Sojourn @ the Chiang Maan Residence

Finally arrived at the accommodation on Sunday evening. A tiny, tiny little lodging in the old town. A young woman in a big white van drove us from the airport. She manoeuvred the van's big bum bravely through the narrow lanes. Thought we wouldn't find the Chiang Maan Residence (a rather grand name for four miniscule rooms below the family house) & we would have to get out and lug our cases through the dark laneways. But she didn't want to let us do that. . . I suspect because of my advanced age. When I found the address on the Internet she said the address didn't help in this part of Chiang Mai. I told her the accommodation was opposite  Wat Chiang Maan, but when we arrived opposite the Wat, we couldn't see it. She drove about, commenting agitatedly, called a friend for help, and eventually found it. There was no light, just a small sign which we couldn't see in the dark. She laughed at me: "You say "opposite" but it behind." Well, in my own defence, it looked opposite on the map, as I didn't know where the front entrance to the Wat was. In fact, I didn't believe the place I had booked on the Internet was real, despite seeing the photo, until we actually arrived. 

Spent Monday morning and this morning wandering around the streets, shooting while the Clingon lay back and caught up with his beauty sleep. It's a wonderful place to explore, but the traffic, the din of it and the fumes, are unrelenting. Today we met a Chinese woman visiting Chiang Mai, as we returned from Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. She was from Beijing; she remarked that Chiang Mai was very clean. There are a lot of fascinating features of this city but its sanitation is not one of them. The Clingon and I wondered about the state of the Chinese capital.

Last night we went to the night markets. I've done something to my knee and I can't walk very fast or far now, so the Clingon left me in the mother-minding area while he explored the markets. They kept me supplied with Singapore slings.

One more day in CM and then it's off to Turkey tomorrow night.