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  Chiang Mai, Thailand
Sunday, November 30, 2008

We are thoroughly enjoying Chiang Mai.  It's very different being with friends than being totally by ourselves like we have been before coming here.  Fran and Bill have been so wonderful, from loaning us a kettle and coffee press (aah, tea and coffee, first thing in the morning...) to introducing us to their friends, to taking us around the city, it's great to see Chiang Mai from the inside.  We took it easy the first day or two as we were both trying to get over our colds, which finally seem to be on the way out.  We spend lots of time eating -- the food is great, and at these prices, there's really no reason to stop!  We just had lunch, fried rice, mixed vegetables and tofu/omelet, for less than $1 each.  And even though we didn't have it (this time), ice-cream would've only been about 60cents too.  One of the things we're enjoying about Chiang Mai is its great shopping malls (would compare favorably with London or Mexico.) We avoid the ubiquitous KFC, Sizzlers and Starbucks, but did give into Dunkin Donuts yesterday

wat in chiang mai

!

Yesterday we took a walk into the old city -- Chiang Mai is surrounded by a moat from days when it was fortifying itself against possible Burmese attack -- and enjoyed seeing all the wats (temples) along the way.  Despite our best intentions we got suckered into going to what we thought was going to be an exhibit of stone-cutting but actually was a big jewelry store.  Today we went to a garden party put on by the English language magazine with stalls and booths selling things for charity.  We get around on public transportation -- which consists of either tuk-tuks, or songtheaws -- red pick-up trucks with benches in the back which take you anywhere you need to get to.

We've been out to dinner every evening with Fran and Bill and various of their friends, including Steve who some of you in Mexico know.  It was good to see him again and he was happy to hear all the Ajijic gossip. 
This evening we're going to do a night market walk, where we will eat and shop -- which seems to sum up our Chiang Mai experience. 

Our current plan is to stay here for another few days, then go to Chiang Rai, which is further north, for a couple of days, then finish off back here again.  (People here assume that the Bangkok airport standoff will have to be resolved by Friday, which is the King's birthday and a national holiday.  We hope so!)  So unless we have something super exciting to post, we probably won't add to the blog for a few days.

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temple in chiang mai	street signs in chiang mai	chiang mai aquarium	royal flora expo
chiang mai street sign	songthaew

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