As the monsoon rains arrived with fervor, I too arrived in the laid back city of Chiang Mai. This city, Thailand’s second city has a very different vibe than Bangkok. Of course, it is striving like Bangkok to become more modern, more hip, more western but it still has a laid back feel to it. Maybe because its backdrop is the surrounding mystical mountains, the south part of the great Himalyahn mountain, that embrace this moated old city which contains hundreds of sacred temples, with chedi and gabled rooftops that soar skyward. Chiang Mai and the Northern provinces history and culture are influenced by the Shan state of present-day Myanmar, neighbouring parts of Laos and even the southern mountains of China. Also prevalent is the Thai-Muslim community; a remnant from the days when Chiang Mai was
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