Assignment: Tuk tuk

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So for our last little bit of tourism in South-East Asia it was back to Thailand where we took the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. At this point we've had our fill of Bangkok and we just needed someplace a little more laid back to relax. Chiang Mai has great markets and we were lucky enough to catch the Sunday walking street as well as the usual night bazaar. The weather here has been just that little bit cooler (30C-32C instead of 35C) and it made enough of a difference that it was actually pleasant to go for walks in the mornings and evenings. We had our little route that took us to our favorite spot on the river for pad thai and noodle soup, and then we'd just wander around the markets and the old town checking out some of the temples along the way. We didn't do any trekking (which is actually the main draw of Chiang Mai). Three months of 30+ degree weather and high humidity has cured us of the desire to do anything strenuous during the mid-day heat. Instead we passed the time by taking photos of tuk tuks. This is actually harder than it seems as we were trying to do some panning, but every time a tuk tuk spotted us they'd slow down and start to pull over thinking we wanted a ride. Anyways, that was Chiang Mai in a nutshell for us.

In total between Thailand and Cambodia we spent 43 days. Sadly about 12 of those days were spent in Bangkok, which is a bit much, but was necessary for visa runs. How embarassing that we never actually visited the Grand Palace! Anyways, here are a few of our favorite things from this part of the journey:

1. Favorite foods - pad thai, papaya salad, green mango salad, sticky rice with mango and coconut milk, coconut curries, spicy/sour noodle soup, bananna shakes, do we need to go on?
2. Taking a Thai cooking class
3. Attending a Muay Thai boxing night
4. Early morning at Bayon temple (Angkor Thom)
5. Bamboo train in Battambang

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Photos

token food photo
Chicken with cashew nuts.