day fifty-five cont'd: november 23, 2015: chiang mai
We took a short flight to Chiang Mai and immediately headed over to our favorite restaurant there. I thought it would be closed, but sure enough we got there at about 10:45pm and they were still open! Jonathan had his khao soi and I ordered garlic and pepper pork and were so happy that everything tasted just the way we remembered!
While wandering around the night bazaar we happened upon a small lot with food stalls and live music. Last year, if we remembered correctly, this was an abandoned lot. It was a pleasant surprise, so we stopped and had a drink and listened to some music.
The streets were pretty quiet that night, but all the decorations in preparation for the festivities over the next three days were up.
day fifty-six: november 24, 2015: chiang mai
We spent most of the day catching up with Carina, a friend of mine from high school, who also worked at TOMS. She's had her own adventure through Southeast Asia, back again for round two and heading off to work in Brisbane for a bit. It's crazy how easily you can feel at home with friends even if you're half way across the world.
Off of Carina's recommendation, I went to Khunka Massage for an hour Thai massage and it was THE best. She definitely worked by back and told me many times to relax buut it was so good. If you find yourself in Chiang Mai, definitely go here. It was 250 baht for a Thai massage and 600 baht for an oil massage.
Jonathan wandered around the old city and I met up with him at Wat Phantao after my massage.
We met up with Carina and Kristina for dinner at Dash! Teakhouse Restaurant and Bar in the southeast corner of the old city. It was this beautiful teakhouse tucked away in the back streets, which a friendly staff and amazing food.
We made our way to Wat Phan Tao to watch a pre-ceremony for the Yi Peng Loy Krathong Festival.
The night was filled with meditation, candles, and colorful lanterns. We walked over to the river to check our more of the festivities and released our own krathong, which are floating objects made of banana leaves, flowers, a candle, and incense sticks. The festival is to celebrate the good and wash away any misfortunes.
We had to stop and get a snack on the way. Nothing like fresh rotee with banana, cheese and condensed milk!
