Not Luang Prabang - yet

But soon. Let me explain. In my last post I informed you that the very next day we would take off to Chiang Khong and then enter Laos there with plans to head south slowly. As I was reading the guidebook that night I suddenly thought that we were making a mistake. We hardly need to suffer as we travel, especially at our advanced ages and the trip is arduous and cold.  I talked about it with Geordie and then at 11:00 pm we shivered in the garden of our hostel as we booked a flight to Luang Prabang for Monday instead. Now how smart is that?

The next morning we shouldered our packs and walked to the bus station (quite close so no need for transport), stopped at the office of Green Bus and asked for the next bus to Chiang Mai. It was 8:00 am by my watch and the woman's reply was, "Now!". She quickly printed our tickets and we ran to the right platform, hopped on the bus and were off.

In Chiang Mai life did not go so smoothly at first. We took a tuk tuk to the area we like where all the guesthouses already had "Full" signs out. We felt a little discouraged but finally we decided we would be smarter.  Geordie left me at a coffee place and went off to look, and while he was gone some lovely tourists from Skagway, Alaska, of all places, told me about a guest house just around the corner. Geordie appeared at exactly the right moment and we went there and took their large, expensive for us, suite. It was lovely, dark wood floors, a sitting area, shower separate from toilet and a large deck over the garden. 

All seemed perfect, but as the day went on we realized it was not the peaceful oasis it had appeared. Although we were on a narrow soi (alley) it started to feel like the crossroads of the world. There was an exorbitant amount of traffic and noisy - tuk tuks are called that for a reason. And the owner spent the entire afternoon and evening sitting with her friends talking and drinking beer directly below our deck. In frustration we went room hunting again and found the lovely place we are now. Our room is just as large, has a sitting room,a small balcony, tiled floors and lots of light, which was lacking in the first place. We moved here early yesterday after our night in the first place and it has been quite successful, not withstanding the cooking school next door where we are sometimes suddenly serenaded with the sound of wok stirring tourists. But we like it.

The bathroom doesn't have the enclosed shower but that's a small price to pay - and besides, this place  is 25o baht cheaper than the other.

We thought you'd like to see the toilet apparatus by the way. And the explanation posted above it. Don't miss reading the third paragraph. 

We have lazed a bit here but today we went off temple hopping, so you get more pictures of Wats and Buddhas here. Like this lovely golden chedi. 

And a golden temple facade. 

These banners were the usual - buy one, then hang it in the Wat to make merit. Interesting that these have the Chinese  astrology animals on them. 

This ruined chedi, which was massive, was built in 1441. 

This was one of the nagas at the entrance to the chedi - somewhat restored. 

Another amazing feat of floristry - this seven headed naga is constructed entirely of intertwined leaves. 

There was an odd story with this image which told of a man who was so enamoured with the Buddha that he announced that if the Buddha were a woman he would marry him. For this grievous sin he was himself turned into a woman. How this fits with this very large rotund figure escaped me. 

I thought this reclining Buddha (about 5 meters in length was quite beautiful. 

In another temple I found this teepee-like offering at the altar. 

And at the same one an array of Buddhas in the colours of the rainbow. These images appear to be very similar to the green jade Buddha I mentioned in my previous post. All of them were the same except for the colours. 

Orange is my favourite colour. 

At Wat Phra Singh, this Buddha is one of the most revered images.  Phra Singha means Lion Buddha. It has been in this Wat since  the 1360's. 

Here are two different close ups of the Phra Singh. 

The Buddha image is housed in this small temple behind the main temple of the Wat. Many of the buildings in the Wats of Chiang Mai are built of teak like this one is. 

And tomorrow we fly to Luang Prabang.