No visit to Thailand is complete without thai bargirls stories, walking through a ton of street markets and eating more Thai food than is humanly healthy (well—the food itself is healthy—but the overeating is not)!!
A walk through the night market (not to be confused by the Sunday night market) revealed endless booths that we barely made a dent in. We’re great window shoppers, and rarely have reason to add more items to our suitcases.
The heavens opened and released rains, and we suddenly found ourselves in a tunnel of plastic that the vendors popped up!
I immediately fell in love with this vendor when I spotted these rice paper lamps of all shapes, sizes, colors, textures, etc. He also sells wholesale 
What do you think…should I begin importing Thai lamps to the US?
They’re SO packable, which is one of the major appeals for shipping and displaying!
Okay, business aside…we had a few good laughs. What do you think of Jared in pink?
The kids had some fascinating things to look at…
I thought this vendor did amazing work out of leather hide. It is carved and then painted. The beginning steps…
The end result…
I also think these are just gorgeous, but only good for displaying!
They’re candles carved out of SOAP, and conveniently packaged in a little transportable casing
A visit to Thailand wouldn’t be complete without a Thai massage (Jared’s had one, now…I’m still a little hesitant)! A one-hour back bending/cracking Thai massage will put you back about $5 USD. A foot massage sounds nice…
Wats (Buddhist temples) are to be found everywhere in Chiang Mai. There are literally hundreds, I believe! On our way to church, we found ourselves dropped off early at a nearby wat, which was just beginning to set up a little market. We walked through it and enjoyed some of the smells.
I had no idea what half of the stuff was, even with English translations posted!
I admit I still haven’t been INSIDE a wat. I admit it feels a little sacrilegious to go inside of a temple and take a photo. Is it not their sacred ground, after all?!
That being said, I’m sure I’ll break down at some point and count myself among the rest of the tourists.
Every day of the week you’ll find plenty of options for picking up some roadside produce.
A walk through the major market area on a weekday proves that there is PLENTY of shopping to do in Chaing Mai.
A quick stop in a hair accessory shop had my head spinning. The giant row on the left is of JUST COMBS, and the whole right side is of JUST BARETTES. Needless to say, I still walked out without finding a single hair clip that I would be caught wearing.
Jared got a hair cut for 150 Baht (about $5 USD). It required a little fixing-up at home…but at that price I’m not complaining.
We end up wandering through a lot of small streets and alleyways as we make our way from the market area where our songteow drops us off…and where we actually want to go. Here’s a view of the back of people’s homes that line a small canal.
Wats are everywhere you look. Sometimes you can only see the remains of one peering over a high wall…
And others are certainly more elaborate!
Great post, and fantastic photos.
The Thais don’t care if you take photos inside their temples. That said, in 2 and a half years living in SE, I’ve only been inside the temple (the chapel, what the Thais call “bod”) in Cambodia: Angkor Wat and the chapel at the royal palace. I am not a Buddhists, and don’t feel comfortable going inside. Plus if you’ve seen one wat, you’ve seen them all.
Likewise, I just haven’t felt the desire to go in, yet. Maybe it’s the comfort issue…or maybe because I don’t feel the religious draw, personally. I can admire the outsides for now 🙂 You don’t think wats have different character and charm? Oh…I’m sure they do!
Awesome photos of the market. I love the colorful textiles. And I love all the colorful dragons. Guess I just like colorful 🙂 The back of the homes looks similar to homes in China, except we never saw any in that verdant setting.
Loved your little walk through Chiang Mai. Beautiful.
Don’t worry about going in the Wats to take photos…as long as you do it respectfully and have your shoulders and knees covered. You are missing out by not going inside to have a peek around!
I did it today…I went in one in Vietnam (although not an all-out Buddhist wat…it was dedicated to a military leader, instead)…very beautiful! And I took photos (sheepishly)! Covering my shoulders and knees is no problem…that’s my normal garb!