Saturday, November 22

Still full from last night’s feast, so we skipped breakfast and just had a little fruit and coffee this morning.  Relaxed for a bit, then did some walking again, this time to the Lanna Folklife Museum which had some interesting displays of life in Northern Thailand, including crafts, artifacts,  instruments, fabrics, etc. 

Of course we passed more wats, UmongMahatherachan and Wat PanPing.

We passed many school children leaving for their lunch. Neat, modest uniforms.  Mam says this was a private school.  The public schools are not so uniform.

We stopped at a little café and had fruit smoothies. These, milk shakes, frappes, etc. are very popular and inexpensive and made with mango, banana, papaya, pineapple and other fruits.  They also offered ice cream including “Rookie Road” and “Macadamia Bittle”.

A group of monks was at the table adjacent to us and one of them came and spoke with us for a while.  He was here visiting from Bangkok and had been a novice for 7 years but recently became a full monk, at age 21.  The two in bright orange robes were still novices.  He said he hadn’t decided his future yet but he enjoyed being a monk.  It is not a lifetime commitment, as some do it for only a short time as in months.  We took photos of each other and he practiced his English, which was pretty good, a bit more then said goodbye.

We did a quick visit to the Temple of Tethered Elephants – Wat LamChang.  The insides were closed for repairs.

Stopped at an interesting shop with had Khon Masks, all based on characters from their history and mythology.

We had lunch back at Gai’s Thai Café near our hotel.  Beth had apple pie with ice cream for a change – quite good!

Back to the hotel, we planned tomorrow and called Jason to arrange a trip to Doi Inthanon National Park.  Greg went for a swim in the pool while Tom and Sue went for a massage.  Jason came by to collect our fees and give us a voucher for tomorrow's trip.  Ran into Judith - the volunteer we met at dinner the other night - turns out she is staying here also!

Chap came to pick us up at 6:30 and we went to a Burmese restaurant with him and Mam.  He and Mam ordered and we shared.  Very good….kind of a cross between Thai and Indian food.

Next Chap drove to a little bar called Players, where we met Jim and Cheron and some of their friends to listen to a Thai band that bills themselves as bluegrass.  They played a selection of songs like “She’ll be comin’ round the mountain”,  “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”,  “Mountain Home” and others kind of a mix of country, folk and a little rock and roll.  All decked out in cowboy hats, there was a fiddle, banjo, guitar and harmonica, and base.  We enjoyed and then played a game of pool before getting a tuk-tuk (motorcycle with attached covered seating).  We have heard they can be a pretty wild ride, but traffic was light so it wasn't bad - except for Greg who volunteered for the "jump seat" next to the driver!

The Saturday night market was still going on on the street next to our hotel, so we walked a bit and Sue found another cool scarf - she is taking many home as gifts.  On Saturday and Sunday they close one of the major streets and hundreds of vendors set up stalls. Still lots of foods, fresh, being cooked, cooked and packaged.  Below is sausage and a variety of things "on a stick" including squid, which we see often.