we spend the AM at the beach, and enjoyed a summer rain while in the water. We went back to the hotel early afternoon and showered and packed. We had lunch in an outdoor cafe (as usual), and headed to the airport. We took 2 flights - from Phuket to Bangkok, and then changed planes to go Bangkok to Chaing Mai.
We arrived in Chiang Mai at about 10:00 pm. All the AirAsia flights have been on time or early, which has been really nice. They're like the southwest Airlines of Asia. Once we got our taxi to drop us off at the hotel, we were confused because it looked closed. it was only 10:15. We tried calling, ringing the doorbell, and no answer. Finally another couple came by who were staying there, and let us in, but said that the hotel owner closed up around 6pm each day, and that they had the same problem. It took us another 15-20 minutes to aquire and call the right number to wake her up and have her son come let us in. Now, I'm no hotel owner, but that sounds like bad business practice to me. Anyway, we finally got to the room and then headed for Chiang Mai's famous night market. I ended up purchasing a backpack that was "Lowe Alpine" brand (of course a knockoff), but it seems like a pretty good backpack. Original price: 3900 Baht ($130). After haggling price: 1250 Baht ($41). Not bad. We'll need it for all the souvenir's we're transporting back with us! Leah and I just can't help ourselves. Also in the market, I bought some cashews, and asked if they were salted. He said no, but filled a tiny ziplock with salt for me to add it myself. It was pretty funny.
Day 7:
Our 3 days in Chiang Mai are going to be packed. Our first day we spent orienting ourself around the city walking in the 100 degree heat all over the city. We went into a ton of beautiful temples, and couldn't believe the intricacies in the designs. 3 different people told us about a particular suit shop that makes amazing suits for cheap. We decided to check it out, but once we went in, we realized it wasn't for us. They made suits that people would pay $1000 at least in the states for $300 here. But considering none of us need (or want) suits that nice, we politely left. We took our first Tuk-Tuk, and it was definitely an experience, but squeezing the three of us on the little seat in the back of the tuk tuk motorcycle was a feat. At least we can say we did it.In the afternoon, we went on a "riverboat cruise" which was essentially a long tail boat down the river. There were 5 of us total - the 3 of us, an Aussie, and a fifth that didn't speak a lick of english, but was from Asia somewhere. The destination was a farmer's house and garden down the river, and the boat driver (who is also a farmer) took us around the garden showing us all the things growing. The farmers are self sufficient, so it was incredible to see all the things in this teeny plot of land. We saw:
bananas, papaya, mango, rose apples, starfruit, pineapple, black wine "grapes", coffeebeans, limes, sweet potato-like fruits growing from a vine. They had herbal remedies in the plants for snake bites, stomachaches, headaches, and had aloe, citronella, balm for colds (vick's). There was rice, and ginger, chilis, and countless others I can't remember. I even learned how to grind and sift rice.
Once we got back to the hotel, we had 20 minutes until they picked Leah and I up for the night safari. We grabbed some cheese and crackers from the grocery store next door, and ate fast.
The night safari was more like a zoo, and I am not sure why it had to be at night. They had a lot of animals, and you did the first hour walking, and the second on a tram around the area. It all ended with a laser/water/music show.
While Leah and I were at the safari, DZ went to a temple and chatted with a Monk and learned the basics of meditation. He didn't really seem any calmer when he came back, but he said it was cool.
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