Last Day in Chiang Mai, and Visiting Doi Suthep
Sunday October 4, 2015 (Asia, Southeast Asia, Thailand)
We had one last day in Chiang Mai before departing for the islands in the south of Thailand. Robin had spotted several temples in the old city that she wanted to take a look at. Our goal was pretty simple: wander aimlessly around the vicinity of our hotel and walk into any neat-looking temples we found. We succeeded! Within an hour we found three lesser-known temples all within less than a kilometre from our hotel. And I got a great picture of a cute doggy in a dress. I took all sorts of artsy shots of those, so enjoy some random photographs. Hopefully you find them pleasing to the eye.
Our evening plan was to get ourselves up to Doi Suthep – a big temple up a bigger hill. We got a songthaew to take us out there, and it was quite the windy ride up to the top! The plan was to arrive just before sunset, and that worked out nicely. Unfortunately, the temple area doesn’t really afford nice westward views of the sunset, but it was still a really pleasant view over the city of Chiang Mai. It was quite a magical, warm evening strolling about the temple grounds. The monks were chanting with gusto, and we were surrounded by candlelight.
For our last order of business, we met up with Jon and Christina and took a gander at the Sunday walking market. It was ram-jammed with people, as expected. A band of four blind gentlemen sitting in a line (as in a canoe) and playing music for the passersby. A dance crew of eight young girls with two vocalists pumping out catchphrase-based pop-dance tunes in Thai to an enthusiastic audience.
To cap off the evening, we dropped into the mojito stand that stood near our previous hotel in Chiang Mai. This time, we were greeted by other tourists who were also enjoying the two buck mojitos. We got a round for everybody, but before long the rain started coming down. No worries, though – the proprietor and her friends happily invited us inside to sit down away from the downpour. And before long it felt like a full-blown house party! It’s always a blast to have funny little experiences like this when travelling – it makes your time feel so special and worthwhile.