Today started out leisurely with a coffee in bed and no specific plans for the day. I must say our little lap top has come in very handy. I spent a few hours on the net looking for interesting things to do in the area. We decided that we would do a short trip up to Doi Suthep. Doi is Mountain in Thai. So we flagged down a red taxi and bartered a trip with him, jumped in the back and we were off. It was fairly early in the morning so traffic was somewhat lighter. However this allowed our taxi driver to drive like a mad man. Bill had both feet braced and we were hanging onto the handrail for dear life. The road up the mountain was narrow, windy and steep. It did have lines marking the lanes but Thai drivers don't pay much attention to them. At one point we were going around a curve passing another taxi and there was one in the oncoming lane. There's no stopping them, they simply all move over and all three go by. I quit looking after that and trusted the good spirits were on our side and we would be safe.Phew we made it to the Wat (Temple) Phrathat. In order to reach the temple we had to climb 300 steps. It was Sunday afternoon so there were 1000's of people coming to pray. The view would have been amazing but it was hazy. Thai temples are very beautiful. Down we went - 300 stairs and back out to our driver. Between him and his English speaking friend we negotiated the next 8 km up the mountain to see the Tribal Village and the Palace.
The Tribal Village was incredible. There was a museum which explained the history of the "long necked woman" These are the Thai woman that were gold rings around their necks which makes there necks appear 3 times as long as normal. This is achieved by putting pressure on the ribs by the rings which compresses the collar bone and rib cage. This slopes the shoulders downward creating what appears to be a longer neck. They actually don't stretch their necks. There was a beautiful waterfall and garden in the middle of the village. Tribal vendors lined the pathway selling their wares of silk scarfs, silver and many other trinkets. We spent some time wondering around the gardens and enjoying some fresh air (so to speak). All of their houses were built in tears up the mountain side.
Our next stop was the Palace. Once we arrived we had to rent sarongs as we were both wearing shorts, which is not allowed. The Palace had a very beautiful rose garden surrounding it as well as many other types of flowers. We were not actually allowed inside the buildings we could just view them and wonder through the gardens.On the way down we stopped at a waterfall. Due to it being Sunday afternoon it was very busy with the locals enjoying family time along the creek. We didn't stay long as we were headed to the Sunday Market.
The Sunday night market was suppose to be the mother of all markets so we arrived early in an attempt to avoid the crowds. We had a Thai fruit shake and watched the vendors set up their stalls. There are so many vendors and people they shut down at least 4-5 square blocks in the old city. The crowds weren't too bad at first but within 45 minutes you could barely move. The products being sold were not what we were looking for and the crowds were starting to get to us so we hired a tuk tuk and headed to the Night Bizarre instead. Because it was still early and the Sunday Market was in full swing there were very few people at the Night Bizarre which made shopping quite enjoyable and the merchants quite willing to barter. Our shopping trip was a successful one and Bill has decided it will be a long time until he goes to another market.
We discovered Thai Whiskey at our cooking class so stopped for a nice refreshing drink. Thai whiskey is nothing like ours, it is quite sweet and you drink it with lime juice and sprite. So much for my red wine, it's very expensive here and not very good. So you learn to drink with the locals; Thai beer in the daytime and whiskey at night. Then you crash after a long day of sightseeing and crawl into bed.
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