We were a week in Chiang Mai, all-told, six days and seven nights. The main activity, for five straight days, was cooking school, at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. Five days for me, one for Vicki. After school and a brief rest, we were out on the town daily to find a place for Vicki to eat and then to explore the neighborhoods together. (After preparing and eating six dishes a day, for five days, I did not need an evening meal; or breakfast, for that matter). We stayed in the old city, bounded by walls and canals. Wats and markets, mostly, were what we visited. The other things to do in Chiang Mai included trekking in the hill country, zip-lining, looking at elephants, and other things we've done before or have no interest in doing now. I'll devote a post to miscellaneous scenes, several to the cookery school, a couple or more to the wats (700 in Chiang Mai), one to the Sunday night walking market, and one to the usual out-takes.
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| Decor at one corner of the old city wall |
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| Canal; originally a moat defending the old city |
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| Matching the hatch |
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| Electric line arch |
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Not far from our hostel we found and gawked at this
unusual structure, the Pingdoi Hualin Boutique Hotel; some
neo-classical, some Lanna, some art deco... |
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| Eclectic, yes? |
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| Near the restaurant, an early food truck |
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| Rear building |
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The most common transportation in Chiang Mai seemed to be the songthaew,
a pick-up, the rear of which is covered and seats 6-8; not a taxi, not a tuk-tuk,
no set route; you hail one, tell the driver where you want to go, and if he's headed
in that direction, you'll pay 40 baht and hop in for an interesting ride with others
going your way; hundreds of these, all over the city |
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| Night lighting near the wall |
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| Our street; Thai street signs, all over the country are this ornate |
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I think it was three years ago, maybe in Argentina or maybe Spain, we vowed
never again to stay in something called a "hostel"; like most nowadays, this one
had private en suite rooms, actually quite nice, if spartan; OK for our purposes;
but noisy: partly the restaurant next door, and partly the youthful clientele |
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| Outside police headquarters, Chiang Mai |
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| Not unusual street shrine |
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Very famous Three Kings monument; "we three kings of Orient are..." I was
singing (softly) |
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| Outside a voc/tech college; doesn't look like Thai dancing to me... |
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| Long registration line? |
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| Helpful bronze map of Old City |
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| The old-fashioned way |
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| Beautiful green tunnel, huge bamboo |
