Chiang Mai is full of amazing temples, and most of those we've visited here have been quiet and empty but for the monks and nuns who live on the temple grounds. The temples are breathtaking in their opulence. Each is surrounded by naga, which are dragons/serpents who act as Buddha's protectors. Golden bells hang from the red-tiled roofs and gently chime in the breeze, and the smell of incense is always in the air. Temples are like balm for the soul.
It's pretty funny, though, to see monks talking on their cell phones or walking around in their orange robes with ear buds in listening to their ipods. We had a monk the other day show us photos on his iphone of the squirrels he feeds everyday on the temple grounds.
Chiang Mai is also home to an amazing night market where, just like at Chatuchak market in Bangkok, you bargain for everything. The food here has been amazing, thanks to the bevy of vegetarian restaurants, and we're addicted to banana rotee, which are basically crepes filled with bananas and covered in chocolate sauce and sweet condensed milk and made by street vendors.
Overall Chiang Mai has a more European flair than I expected, but still very much feels like Thailand. It has lots of little open-air cafes serving amazing fresh fruit juices and smoothies and delicious food, and you can't walk five feet without seeing a shop that offers $6 hour-long massages (and they are legitimate massages), or $3 hour-long foot massages. Heaven.
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