Day 51 (Apr 25, 2013): Chiang Mai, Thailand Part I: City Sites and Muay Thai Boxing

The Quick Facts:

* Took the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai
* Spent our first day touring the Chiang Mai city sites, including Wat Phra Singh and Doi Suthep
* Went to a Muay Thai boxing match, which was very entertaining
* Stayed at Baan Klang Vieng, a lovely hostel in the old city (great location!) run by a great husband and wife team with two extremely adorable kids, I would highly recommend if you’re ever in the area!

The Good:

* Chiang Mai is a wonderful city – big enough where there is a lot going on, but also laid back and not nearly as nutty as the other Asian cities we’ve been to

The Bad:

* Nothing, truly.  This city should be on everyone's travel list.

Our trip to Chiang Mai began in Bangkok on the overnight train.  Here are some pictures of our train and our sleeping berth (which we shared with another couple from England, Al and Alice, who are extremely nice and that we hope to see again in England (somehow I managed not to get a picture of them on my camera…Carrie’s got one though, and yes I’m too lazy to get it from her):

Finally, we arrived in Chiang Mai!

 

After settling into our hotel, Carrie and I set about the town, first stop was Wat Phra Singh, supposedly the best Wat in the city.  It was beautiful, but I think I’m “watted out” at this point.  Anyhoo, here are some pictures:

 

 

 

 

 (These garden gnomes were in the Wat...not sure what they add to the religious experience, although they did star in my nightmares for a few days...)

We then headed up into the mountains to check out Doi Suthep, which is the mountain that rises from Chiang Mai and contains Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.  This was worth the trip: the Wat is beautiful, provide a way for people to interact with the monks, and the views of the city below are great.

 

Note: this is called a songthaew, it's a shared taxi that looks like a fire engine.

 

(The long set of stairs leading up to the temple and the good views)

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we went with our new friends Al and Alice to a Muay Thai boxing match.  Highly entertaining.  The first fight was between 10 year olds, which made me really scared I was funding some sort of child exploitation operation, but their Moms were both there and they were having fun.  We have little league right?  Anyway, here are some pics of the adults, including a woman’s match with a Canadian who kicked butt, go Canada eh? (NB I do have a video of this that I will try to upload when I have a better internet connection -- my attempts to date have failed.)

 

 

 

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