Dec 18 Final Day in Chiang Mai

Its hard to believe our Thailand trip has come to an end, and now we can check Thailand off our "bucket list". It was a great adventure, and now we want to try other asian countries. We highly recommend Thailand. What did we like the most? Asia is a culture never experienced and Thailand was a good introduction - its foods were delicious and available in an informal setting. There were many levels of street foods available, and many markets to get fresh fruits. The beaches were excellent and tour companies offering excursions to nearby islands and temples. Yes, the many temples we visited were amazing. I think the best was the White Temple in Chiang Rai. What did we not like so much? The traffic. The streets are crowded, with scooters, tuk tuks, taxis and other cars. Crossing the street was always an adventure filled with danger. By the end of the holiday we had mastered crossing intersections. And there was the rain in southern Thailand, which can put a damper on the day's activities. 

Our hotel...close to the old town

Around town, the Ping river

The elephant is greatly respected in Thailand.

The Thais have a sence of humor.

Dec 12 Chiang Mai Old Town

Chiang Mai Old Town is surrounded by a moat, and there still remains small sections of the old wall. However, once in the Old Town its difficult to differentiate old and new structural differences in and outside the wall. 

One noticeable difference in this town are the lanes, which are narrow. There are many lanes, with street signs and the lanes are used by scooter and small tuk tuk drivers as traffic shortcuts. Therefore as a pedestran we must be alert of these lane roads. Also, one must keep 360 degree vision. A one-way street does not always mean that scooters will be going the right way. This town does test and enhance your reaction time on the street.

There was a beautiful park on the edge of Old Town and many temples. 

The old wall surrounding the old town

There were a few xmas trees seen today

A convoy of tuk tuks

Kitty being very cautious 

Dec 11 Chiang Mai, visit to the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep Temple

My first thought today...why is the temple name so long. Who the heck can remember the name!  Off at 8:30am for our tour of the temple in the mountains close to Chiang Mai. It is a very popular destination for tourists and  many Thai's from nearby villages come with their children in traditional clothes hoping to get donations from visitors. And the temple also is inundated with donation boxes. It was rather overwhelming the number of donations expected. But you can see why. It is a large beautiful temple that has a high maintenance cost. Our guide also let us know that excess revenue is disbursed to other needy temples.

Julie preparing to enter the temple

Our guide Owch explain the significance of the various statues

A donation station

A monk throwing holy water.

People put their family remains around the tree for a few months.

306 steps down/up

Local village children in traditional clothes