Chiang Mai - Wrap Up [Buffalo Markets, Top of Thailand, and Random filler]

I wonder if we over stayed our welcome in Chiang Mai. The slower pace has given Autumn the precious opportunity to get caught up on studies, but we sort of exhausted all of the main things we expected to do with five days to spare. Fortunately the weather was very agreeable. In hindsight, I think one week would have been just about right.

Without getting in too much background on the latest events, the following is a general photo journal of interesting stuff.

Oh, before I forget, I want to state that all the pictures in all of the blogs are about 40% Autumn, 40% Steve, 20% Nicole. Autumn tends to do the close up and interesting angles, Nicole always finds sweet pics because she isn't looking for the shot and really takes in the whole experience, and I sort of take the same boring typically touristy shots with an emphasis on telling a story. As I assemble these posts, I actually don't really think about who took what, but what captures the essence of the moment. Autumn has mostly been using my big camera (Sony a6000) & her Nexus phone, I am using her compact one (Sony HX80) with 30x zoom (allows me to take candid people shots), and Nicole uses her Nexus phone. Oh, and everything is automatically backed up in the cloud using Google Photos (which is awesome).

On with the pics....

Autumn had a study day, so we took the boys out for a day of mini golf and bowling...

Fun mini golf with each hole a different landmark around the world. Kind of fun to actually say we have been to several already. Certainly the hardest mini golf of our lives as there was no turf, just concrete. Just tap it in...  This place had THE BEST clubhouse of any golf course I have ever been. And I don't mean mini golf course clubhouse, I'm talking actual golf. We hung out after our round for some nice refreshments and a game of Rummikub. 

No convenient "all-american" side bumpers or ramps equals a gutter rich zero for Bryce. He was not happy with his performance. 

The following pics are from the Sanpatong Saturday Buffalo Market. This is one of the "locals only" markets outside of the city center that draws the farmers and ranchers from the area to sell and barter all manner of livestock and goods. We were a bit out of place, but it was really a wonderful experience.

Rooster shopping

This gentleman was clearly unimpressed with the quality of rooster offerings...

The main attraction is the Buffalo Market towards the rear of the market. 

We didn't see a ton of bartering, but plenty of socializing. It sure seemed like a great excuse for the ranchers to get together and have a chat and a laugh. 

Lots of other goods and food to purchase. 

We were fortunate to be around for the morning national anthem.  When the clock struck 8am, the music began and the people froze. Here it is:

After the morning market, we headed up the hill to the Doi Inthanon National Park, the home of the tallest peak in Thailand.

One of the many pleasures of Chiang Mai (that we did not take advantage of) are these wonderful riverside picnic places. Surrounding Chiang Mai are many streams that run down the mountains with waterfalls everywhere. Many of these streams have quaint platforms and huts that are near local food stalls. People buy the local food and just hang out and eat by the river for a modest fee. I truly wish we had these in California (like along the Truckee River).

While it's not quite the cherry blossoms of Japan or Wash DC, Chiang Mai, given it's relatively cool winter climate, actually has some flowering trees called the Sakura Cherry Trees.

Zane has been working on this B-Boy moves.

This is the roof of Thailand. The highest elevation. 2565 meters. 

Regrettably there is no real view from the actual top of the peak, but just down from the top is a beautiful pair of pagodas overlooking the valley called Pra Ma Ha Tat.

On the way up to the top, Nicole noticed an abnormally large lying Buddha out of the corner of her eye. On our way back, we couldn't resist a stop. What an interesting place this turned out to be. It was called Wat Pa Charoen Tham, and had the oddest collection of statues and monuments you could ever imagine. The vibe was... hmmmm... just strange.

This is one of the signs describing a scene. I have read this a half dozen times and still can't make sense of it. This is actually one of many signs in Thailand that could have benefited from a little outreach to the English speaking community. Relying solely on Google Translate is probably not the best solution.

Pretty impressive lying Buddha. Not quite the size of the one in Bangkok, but for a random Wat in the middle of nowhere, it's pretty darn impressive. 

Oh, there we chickens and roosters wandering about.

That lion... was... freaky. 

This Wat was really big and completely void of human life, but for this lonely Monk tending to the leaves. I think the complete absence of people added to the eerie vibe. The rest of Thailand has people and activity everywhere, so this was just strange.

The next couple of pictures are from our visit to the Sunday Night Market that is somehow larger, and decidedly more crowded than the entirely pleasant Saturday Night Market. It was a bit much. The streets were jammed with tourists (but then again, we're tourists, so all the other tourists must have been complaining about us too...) .

Our first Tuk Tuk ride from dinner to the market. When in Thailand...

People, lots of people. There was surprisingly little shopping going on. Just people walking a half mile in one direction, to turn around and walk back again. 

Hidden within the throngs of tourists are street performers. He was playing one of my buddy's wedding song when we walked past (credit Nicole for pointing this out. I had no clue, other than it sounded oddly familiar).

Nicole has a thing for taking pictures of doors. Apparently Alfred Hitchcock was looming behind her when she snapped this one.

OK, so someone actually bought something at the market. Check out those elephant pants. 

One of our last adventures was a short trip up a valley to the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, followed by a river side dinner at Pong Yang Ang Doi. Most of the day was spent studying and preparing for our next stop in Bangkok, so we only had a couple hours at the garden. That was a mistake. It turns out the botanic garden was excellent and we could have spent a full afternoon. Oh well, next time. 

A nice tree top walk.

The kids enjoyed playing in a pagoda that was filled with hanging streamers. Must be like that excited feeling we all used to have when we squirreled ourselves away in the circular clothes racks at Mervyns when we were kids. 

Really wonderful plant exhibits.

More B-Boy

When the arms give out. Zane said it didn't hurt....

One of my favorite things to mock (and I know I shouldn't be doing so) are the oldsters that use iPads as their camera. And let me tell you, having traveled for six months, it's a thing. So when an absolutely wonderful group of aged travelers is trying to get the perfect shot, I couldn't resist helping them out.  I will admit, the large screen sure does help.

This is a Cinco de Mayo rose. They had a lovely rose garden, and this one caught Nicole's eye. We had never seen one of these before.

Last Thai dinner in Chaing Mai. Wonderful outdoor riverside setting. Our actual last dinner was back at the Salsa Kitchen for one last decent mexican meal for another five months. 

Best Tom Kha Gai soup on the planet. 

Bryce cannot resist an Oreo shake. 

Random Thoughts:

- It makes us very sad to see how much they use plastic bags here. If it were just at the grocery stores, maybe that would be ok. But literally everything you buy from every little food or trinket stand is put in a small plastic bag, then further placed in a larger plastic bag. I bought a bowl of soup to go the other day, and I walked away with five different plastic bags. If you pick up a solitary orange from a stand, they want to put it in a plastic bag. When you buy a smoothie, they place the cup in a bottomless bag so that the drink has handles. We often had to wave our hands to avoid getting bags, which solicited a furled brow and confusion.

- ‎I would like to amend my prior statement that it always smells like smoke in Thailand. It actually always just smells unpleasant with any manner of stagnant moisture. I can totally understand why Thailand is an expat haven because of the attractive cost of living, the friendly people, and the warm climate, but the barrage of odors would keep us from settling here.

- Autumn and I have noticed a frustrating lack of alignment with most of the structures, statues, and other objects residing in and around the Wats. We're overly fastidious when it comes to photography and it can be a challenge to take pictures that look best with perfect alignment. Most things are just ever so slightly off centered or not level...

All for now... Next Stop... Bangkok!