Chiang Mai, the Old Town

Chiang Mai is in northern Thailand, not too far from Burma and Laos, so the climate here is a lot more comfortable being around 25 - 30oC, compared to the roasting 38oC in Bangkok...

I wandered around the old town in the daytime...which is like a square with a brick 'gate' at each side and surrounded by a moat...




Chiang Mai is a centre of culture and you can do cooking courses, learn thai massage, do rock climbing, jungle trekking, visit night markets or just browse one of the many book shops within the town. It also has almost as many temples (Wats) as Bangkok. The temples originate from the 'Lanna' period (this was originally a Lanna kingdom and the town was founded in 13th century) and so there are many Burmese influences on these temples....


This is 'Wat Phra Singh', one of the main temples in the town...





...and this is 'Wat Chiang Man' ...the oldest temple in the town..



which houses two interesting Buddha statues, to the right of the main Wat building:





Chiang Mai is also cheaper than Bangkok.. i found this resto serving a quarter roast chicken, with fried basil leaf sauce on rice for GBP 1.20 ! And the food was absolutelty delicious....

(unfortunately, i'd already tucked in by the time i remembered to take a photo..)




The old town also has very good nightlife and i've been going out almost every night since i arrived, which is the reason i've not been blogging for the last few days.. i'll blog more tomorrow...