Funky dog

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On evening one in Chaing Mai we spotted a 3 Chang promo for b159 and settled in the evening. Later we ate at the same place for b120. This soaked up the drink a little which is well premium at 6.2% and sold in litres.

Not a great nights sleep at the hostel on night one after spotting the lizard in the room and bed crawling with bugs but no problems - we can be out of a place as quick as we can check in and next morning we moved to the bar from the night before after noticing how clean and tidy the whole place was.

Across the road from our new hostel is the funky dog cafe. This is a family run, home cooking, hippie welcoming, own coffee roasting, shoes off at the door establishment. A bearded guy with a long pony tail and friendly face welcomed us and we ordered a recommended honey and coconut shake with coffee which was mixed at the table. We soon realised that the cafe was actually run by a small dog (hence the name) and the people worked for him. He was a bit showy and there are pictures and drawings of him everywhere, many done by visitors I suspect. We decided to eat here later in the evening.

We found later that afternoon that the city has quite a lot of expats which is evident when you look at bar menus boasting a full selection of western foods. The city is much quieter than Bangkok, much more chilled and clearly reflects the tranquility of surrounding hills. We are getting hassled much less here and there is more space to move around in - its less claustrophobic.

Funky dogs food is by far the best we've yet. Math had the special tomato curry - a very rich vegetarian curry served with rice and fresh vegetables. I had the yellow curry (recommended by an internet review posted on the wall) - potato curry, coconut base and full of flavour, served with rice. The wicker decorations and colourful paper lightshades look much more vibrant in the evening and are constantly moving in the breeze which blows from the open front of the cafe to the organic garden out back.

The new hostel was much nicer than previous night. A/c room and really clean and modern and we slept well but unfortunately booked up for tonight so we had to move on. We spotted the giant guest house when we arrived and it looked 'interesting' so we booked in. Cheap at b180 per night, the room is basic, shared bathroom and were not sure if there is electricity there but plenty of books and hippie types to talk to.

Back to funky dog to try the home roasted coffee (only tried in shake before) and we also had a cup of ginger 'healing' herbal tea with lemon and honey.

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Photos

Thai yellow curry
Note Math's clenched fist - keen to get stuck in.