MY CHIANG MAI

A 5-hour milkrun bus from Sukothai north to Chiang Mai goes through cooler climate and a gasoline truck in the ditch! This city is billed as a cultural heritage centre with more ancient temples (groan), artists, schools of cooking, languages, and Thai kick-boxing. All that is true but more obvious is the backpackers' heaven of cheap rooms, uncountable bars/restaurants, and a typical Asian jumble of no-name sidestreets and traffic chaos. I haven't seen a travelers' scene so crazy since '80's Bali. We had three rooms so far --- the first we couldn't find, the second had no joy to it, and our current $10 upper at North Star is right in the buzz.

Chiang Mai dates back to the 11th C and was fortified against raiding Burmese by moats and brick walls 1km square. Inside the 4 gates is a daily/nightly frenzy of miscellaneous foreigners ---you can try to guess their country by eavesdropping on their languages. But walk in a little further and historic temples and wats emerge, still active in ceremony and offerings. One unusual custom is to turn a pulley that raises a cupful of holy water and pours it on a stupa 50 feet up.

It has the highest concentration of monks (youngest to oldest) in the country. It has bustling markets. It displays total allegiance to the King and Queen. But my Chiang Mai leans to the streets more than the temples. Yours??