We woke up this morning ready to explore a new city. We'd heard Chiang Mai was a unique combination of energetic urban and historical; a more laid back version of Bangkok. Our hotel At Chiang Mai is right in the city center, a perfect location to get out and about.
After a mediocre breakfast at the hotel (pretty much the norm), we headed out to explore the city. Chiang Mai has an artsy vibe to it; we came across some cool street art right at the start.
We turned a corner and Paige spotted a neat looking coffee shop, Nowhere. On first glance, it had all the makings of a winner. It was like Williamsburg, Brooklyn in Asia.
Sadie promptly started drawing. She's found a flare for art again recently which has largely been dormant since we've been traveling. We had "nowhere" to be (pun intended), so we spent an hour sipping coffee and taking in the scene.
At one point Paige said, "I could stay here all day." We couldn't agree more.
Temples
Throughout the city there are many Buddhist temples you can wander in and out of. We did our fair share, which included some of the bigger famous ones, in addition to others we just happened to be walking by.
Khao Soi Noodles
Bellies hungry, we jumped in a taxi to get some Khao Soi noodles, a staple of Chiang Mai. It's a whole wheat noodle in a curry sauce, with crunchy noodles on top. We went to a Muslim part of town to give it a try. I really liked it, but the rest of the crew was just ho-hum on it. We'll give them a try again to see if we just got a dud this time.
Afternoon Art Fair
Late morning we had wandered through a particularly artsy part of own. They were setting up for some type of activities and when we were walking away, a man let us know there was going to be an art festival showcasing some local student artist work & hands-on activities in the afternoon. After lunch, we went back to check it out.
Arriving, we turned the corner where a lady was painting on the wall. She told us all to "grab a brush," so we did!
The girls spent a good hour intensely focused on making some bracelets.
A Lithuanian Face Painter
A nice lady, clearly not Thai, put some beautiful colors on the girls faces. We started chatting with Milda and we learned that:
She was 24 years old and from Lithuanian.
She has been traveling solo for the past three months.
The majority of her travel had been hitch-hiking the ocean on boats.
She'd seen info on the fair and simply asked if she could pull out her paints to contribute (she didn't charge anything).
Milda had spent a good amount of time in the remote Pacific Islands and she said there are still largely untouched areas that only skilled sailors can get to. She described these places as "other-worldly". She did mention that this global sailing community is full of some very interesting characters.
Milda is headed back home this week because she needs to make some money, but she said her hope is that she finds a way to "travel in her mind and experience something new everyday, even when she's not traversing the world". A nice piece of advice we'll keep in mind when it's time to re-enter.
Swallowed by the Chiang Mai Night Market
Perhaps it would be a couple of blocks, a bit of good street food...or so we thought. The scale and size of the market was beyond belief. Block after block of food vendors, people selling their crafts, foot massages...All in the backdrop of the city and Disneyland-like temples scattered throughout. We got lost for a couple of hours exploring and sampling different foods for dinner along the way.
In contrast to many places we've visited, one of the cooler aspects we found in Thailand are that the things you do as a tourist are truly part of the local living and breathing culture. The markets were overwhelmingly filled with Thai people. Not to say there was a shortage of tourists, but is a true part of their culture.
At one point, a block of the market went silent and everyone turned toward the Thai King. Paying respects as this Thai cowboy sang the national anthem.
We really had a nice day getting lost and exploring Chiang Mai. We remarked that in the past couple of weeks our trip has slowed down in the sense that we're not over scheduled and the experiences seem to be falling in our laps - not knowing what they'll be when the day starts.
This was certainly one of those days in beautiful Chiang Mai!
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