Chiang Mai NOT Ban Non but doesnt come up on the map properly :(

We arrived about 10 in the morning and went for breakfast in Chiang Mai. Delicious banana pancakes. Silly thing to do when we had chosen to do a cooking course that day :-/

We were taken to the local market to see the different fruit and vegetables including several kinds of aubergine, angel, elephant ear and s***aki mushrooms, choose out a bucket fish and lots of nuts and spices. We walked to a restaurant and round the back we were given our ingredients and we were told what to do with each one. My kind of cooking :) Only, i know the problem is doing it back home :-/ I made xhicken and cashew nuts, coconut and chicken soup, green curry and sweet sticky rice and mango. We were sooo full but it all tasted really good :D The sticky rice was the best Ive been waiting so long for it to taste as good as that again Not salty at all! :D Yum. When we were very full we were taken back to the hotel and we had a bit of time till the next activity

We piled into a very comfortable minivan to take us to Doi Suthep, the temple on top of the hill above Chuang Mai. When we got there we climbed 300steps up to the temple and our local guide explained about its origins. We walked round and rang the bells to bring luck, love and happiness and looked out over the view of Chiang Mai. Shoes off at the door and into the temple. One or two carried out a ritual to be told their fortune and then we went into a temple room for a blessing from the monk. He chanted and then tied a piece of string round the left arm of the boys and dropped a piece into each girl's hand because they are forbidden to touch women. We continued round the temple and the monks began to line up in front of the main Buddha statue still outside. We waited and then they began to chant. It was amazing! As they knelt to pray we all sat and it was very still. When it was over they all went into a larger temple room,each to a specific spot and began chanting again. What a sound. I might not be a Buddhist but it was a bit special just the same :)

Back to the city for dinner or in our case a drink. No more food! We ate near the night market and across from the restaurant they were getting ready for a show. The lady boys were walking out advertising and it was a catwalk of outfits. The next one more sparkly, higher heels and more feminine looking than the last. We nearly went to the show but shopping in the market won :) Lots of colours and lots of different things to see and smell. In one section mum spotted a tv on in a bar with Andy Murrays semi final playing silently while there was a live band on. Free wifi too :) So we sat and watched before heading back :)