Peace, quiet...and more shopping!

On our last full day in Chiang Mai we had bookings for 2 different things ; in the morning we were booked on a tour to see another tribe, and yet another temple ; in the afternoon, we were booked in for an afternoon at a luxury spa!! Nice! So, first thing in the morning, we were picked up at the guesthouse by our tour company. We hadn’t actually booked a private tour for this morning trip…but we soon realised that it was only Ellen and I who had booked for it, and so we had the tour-guide all to ourselves again! Our first stop of the morning was a magnificent temple in an area outside Chiang Mai, called Lamphun. Again, we were met by gold, gold, and more gold, buddhas, buddhas, and more buddhas…and lots of orange robe clad monks scuttling about the temple grounds. I was playing my own game of ‘snap the monk’, and managed to get about 10 sneaky pictures of them praying…walking….running away from the weird foreigner lady with a camera in her hand…no only kidding! I got some good shots! The temple was really beautiful, and it was nice to have our guide on hand to explain all the details and the significance of certain parts.

After our brief stop there, we continued in the minibus to our main stop of the morning, the village of the White Karen tribe. There wasn’t another tourist in sight, and the village seemed very peaceful and unspoilt. It was really interesting walking around this village, just looking at the houses, the people at work, the children playing, and a really old woman enthusiastically chopping wood. There wasn’t a hint of exploitation or tourism about it (there were more scarves to buy if we wanted to, but there were no price labels, and no ‘you buy? you buy?’). It just felt like we were observing the everyday life of these people. We met a couple of the villagers as they returned from the fields where they had been collecting their dinner…frogs! We spent maybe 40 minutes walking around the village, and learning about the tribe from our guide, and we didn’t take a single photo. It just didn’t feel right…and was much nicer to see every detail with my own eyes rather than through the lcd screen on my camera. A truly interesting and peaceful visit.

Back in Chiang Mai in the afternoon, it was time for the spa! Whooohooo! Again, we were picked up from the guesthouse by the ‘spa car’, and taken the 3 minute (!!) journey to the Oasis Spa. Ellen was having a special package, and I had opted for the Ayuveda (hot oil head massage) massage, followed by a mineral mud facial. After 2 hours of being massaged, rubbed, relaxed, and invigorated (by a male therapist I might add ;) ), it was time to leave. The treatments were amazing, although I did still have some of the oil in my hair 2 days later…it just wouldn’t come out! I love spas…what with a wonderful spa break in England last summer, and then 2 spas in Thailand…I feel well and truly pampered….and ready to try out a spa in Malaysia this summer!!

In the evening we had a lovely Italian feast at a small restaurant we had heard good things about from other travellers. It was yummy, and the bruschetta was divine. Then it was time for our final visit to the Night Bazaar. We had been there on 1 or 2 other nights too, but now was our last chance to get all our last-minute bargains. We did well! Chiang Mai’s night bazaar is great…a real variety of stuff to barter for and buy, a great atmosphere, and on the whole a lot cheaper than the markets in Bangkok. Throughout our time in Chiang Mai I had managed to get some beautiful things ; bracelets, earrings and necklaces galore, a couple of bags, 2 beautiful wall hangings (one thai silk, and one a more Indian design, with lots of patchwork pieces, intricate stitching, and small pieces of mirror.), and various other trinkets and gifts for family and friends. I can imagine that living in Chiang Mai could become quite dangerous for my wallet, with such temptations along the street every night. I could’ve bought so much more than I did…but when it came to packing, I was sure glad that I had stopped when I did….my suitcase was full to bursting! Oops!