City Centre and Walking Street at night

As mentioned before, in the daytime I wandered around the centre of town. The original city was built in 1296 AD and surrounded by a wall and moat. It was the original capital city of the Kingdom of Lanna. I have included a few pics of the existing wall and moat. In the evening we went to walking street. A euphemism for a huge market held every Sunday. Literally thousands of people crowded into about 6 square blocks of stalls selling everything imaginable. I include a few pics of this area and one of my favourite Thai deserts, mango and sticky rice.

Walking Street .... At night.

Today ... City centre and Chiang Mai's oldest temple Wat Chiang Man

On this the second last full day in Chiang Mai ... The second trip - I went to the city centre and to the oldest of Chiang Mai's over 300 temples. Wat Chiang Man was built around 1292 AD. There is the original and a new addition. Both very beautiful and distinctive in their own way. I have included the obligatory temple dog pics as well as flowers. In case you cannot tell, I love to take flower pics. They do not move and make for easy subjects to photograph. As well my friend Noom wanted to do a release of doves. I am not sure of the credibility of the practice but many Buddhist believe it will bring them luck or it is good for the soul to release captive animals. I show a sequence of how it transpired. The cost ... $5.00

The city centre pictures will follow in a separate post. 

As well... There was a smaller temple close by. Sorry do not know the name.

Chiang Mai at night

Today I booked a night tour. The tour is a night cruise on the Mae Phong river which runs through Chaing Mai on board a small but comfortable boat. The whole thing was about 2 hours and included a good meal of Thai food which included one of my favourites a soup made out of lemon grass, ginger, shrimp, tomatoes and spices. My friend just called it "soup". You need to take out the bits of lemon grass, ginger and shrimp tails but delicious อร่อยมาก. "aloy mack maw" is the rough pronounciation. 

A leasurely ride down the river with good food and drink .....

A blurry picture but it gives you the idea ...

Thai food ...

At this point I would like to talk a little bit about Thai food. I personally like Thai food...generally tasty and good but sometimes hot enough to burn your socks off. Food is available everywhere. Many restaurants raging from food stalls on the street to 5 star restaurants. Influences all over the place from Europeans and Asians. Thankfully not many MacDonalds or Burger Kings! Prices can range from as low as $2 to well over $100. I find their food presentation amazing. Some samples of what I have tried so far ..... Ok ... Mouths open!

Chiang Mai

I asked my friend Noom this morning over breakfast where we should go today. Of course we ended up going to yet another temple. I have seen this one before as well but I think this one is among the best in the city. Wat Chedi Luang commenced it's long life in the 14th century and completed in the mid 15th century. It once housed the famed Emerald Buddha. It was moved in 1551 to Luang Prabang in Laos. Also of note in the grounds are 3 Dipterocarp trees. A tropical hardwood planted in 1800 AD. It can grow to over 200 feet. There is a 6-8 day festival in May each year just for the trees.

Scenes from Wat Chedi Luang