We wondered down a street, not exactly knowing where we were going, and came across some morning markets (they might have been there all day). Quite a lot of people were bustling around, buying food and other things. There was everything you could think of at these markets; I wanted to look at all the kitchenware but I knew I'd just want to buy stuff so I walked on by quickly. We picked up some fresh pineapple to eat along the way and enjoyed wandering between the stalls. It seemed there were quite a few markets within close proximity of each other so we were there a while. At one point, Matt went to the toilet and whilst I was waiting I found a panda bag, like a bag for life with a panda on it. Matt has an slight obsession with pandas so I quickly bought it for him. He was delighted with it and carried it round all day.
We managed to reach the inner walls of Chiang Mai, within the moat. I'm not sure why there's a moat all the way round but within it is where most of the temples are. We quickly found a temple and checked it out. It was rather lovely and inside was a story told with huge pictures and even English words below the pictures. It's an odd story which seems to be important in Buddhism and is told on many of the temple walls. I don't understand much of it but it's about a king that becomes a hermit and gives away his children and then becomes king again. I may have to read up on it.
Outside this temple a Thai man stopped us and asked us where we were from. We replied politely and then he kept talking which was rather lovely. He seemed very friendly and I think just wanted to speak English. He told us he was a teacher and we asked what the best places to see in Chiang Mai were. It's hard to know first of all if people are genuine or just trying to sell you something.
Further down the street we passed an English book store so stocked up on a map of a bike route we're planning on doing tomorrow and a book on the Philippines as we fly there on the 14th. There was a huge range of used and new books, even some penguin classics which I considered buying for my sister but I knew they'd just get crushed in my bag.
We decided to look at the map and see where the big important temples were so we didn't miss them out. We found Wat Chedi Luang which had a lovely big temple and a large old pagoda at the back, with some little temples dotted around. They were all quite beautiful. By this point we were starting to flag and needed some lunch so found a very busy restaurant and ordered a curry. I had fish in mine which was delicious. It was some kind of white fish but it fell apart nicely in the sauce. This curry wasn't as good as my one last night but it was still yummy. I also ended up with lemongrass juice as they had no lemon ice tea but I'm not a fan of lemongrass as a juice. I let Matt drink most of it.
After lunch there was another temple called Phra Singh. Inside the main temple monks were sat chanting so we sat at the back and became a little mesmerised. We could have sat there for a while and just listened to the chanting but it was pretty hot so we decided to hit a museum. The first one we stopped at was a little like a history museum but inside the information wasn't the best. It bombarded you with names of people and places you didn't know so we only read some of the boards. However, before we went inside no one was at the ticket office and when we walked in a girl just pointed us in the direction of the starting point so we got in free! There was also another museum beside it which we got in for free as, again, no one was checking tickets. We felt a little guilty but it wasn't our fault as no one was around. The second museum was quite good but we weren't in the museum mood so became uninterested. We managed well over an hour in the museums before giving up and going for a drink in a cafe next door.
After that there was one more big temple called Chiang Man to see. There was a cool gold pagoda with elephant statues but the main temple was under refurbishment so we couldn't go in. There was still an hour or so before the Sunday walking market was supposed to start so we decided to have a Thai massage. I spent most of the hour trying not to laugh as they lay you on mattresses beside each other and hardly closed the curtains so everyone walking past could see you. We were fully clothed and it was quite nice but I prefer a normal massage where you can properly relax in a room with no one else. Also, my lady didn't get any knots out of my back and I have loads! My back did click a lot though. And it was less than £3 so I can't really complain.
The Sunday walking market is huge! It runs off in four directions and has all sorts of things for sale. We began by getting food. First I had some deep fried squid which was good but a little cold. Then we both had a Thai sausage. It was really tasty but strange. It looked like a normal sausage but inside the texture was more like rice. I would have liked a sauce with it though. To fill my belly I got some pad Thai and ended up being disappointed. There was no egg to add a yumminess and it lacked something else but I wasn't sure what. For those who don't know, pad Thai is noodles normally served with bean sprouts and egg and shrimp all coated in some kind of yummy sauce. It's normally delicious. However, I got some juice called Rosella which reminded me a little of cranberry juice and we finished off our meal with a strawberry ice lolly. The lolly tasted slightly artificial but still nice. We spent about 3 hours at the market as it was that big. Both of us made purchases. I got a tie dye top as the only time I'll be able to pull it off is whilst travelling and I also got my papa something which will sit at the bottom of my bag for the next 3 months!
I thoroughly enjoyed my day in Chiang Mai and have been pleasantly surprised at how much I like it. The markets of Chiang Mai are one of the top 20 things to do in our guide book for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and northern Thailand and I can certainly see why.
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