February 25th - Day 19 - Chiang Mai

The first of two full days in Chiang Mai. We have already decided that we will not do tomorrow's 550kms 'loop' through the hills, including the highest mountain in Thailand. Apparently the views were poor when the advance car went through, so a second day in Chiang Mai means we can enjoy a rest as well as seeing some of the town and the area around it.

First, a brief word about yesterday evening. Having a couple of days in any place is always an opportunity to get your laundry done. We have used the hotel laundry services in the past but after we were charged £70 for washing a few shirts and underclothes in Bangkok, we took the advice of Paul Wignall and, at 9pm, took our clothes to a laundry down the street from the hotel. The woman weighed the clothes and said, for a wash, dry and ironing, it would be £5.50, and would be ready for collection by 7pm tomorrow. What a saving on hotel charges. From now on that's what we will do.

Returning now to today. The Chedi Hotel in Chiang Mai is the former residence of the British Consulate. It has been considerably enlarged in a modern style, of glass and wood. It is located on the bank of the Mae Ping.

We had a bit of a lie-in and had a late breakfast, chatting with Hugh & Julie Brogan about this event and possible future ones. After lunch we used John Brown's 'tulip' route of the town. This was a short, 14kms, tour of the centre, passing numerous temples. I am posting below a few photos of the two temples we spent some time looking around. At the first, called Wat Chedi Luang, there was a strange mix of the old and the new. The site was dominated by a huge semi-ruined temple which had elephants protruding from the sides, and then alongside it was a new temple where there was this rather strange looking Buddha.

The second temple was called Wat Phra Sing Luang, where the main temple had this large golden Buddha. I was reluctant to take a photo but when I saw a group of monks taking photos of each other in front of the Buddha, we felt free to do the same.

When we returned to the hotel, we found an 'Invitation' to join The Right Honourable Sir Paul Wigglybits and Lady Jayne, for drinks at the British Dinner that was being held at the hotel in the evening. It was, of course the usual 'spoof' by our resident comedian, Paul Wignall. I hope the copy below of the invitation is readable. If not, click on the image to enlarge it.

At the dinner Paul gave a very funny speech, most of which is unprintable, for fear of a libel action being brought against me!