Thailand - My Chiang Mai Life

Hugo & Nok, my landlords, picked me up at 10 a.m. and took me to their farm just outside of Chiang Mai. Only abut 10 minutes from my house. Beautiful peaceful location with a view of the mountains. Lots of fruit trees on their property plus they have a small lake! We had lunch at a beautiful hotel owned by the Siam Commercial Bank. We were the only ones there for lunch!! The bank uses it mainly as a training and conference center. After lunch we visited another hotel. The flowers and landscaping were fantastic.... again we were the only ones there. The flowers are unbelievable considering we are in the middle of the DRY season. Along the way,we passed a Buddhist funeral procession.

Well, decided to use my free 2 nights stay at the Rachamankha Hotel that I won in a photo contest. Great hotel and restaurant in the "Old City". Design and rooms are typical of the new Thai Boutique Hotels. The hotel was voted one of the top 150 new boutique hotels in the world! Having trouble making changes so will have to put all pics together and you will have to fill in the text!!!!!! Restaurant & Bar..... Nice pool area plus a library complete with a decanter of Brandy for you to enjoy while reading your morning paper! Picture of small Wat early Sunday morning. Wat Dogs? Just hanging out at the Wat!! Three Kings! Aod and friend dressed to make their Tourism Class presentation.........

Here are a few pics I left out of a previous post. You can pay a few Bhat and buy water to put in a tube that you crank up the Chedi. When it gets to the right spot to wash the "holy relics" an arm on the tube automatically dumps the water! Cranking up the water... Water on the way up.... Water dumping...

Every year during the first weekend in February is the Chiangmai Flower Festival. On all three days of the festival, prize blooms are on display at Suan Buak Haad Park near the city center. Every type of flower, miniature tree and orchid is put on display for the judges to choose the best of the species. Landscape specialists put on an elaborate display, which includes patios and waterfalls with exotic decorative plants and flowers. Saturday I spent the day in Chaing Mai at the Flower Show. Really was more than I expected. Parade lasted for over 3 hours, lots of flowers on display, and plenty of street market stalls to explore. Strawberries are in season and served with sugar and hot spice on them! Sounds strange but really taste good. 20BHT or 58 cents gets you a big cupful to eat while you walk around the flower show. While I am on the subject of food, how about 7 big fried prawns for $1.15 or some fresh Tamarind. Always lots to eat on the street - don't know why Thai...