Day three- Doi Suthep, KhumKhantoke dinner Chiang Mai

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Day three...(the day I almost killed my husband...) got up and gathered all our things together for the flight to Chiang Mai...and as we are literally walking out of our room at the hotel my husband says he can't find his passport. Great...so back in the room we go to look for it. He jokingly says he hopes he didn't wash it...I told him I'd kill him where he stood if he did...and that's exactly what he did! Fortunately, the picture and info was somewhat legible, so we had no trouble getting on the plane to Chiang Mai.

Sgt Kai met us at the airport with his friend Sutthi who would be our guide for the next three days. Sgt. Kai's daughtrer was playing with the symphony in Bangkok that weekend, so he would not be in town and hoped we understood. Of course, we did and explained to Sutthi that we needed to go to the American Consulate right away. We'd called, and though they weren't officially open that day, they told us to come by so the officer on duty could take a look at the passport and see if he4 needed a new one. We were VERY lucky...apparently they allow one emergency case on days that the office is closed...and Bill was it. (another couple of backpackers came along about 10 minutes after we did...they were out of luck.)They told Bill he needed a new passport picture...thankfully we had a couple taken before we left for our Angkor Wat passes...so it certainly came in handy! He filled out all the paperwork and was told to come back between 3-4:30 to pick up his new passport which would only be good for one year.

Sutthi then took us to our hotel...Fern Paradise. It's a little out of town, but we really liked it. Each person has their own lanna-style barn, and each one is named after one of the hundreds of species of ferns the owner cultivates. It sits right on the Ping river, and was lovely.

We then went to lunch, and Doi Sutthep. Sutthi took us to a buffet restaurant, which was packed with tourist buses. our least favorite meal of the trip...then off to Doi Sutthep. I wondered if we were walking up the 300 plus steps to the temple, but we took the cable car up instead. (wasn't even debated...)the temple is quite beautiful, and since we only have seen the small temple on the way to the floating market, we are not nearly "templed out" yet! There were many Thai people there, but very few tourists. From there we were taken to a Khum Kantkoe dinner. We were seated on the floor with cushions all around and served dinner while being entertained by tradional Thai dancing. The best part was when one of the female dancers picked Bill to join her on the main floor to dance with her. Priceless. As we were leaving people were flying these fire balloons. I'm not quite sure how to describe them except they looked like white paper bags that were lit from underneath and soared in the air like a hot air balloon. They were a beautiful sight! Another nice day in Thailand... Oh, and we were able to go back and pick up Bill's passport that afternoon with no trouble. That is until we get to the States, I'm sure!

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