Chiang Mai

We have been in Chiang Mai for 3 nights now after coming by train from Bangkok. We are staying in a guesthouse called Baan Jongcome on Tae Phae Rd., Soi 2, which means that we are in a little lane called lane #2 off the Tae Phae Rd. It's quite noisy by times so we are all using our earplugs. Noises include motorcycles/tuks tuks, dogs (and more dogs), roosters, chanting, singing, musical instruments including pianos and drums. The number of dogs here is just incredible - they are everywhere and very well cared for- lots of them sporting coats for warmth?

We hung out with Nancy on the weekend but were on our own today. So far we have eaten lots of new things in many different environments including little tables on the size of the street - kind of like our cafes but much crazier and a whole lot cheaper. Everybody eats on the street. Tonight our meal of two types of meat (chicken & pork) and three types of salads/vegetables (green salad of beans/cabbage/cucumber and basil/grated papaya) and a soup (bamboo shoots/lemongrass/pork) for four of us cost 155 Bahts which is a little over $5 CDN. In other places we paid three times this much for food that wasn't as good but they were more "tourist" places - for the farong as we are called here.

Today we went to the Chaing Mai zoo. Saw lots of amazing animals in a very nice environment but the most amazing were the two Giant Pandas. They came to Chaing Mai with great fanfare last year from China. There is a male and a female and they think that the female is pregnant. We saw both of them moving around and "fighting" with each other, scratching, running, etc. Pretty amazing.

Yesterday we went on a boat ride on the River Ping. Nice to see the city from that side of things - a bit like seeing Halifax from the Northwest Arm but not as good. Stopped at a little fruit tree demonstration farm. Very low key - definitely not worth the price we paid but you never know.

Have seen lots of wonderful temples and observed the Thai people following their traditions in the temple including making offerings and speaking to monks.

The weather is warm in the day but cool at night. It's very pleasant - lots of sun and a breeze when you are close to the river or on the hills. Much like a nice July day at home. We haven't seen rain since we arrived in Thailand.

We are planning a 4 day trip out of Chiang Mai over Christmas. Nancy has arranged a car and a driver for us and we will be heading east of Chiang Mai to two provinces called Nan and Phrae. Will try to post again before that but if we don't get a chance to do that, we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.