Chiang Mai to Lampang

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First thing this morning was to find a bank and exchange money, at a reasonable rate. We set out to the banks (there are three nearby) only to find them all closed! Turns out that banks are closed here on Sundays! Now we're in a bind - lots of money but none we can use!

We asked at the hotel, and the clerk checked and found that banks open in the airport mall at 11:00. Ok, relief! Our rental car arrives here at 10:00.

Precisely on time our car arrived with the rental rep, a sweet girl named Peng. She let us pay in dollars too. So off we went to the mall.

Let me tell you, learning to drive on the wrong side of the road is a challenge! Good thing I have Gilat next to me to warn me when I'm too close to the curb!

The mall is huge! And has a very large food court with loads of stalls selling all sorts of local goodies. And some not-so-goodies. So we exchanged cash (at a very good rate) and wandered about. We tried a few things (coconut-ginger-lime thingys wrapped in leaves on a skewer, a crispy crepe-taco with some grated pumpkin, and noodle soup) before finally starting our road trip!

The road trip started with trying to find our way out of the mall's parking maze... but eventually we found our way. First stop - Doi Saket Hot Springs. What a cool little place! A few stalls that sell snacks and fresh eggs in straw baskets, and then the springs themselves. The almost boiling water (95 degrees!) bubbles up in two stone and concrete wells. There are strings with hooks tied to a railing around the wells. You hook your basket on a string and lower it into the water. 10 minutes later you have hard boiled eggs!

And while we waited we had a close look at a rice paddy. The farmers were cutting it with a combine but we got to see it close up.

When our eggs were done we sat near a small canal that channeled the hot water away, put our feet in the water and ate the eggs. We totally enjoyed the experience!

But time was getting on. We headed up into the mountains. The road got narrower and windy, with lots of switchbacks. We tried to find Mae Wong waterfall. The map took us down a very narrow, extremely steep little side road and we didn't find a trail to the falls, so we gave up on the falls and headed on. Next stop was way up at the top of the mountains, Kio Hin lookout. All the way from Chiang Mai to here is uphill, most of it quite steep. We just kept driving up and up and up some more! The road is narrow and twisty all the way, but there's not much traffic so it wasn't too bad.

But when we finally made it to Kio Hin it was worth it. What a beautiful spot! The view is incredible in all directions! Huge mountains and valleys covered in jungle, the distant blue peaks in a haze, blue skies. Wonderful!

But it's just s small stop at the roadside. And we still have a long way ahead of us down towards Lampang. We'll try to make it to Wat Chaloem, the Temple of the Floating Pagodas. The road down from here was much better than coming up and the drive was easier, but by the time we were nearing Wat Chaloem it was getting late. Still, getting there was an experience too. We drove on raised concrete roads between rice fields, farmers were burning the cut rice stalks and tending to their other fields, and stopping to stare at us (and say hello).

As expected, the temple was closed but we could still see the spires high up on the toothy cliffs.

It was almost dark by now and time to head to our hotel in Lampang. We still have over an hour's drive.

We made it to the place, Kanecha's Home, at around 7PM. It's a simple homestead in the back of the property. The room is right on the Wang river. Nothing fancy but very homey. The owner has a plant nursery, and she rents the rooms as a side business (or so it seems to me). Still, she was very friendly, and showed us where things are on a map of the town.

We went out to the local night-market to explore and find something to eat. A banana Roti (turns out it's called 'Roti', not 'Loti') hit the spot, as well as some blueberry tea. I even tried crickets (kind of like chips) and some sort of roasted larvae (not as nice).

We saw the market, it's time for bed! Tomorrow we're heading off towards Nan.

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