Hello Chiang Mai

After a short sleep, and a short flight, we arrived in Chiang Mai. There was a mix-up with our transfer arrangements, but eventually we made it to our guesthouse (Paddy Fields). Our accommodation was not quite as grand as it had appeared on their website (my god they have a good site designer!), but it proved to be completely pleasant and adequate for our needs and routine that week in Chiang Mai. It was Sunday afternoon, we had checked in, and we were ready to explore!

Our guest house was located in the old town area of Chiang Mai, and was only about a 10 minute walk from one of the city’s grandest temples, Wat Phra Singh. It was a beautiful temple, and was definitely not as densely tourist populated as the ones we had seen in Bangkok. We observed the monks giving blessings, and took photos of the beautiful patterns and colours around the exterior. There was also a very surly looking monk, almost lounging around inside the temple…he reminded me of how I feel when I’m bored at work, and I’m just sat at my desk twiddling my thumbs. Maybe he’s just not that bothered about being a Buddhist monk!! Also, quick question ; is it wrong that I thought he was hot!!?? Am I going to hell, or the Buddhist equivalent?? I’m sure I’ll be fine!

After a yummy quick lunch of spring rolls, and garlic and black pepper pork on rice (Yum!), we followed the road into the centre of town. Our eyes lit up as we realised that we could see market stalls…lots and lots of market stalls! We had stumbled across the Chiang Mai Sunday market…whooohooo! Within about 2 minutes, I had purchased a black ebony (might be boot polish though…who knows!) Buddha, to add to the jade one I bought in Hong Kong last year. The market was great…bargains galore, funny t-shirts, piles of jewellery, children playing cool Thai instruments (bit of Thai youth busking), and even monks out and about doing their Sunday shopping.

After an hour or 2 I was starting to flag, and was becoming more and more tempted by the Thai massages on offer at the sides of the streets. Every 5 minutes, you would walk past another area on the street, where there were chairs laid out, and women drumming up business with ‘hello lady. You want massage?’ I finally gave in, and submitted to an hour (was it an hour ellen??) of part pleasure, part pain. It was quite a big accomplishment for me, as the main part of the massage was a Thai foot massage, and I am really funny about feet. I don’t like them, and I don’t like my own being touched! Weird I know…but I’m kind of over it now! I faced my fear, had the massage, flinched and giggled quite a lot, and then afterwards had feet that felt absolutely amazing!! Ellen also agreed to have one, so we sat next to each other, being pulled, poked, pushed, turned, stretched, and crushed, as we watched the market hustle and bustle from afar. They worked on feet and legs, hands and arms, and then briefly on head, neck, shoulders and back. The whole experience was sometimes a little painful, often a bit strange, but overall absolutely fabulous. My feet felt great, my neck felt the least tight it has been in ages, and I was ready for some more shopping!! More bargains, and then some Mexican food with Thai beer rounded off our day very nicely! I felt very at home in Chiang Mai already!