Lumphun Visit

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Yesterday I took a local bus to Lumphun, a town about 6k south of Chiang Mai. There are two very famous wats there that i visited. Also went to a great vegetarian restaurant for lunch. This was one of the best meals I had in Thailand. I received 4 vegetarian dishes with rice and soup, all for 30 baht, or $0.75. The restaurant was written up in the Lonely Planet guide to Thailand. There was no name on the restaurant, and it was just called Thai Vegetarian Restaurant in the guide. I met two men from Singapore who were searching for the same restaurant, one a Brit. They were survivors the last years' tsunami. They were in Krabi when the tsunami hit. The one year anniversary was commemorated on Dec. 26th. There were many stories in the Bangkok Post. Overall, over 200,000 people died as a result of the tsunami, most in Indonesia. There were 5,395 deaths in Thailand. About 2,800 were farangs(foreigners). There are still over 2,000 people unaccounted for. It was a tragic event for this part of the world.



I experienced another example of the Thai people cheating foreigners every chance they get. The fare for the return trip was listed as 14 baht but the songtao(pickup trucks with a cover and 2 bench seats) driver charged me 15 baht. I wasn't going to make an issue over 1 baht, but this petty thievery really is starting to piss me off. I have gotten to the point where I won't buy anything more than the bare necessities here since I always feel I am getting ripped off. Another example was the other night I bought corn on the cob. There was a sign stating 10 baht but I was charged 15 baht. Petty differences but irritating.



Last night I went to the local mall's food court for dinner. I did a lot of walking during the day so I didn't want to go too far. I just had a spicy cucumber salad and a clear broth vegetable soup, both of them satisfying. Had a nice Thai dessert as well. I can't eat too much healthy food.



I just accepted an offer on my Shepherd Hill condo. Nothing has been signed yet and no money has changed hands, so I am not holding my breath.



That's it for now.

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Photos

Garden near the Old City wall
There are many nice gardens that I pass on my morning jog around the Old City wall and moat.