Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai has proven itself to be a fabulous combination of culture and nature.  It seems sleepy after Bangkok, the weather is cooler and less humid, and it is very pedestrian friendly within the Old City walls (and moat!) which form a nearly perfect square about a mile on each side.  The economy of Chiang Mai seems to run mainly on TripAdvisor review points and travel agent referrals, with the exception of 7-11 which accepts hard currency for weird snacks.

The activities for tourists are abundant!  Since arriving, we've looked at Wat Phra Singh, shopped at several night markets, taken a cooking course, white water rafted, rode elephants, downhill mountain biked and went to see The Hobbit.  The food has been great, and often can be paired with buckets full of cocktails or towers of Chang Lager (pronounced Chung, but don't ask me why).  The quality of said activities has been generally quite good, although the mountain bike I used was a nightmare of bad bearings and I'm not sure if the raft guide was kidding when he said, "no flip, no fun" after getting our raft stuck and swamped on the river.  I also think our elephant had an unhealthy relationship with bananas, but I can't claim to be an expert on pachyderms.

Here be dragons.

Even the little ones were big. (And hungry!)

An elephant is not really a great tripod.

Fish cakes!

Baskets for a market tour.

A 15" Kona Stinky is one size fits all!  I opted for a Specialized Pitch with non-operating rear suspension.

Doi Suthep Hunter's Escape: Tourists will have no escape from mechanical failures!

Some sweet aftermarket welds on the guide's Iron Horse.

Dave