Bicycles and Buddhas

It's Sunday in Chiang Mai and we had an activity packed day. We began with a 18 mile bicycle ride along the roads south of town.

It was a good opportunity to see what life is like in the suburbs of a big city in Thailand. Guess what? It's a lot like the suburbs outside a big U.S. city, with some definite Asian twists to things. The most unique Thai thing we saw was in front of a Buddhist temple. It looked like Sunday church carnival. People had booths set up outside with displays of their intended offerings for the monks. Paper flowers in a pot with items hanging from them that the monks need for everyday life (toothbrushes, toilet paper, bananas, combs, etc.). With so many people around the temple, it was deemed a good business opportunity for street vendors. So they set up their little carts selling satay skewers, fruit juices, steamed buns, and other Thai snack foods. What a scene!

Our next stop was at a handicrafts village. "Village" may not be the correct word. There was alley after alley of shops selling woodcrafts of all types. We made our first real purchase of the trip - three mango wood decorative bowls. More dustibles for the house.

We ended the ride at the shop/museum of a famous woodcarver. He has kept alive a northern Thailand craft tradition of extremely intricate wood carvings. His property used to be a whore house, but he has nurtured a group of woodcarvers at this workshop to keep alive a precious national craft.

Latest luggage news - still no word on Caren's luggage. Not in Chiang Mai, not in Chiang Rai. We think it is still in Bangkok, but the baggage service for Thai Airways seems to have some bureaucratic hangups. I'm somewhat confident we'll get the back tomorrow, in the nick of time for our flight to Laos.

Tonight, we headed into downtown Chiang Mai for dinner and some shopping time in the tumultuous night market (i.e. street market loaded with stalls selling every counterfeit product you can think of - watches, T-shirts, CDs, DVDs, designer luggage). They also have loads of antiques, decorator items, and clothing. We were surprised how few people were out and about. When we were in Chiang Mai two years ago, the night market was packed with tourists.

One of the most exciting aspects of the evening was our ride in a tuk-tuk. A trip to Thailand wouldn't be complete without risking your life riding in this unique SE Asian motor vehicle. It's basically a three wheeled motorcycle on steroids with a back bench seat that sits atop a kerosene fuel tank. And you negotiate the price BEFORE you get in. In typical Thailand traffic congestion, a tuk-tuk is one of the few ways to get thru traffic jams.