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Today was AWESOME!
We woke up at 6:30am and the first and most important thing we both wanted/needed was TEA!!! We pulled on some clothes and headed straight for breakfast, regardless what we looked like.
We went for breakfast just around the corner. Croissant, eggs, fruit salad and english breakfast tea for two please :)
With the rain falling, and predicted to fall all day, we decided that it was a day to wrap up in our wet gear and go temple hopping. We planned a route around the most interesting temples within the old city walls. Our first, Wat Phan Toa, a small temple with little history but is immensely pretty. Completely built from teak panels held up with huge teak pillars.
Number two was more traditional, but the grounds of the temple contained a mammoth Chedi (religious monument) that had sustained substantial damage from an unknown source: either by an earthquake or cannon fire in the 16th century. There were lots of amazing shrines to past monks also in the grounds.
The last temple was the most famous. A huge Buddha housed in Wat Phra Sing established in the 1300's. Inside the temple were many shrines to past monks, all resembling the sculpture of the metal gold meditating Buddha, except one; the latest principle monk of this temple. He was a monk for 77 years and died 98 years old. His shrine was a exact fibreglass replica of him meditating. It was so realistic that when we walked in we just thought it was a real person sat meditating. I hereby recommend Madam Tussauds come and take a look and learn a thing or two about sculptures of real people.
All the Wats are each impressive in their own right but once you've seen 3 you feel like you've seen them all. Told off for sitting with our feet facing Buddha, we decided it was time to move on.
Drenched to the bone and feet hurting, we hunted out a little rumour we had read about. It was time for out first thai massage. Open up the 'bible' to the map of Chiang Mai and find the prison. Yes, the prison. The Chiang Mai women's prison offers full Thai body and foot massages by inmates serving time. It was AWESOME! The spa was super nice, really clean and so relaxing. There was a point during my foot massage when I couldn't help but think to my self "haha, I bet you wish you hadn't been caught with that Crystal meth now, scrubbing my crusty feet as I lay here and fall asleep, don't stop now prisoner, I'm paying a good $5 for this hour!" My lady was really cool, her English went as far as "Hi Mr, you feel ok?".
Siobh laying behind me, was enjoying a full body thai massage. I could hear the occasional crack of her back followed by the cackle of both Siobh and her inmate masseuse.
Relaxed and dry it was time to endure the downpour that was still going on outside.
Lunch, beer, back to room, shower, washing done, tuk-tuk, night bazaar with another bracelet for Siobh, followed by dinner, beer, whiskey sours and a live Thai band.
- comments
Karen Blackmore Haha hilarious ! sounds fabulous wish we were there xx