Danielle's Shopping List Continues to Expand

After an early morning flight out of Sukhothai, we headed to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Happy to leave Sukhothai, we arrived in Chiang Mai expecting to have someone from the hotel pick us up at the airport. After waiting for about 20 minutes, we phoned the hotel, only to have them say they were not aware of our reservation. We had booked the hotel through a website called Sawadee.com. After going back and forth, the hotel sent a car to pick us up. While they said they had not received the reservation, they went ahead with checking us in and offered their apologies (best customer service we've had in a long time). The hotel is a pretty good value and is in a great location - right between the Old City (complete with actual city walls) and the Night Market.

Surprisingly, Chiang Mai is Thailand's second largest city. But compared to Bangkok it is much smaller. We really like it so far. It is definitely a city (there are 4 Starbucks and a Subway & McDonald's chain), but is not as overwhelming as a big city can be. The weather is also much better - mid-80's.

Despite an early morning flight, we decided not to nap and instead headed out to eat and see some of the city. We saw some of the more famous temples in Chiang Mai: Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Pra Singh, and Wat Prasat. For dinner, we took our cues (once again) from the LP and went to a restaurant that served northern Thailand dishes. We tried the khao sawy (egg noodles with chicken in a curried broth) which was really quite yummy. As we were wrapping up dinner, I looked across the street (it was an open air restaurant, as most are) and saw four guys waiting to cross the street. I realized they were our classmates who we had previously seen in Bangkok - small world.

After dinner, Jeremy and I headed to the Night Market to check out what sorts of goodies we could stuff into our already bulging bags (mine might be bulging a littler more than his). The actual market (there are many stalls lined up on the sidewalks that are not technically part of the market) is a three level building that is actually on the upscale side compared to the other markets we've been to in Bangkok or Vietnam. The rows were pretty big to walk through and the stall owners were not nearly as pushy. When we can, we try looking one night and buying the next - it helps with knowing what price things sell for (and I'm not very good with spot decision making). Unfortunately Jeremy has given up his quest for white sunglasses and upgrading from a less ghetto wallet (he had purchased a very cheap wallet in Vietnam because he had been carrying his money loose before). But I think he'll keep looking.