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Wandering around Chang Mai

Chang Mai Travel Blog › entry 10 of 89 › view trip summary

Four to five months travelling in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands & the USA.

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Wandering around Chang Mai

October 17, 2007

The muesli at 'Nice Kitchen' in Chang Mai - now that's a breakfast!

I woke up with a hangover, picked up my clean clothes from the laundry - CLEAN CLOTHES!!! - had a shower and ate my breakfast at Nice Kitchen: a mug of tea, fresh orange juice, croissant and a fruit salad for 75 baht, which makes it an absolute bargain.

Back at the guesthouse I booked my transport to Laos for the following day. A minibus to Chiang Kang, over-night accommodation and 5-6 hour speedboat ride down the Mekong to Louang Prabang. The 'plan' is to meet up with Hazel and Maria there - who will get into Laos the day before me - and go on another trek.

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The afternoon was much cooler than the morning so I went for a walk to buy a larger backpack. If trekking has taught me anything, it's that I need more clothes and bigger pack to keep them in.

Young monks praying

I ended up buying a monster 75 + 15 litre pack complete with two detachable 'day packs'. I think I could fit my entire wardrobe back home into it. Well, maybe not, but it is big!

Next stop was to Fed-Ex home my original pack and messenger bag, along with some photos from the trek and couple of photo-CD's.

After buying an extra pair of shorts I wandered around Chang Mai for hours, browsing bookshops, 'arts and crafts' shops and street stalls. I eventually ended up at Wat Phra Singh, where I sat at the back of the temple watching about one hundred young monks chanting and praying in front of a huge golden Buddha. I'm not at all a religious or spiritual person, but I sat there for about 15 minutes, completely and utterly at peace with myself. It's about as close to religion as I ever want to get.

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In the evening I went to Da Stefanos Italian restaurant - recommedned in my travel guide - where I had a pizza and fruit shake. The fruit here is so fresh and tasty it would be wrong not to eat mountains of it everyday.

Next stop was the night bazaar where I bought two extra t-shirts (perfectly original(!) DrunknMunky & Billabong t-shirts for 300 baht) and spent a few more hours exploring the various stalls. But if you've been to one night bazaar...