Same Same but Different Different- Last Days in Chiang Mai

Our Lantern-Clay, Marina, myself and a bit of Claire ;)

Following our jungle trek adventure, we got back in to Chiang Mai right in time for the Kings birthday celebrations! It was December 5th, and not to mention a DRY holiday, so all the bars were closed, and no alcohol was being served. It is disrespectful to drink alcohol on the Kings birthday here in Thailand. They REALLY admire their King... it is illegal to step on any money, as it has the kings face on it, or tamper with ANY portraits of the king, and trust me they are allll over the place. Fun fact: A tourist thought it would be funny to draw a mustache on a public picture of the king, was caught, and jailed for 3 years!!! Its pretty intense but interesting none the less.  Ironically enough, Anyways, Clay's 21st birthday happens to fall on the exact same day as the kings birthday... hahaha Happy Birthday Clay!!
So we joined some friends out on the main square to light some lanterns and watch them float and carry themselves away in the sky in celebration... it was beautiful.

Celebrating the Kings Birthday 

The days following Marina, Claire, and I decided to check out what Chiang Mai had to offer so we grabbed our maps and headed out to some of the Wats in town. The first was Wat Duang Dee, followed by Wat Phan Tao. Then we went to Wat Chedi Luang, which contains the ruins of a huge chedi dating from 1441 that was believed to be one of the tallest structures in Chiang Mai at the time. This site also holds a "Monk Chat," where monks from the monk university get to chat with people about just about anything.

Claire and I taking in the sites at Wat Chedi Luang

Marina, Claire, and I chatted with a monk who was a big Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and Nickelback fan, to name a few ;). He was awesome!! And overall, it was great to sit and chat with a monk, after not knowing if we could even look at them directly in the eye or not. But as it turns out they are free to indulge in their passions, and are just as interested in hearing about your background, as we are in theirs. Our final Wat, was Wat Phrasingh which is the star amid the old city's famous temples and is a perfect example of Lanna architecture. It was established in 1345 and houses the city's revered Buddha image, Phra Singh, which is the focal point for the religious festivities of Thai New Year.  Because we went in the evening, we got to see the monks chanting in the temple... they were all lined up in rows, sitting criss cross applesauce, with pamphlets in their hands, chanting.

Monks from the Monk Chat!! 

The next couple of days were spent reading, doing laundry, and hanging by the pool. I got the book "Water for Elephants" from a backpackers bookstore where you can buy a book, read it, then sell it back. I can't wait to read it!! Another highlight was a once a year craft market in town that Claire and I went to. Everything was beautifully handcrafted, and we were seriously struggling not to buy it all!! It was also on the outskirts of town over by Chiang Mai University so we got to see a new, less touristy part of town. But our ride back to the guesthouse consisted of almost 1.5 hours of polluted jam packed roads (dang old motorbikes puffing out black exhast) just to be dropped off at the "Night Bazaar," a huge street market on the opposite side of the city and NOT where we wanted to get dropped off... there was clearly a language barrier involved and we were frustrated the driver couldn't read a map, but once we found a different driver, we were back in no time! Talk about a 10-15 minute drive gone wrong... haha! Unfortunately, I got a cold as well the last few days, so I didn't get to experience too much nightlife, however I did manage one night out with my team :) (Marina, Claire, and Clay) at a popular spot right across the street from our guesthouse, called Zoe's. Clay bought a bucket of mojito (the only drink in english) and we danced the night away! Fun fun fun :) We have some GREAT memories from Chiang Mai, a hip, cultural city full of Wats and fellow backpackers... but now its time to move on and we will be heading to Laos in the morning. Chang chang!! Cultural tip of the day: When someone says 'Same same, but different different' in Thailand (and a few other countries) what they mean is 'whatever/ doesn't matter/ its all the same to me.'