Chilling in Chiang Mai

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New pics have been added to picasa! We found it easier to upload all of our pics all at once, so check out part 1 and part 2 for our updated pics.

We made it through the midnight train to Georgia, or more like to Chiang Mai. The sleep on the train was peaceful (other than the bathroom experience Adam encountered), and being able to wake up at six in the morning to see the beautiful Chiang Mai hillside roll past us was truly an experience I’ll never forget. This city is a complete 180 compared to the hectic life in Bangkok. The beauty of the natural surroundings is a breath of fresh air that clears your head and puts your mind at ease. We rode in the back of a pick up truck (aka, our taxi) to our guest house and were able to check in at 7:45 AM. After taking a desperately needed shower (the last shower we had was 48 hours prior) we decided to roam the streets. “Wat” was there to do early in the morning? Check out wats of course! Wats are beautifully ornate temples where the local Thai folks pray and pay their respects to Buddha. Entering these temples you feel immediately at peace as the Buddha stares at you with a welcoming smile on his face. Peace didn’t last too long though as our stomachs were complaining of lack of food. We entered the first restaurant we saw that offered mango and sticky rice. After ordering egg noodles in curry soup, chili chicken curry and mango sticky rice with a large scoop of mango ice cream, our stomachs were full and happy and so was our wallet. All that food for only $3! With our bodies full of food to last us till dinner, we marched on in search of more wats and treated ourselves to an hour long Thai massage for only 200 bhats or $6. At four o’clock was the huge and famous Chiang Mai market. I absolutely loved it! With the miles of street shopping and bargaining to be enjoyed, what more could a girl want? Adam was dead tired from having to follow me from one stall to another for five hours. He was a trooper to stick by my side the entire evening to make sure I was safe and unharmed.

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