Chiang Mai - Cha-ching!

The overarching theme for Chiang Mai was definitely shopping. They have an incredible night market, which covers both sides of a major street with vendors for 20 blocks. Most of the stuff was interesting at first, but it soon became a monotonous string of tourist trinkets. It was sort of like watching TV though, even though the show was bad, it still had attrative force we couldn't escape. Walking the night market was fun, and we explored nooks and crannies, less popular shops for better deals, and searched for original art by Thai locals.

We also took a scooter up a mountain just outside of town, Doi Suthep, and saw an incredible temple there:



After Chaing Mai, we took a nauseating 3.5 hour minivan ride to Pai, a small enclave in the mountains of northern Thailand that has become a sort of mecca for hippies and rastas. It's one of those places that Lonely Planet plublished as being "off the beaten path", which means that a path was instantly beaten to it, but it's still great. We found some excellent original art, live music bars, and stunning country scenery. Forgot to take photos, sorry!