Tonight is our last night in Thailand, after a slightly extended stay in Chiang Mai. Travel to Laos turns out to be slightly more complicated than expected, but tomorrow we fly to Luang Prabang. The entire city was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995, due to its uniquely amazing architecture.
Our three days in Chiang Mai have been a respite in a number of ways. We were able to do some laundry, which, in a climate that works through three shirts a day, was a huge benefit. There's also a pool at this hotel which has been nice.
Sightseeing in Chiang Mai is also remarkably chill, in that you can merely walk down the street -- any street -- and pass half a dozen temples. The city contains almost three hundred. Many young men from all over the country (and in some cases, the region) come to study in wats in Chiang Mai; for some it provides an otherwise unavailable opportunity for education. And the young monks are surprisingly friendly -- a couple of them have struck up twenty-minute conversations with us as we passed through their wats.
One of the biggest temples around Chiang Mai is on Doi Suthep mountain, which required ascending 306 steps up to the wat, but which also yielded amazing views of the entire valley below (the mountain is some 3000 m high).
Pictures to follow -- Luang Prabang sights include more temples (probably not a surprise), plus caves, elephants, and crazy good architecture.
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