Looking back Erica and I both remember our second day in Chiang Mai fondly, even though at the time there was some sadness and some frustration... We had a simple breakfast at Prego, the Italian and Thai restaurant across the small alley-street from our beloved guesthouse and headed out into town, wandering around. Our initial plan was to hire a tuk tuk to take us to the International Museum of Insects and Natural Wonders. The first tuk tuk we approached wanted 60B (ridiculous! we were charged only 40 in Bk for hours of being hauled around). So we walked on. The next tuk tuk wanted 100B (one way). As did the next. And the next. And the next. Giving up on the museum for the moment, we looked around and saw the gold spire of a temple nearby. So we walked towards it and found a beautiful little temple and monastery, complete with an ancient, very rare, archway. We payed our respects to the buddhas and, spotting a sign offering massages on the premises, we duked into a cool room where two women massaged our feet (60B for 30 minutes!) until we thought we were in heaven. Amazing how it can relax your whole body. The only real downer was the chatty woman who kept trying to converse with us while we were trying to zone out and be massaged. Now I know that annoying hippies are not just an American thing.
Next it was off to Mike's, a little fast food stand renowned for having the "best burgers outside the USA." Cheeseburgers, fries and coca-cola. It wasn't In-&-Out by far, but still yummy.
More wandering led us to bookstore row, a shady alley filled with cafes and second hand bookstores. We perused the selection and settled on the 30B bin, finding some really poorly written but totally entertaining beach books - Indecent Proposal for me, Doll: Some stories are made up and some are real for Erica. Then: sorbet to rest and read.
From there we decided to walk to the river and check out the Flower Market, a daily gathering of people selling insane amounts of beautiful flowers - seriously, i don't know where they find the land to grow so many flowers.
On the way there we were draw into some super cute and funky art galleries where Erica found some souvenirs (in paintings) and I found plastic bracelets!
Right before the market we saw a very red, very colorful, very dragon-ified structure and went inside to learn that it is one of the oldest Chinese temples in Chiang Mai. On the way out I smiled at a little girl watering plants and she sprayed water at my feet. (?)
The flower market was nice to see but I was disappointed that I was surrounded by the smell of exhaust instead of roses. The river, brown as it is, was still a sight to behold and the raised bridges (much like the ones over California freeways) provided many a photo opportunity.
It was getting dark and we were getting weary so we started to walk back but then- night market! We passed between the stalls, checking out the merchandise and getting hassled by many a seller shouting "How much for you? How much? 100B! Very good price! Discount!" Etc.
It was a little much but fun to see. We made a few purchases and walked home, ready to finish off our day at Prego! with spaghetti made by Thais.
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