistent. Dave and I quickly found the taxi line up and were soon on our way to the Vanilla Place Guesthouse, which would be our home away from home in Chiang Mai.

Mr Kem, Mrs Kem, and their aptly named dog, Happy greeted us. Check in was quick, as were directions to the best thai food in town, by coincidence it was just a few streets over from our Guest House. We ate most of our evening meals at the Lemon Grass near the open air market. It was very popular with locals and tourists alike and often had a line up. It wasn't the cheapest place in town but the food was delicious and the service was great. Our first dinner had my eye lids sweating even though I had ordered my Pad Prik King mild. Dave ate Pad Thai most of the time, even though it isn't a popular dish with the locals. By the time it came for our last meal, I ordered like a regular Chiang Mai local and had the Khao Soi with medium spice, or as our server said "normal". I was very proud to be normal.

 Our Guesthouse proprietor was happy to arrange everything for us at a very discounted price to whatever was listed on the website/pamphlet and he would do it with very little notice. Our first day we spend wandering around on foot running some errands and seeing the town from ground level. We very much enjoyed the freedom of wandering around on own and spend quite a few days doing just that around Chiang Mai. My camera was practically jumping out of it's case the morning we got up before the sun and walk the perimeter of the old town. With the sun rising behind centuries old temples and the buddhist monks collecting alms, it was an unbeatable and free experience.

When our sights were set on things not with in walking distance we hired a pick up truck to take us around. On our pick up truck day we had a outstanding lunch at Huen Phen, the Kem's favourite lunch place though they say you should not go there for dinner. After lunch we ventured up to Doi Suthep, a temple on the top of a mountain. It was incredibility beautiful. On a clear day they say you can see forever. It was not a clear day for us, in fact it was an unbelievably smoggy day and we could barely even see the city. We ended our day by bartering in the old market and purchasing a few souvenirs.

Dave rode elephants the last time he was in Thailand and really wanted to do it again. I struggled with this idea for quite some time. Elephants are quite a tourist draw and attract a lot of attention along with money. Many elephant "farms" and "rescues" actually abuse their elephants. I don't want to encourage any kind of animal abuse by participating. It took me a long time to find some ethical options. We ended up at the Baan Chang Elephant Park. Being up close to something so big was unreal. When I looked into their eyes, I could tell how intelligent they are. I still had mixed feelings about riding elephants as I climbed up onto my elephant's back and my mixed feelings remain even now, looking back at the experience. It was amazing but kind of sad. These otherworldly beings, weighing literally tonnes, with incredible intelligence have been beated into submission to let puny humans sit on their backs. It just doesn't sit well with me.

Our last day in Chiang Mai also coincided with the full moon festival. It meant early closures and lots of street food. It was surprising to me that it had take us so long to dare to dine on street food, but it did. But when we dared, we really dined: street thai coffee, street quail eggs, street noodles, street meat-on-a-stick, and street banana/potato cake balls! Yum!

Other notable activities: Cooking School, River Cruise, Boy's Blues Bar, seeing men running power lines while standing on said power lines, and of course Tuk Tuk rides.