Chiang Mai- Ancient Temples, Night Markets and White Elephants

 I left Hong Kong and flew directly to Chiang Mai, a city in Northwest Thailand.  It was about a 3.5 hour flight.  After the flight to Hong Kong, it felt like we were landing shortly after I got in my seat.  

Chiang Mai is an interesting place.  It seems overrun by both tourists and locals, the latter constantly buzzing by on their motor scooters by the thousands as one attempts to cross the street.  It seems like there is an almost endless variety of mongrel vehicles here derived from the bike/auto/truck platforms, including of course the famous tuk-tuk-

I rode in a variety of these inexpensive transports as made my way about the city.

Chiang Mai is known for its night markets, traditional Thai food and ancient Buddhist temples.  It might also be the massage capital of the world if massage salon density or quantity is any indicator as there seem to be Thai massage salons on every street corner.  

  Some of the temples date back to the 1200s-

Many of the temples are quite striking and colorful, with elephants and dragons being a constant theme-

I hiked up to a well known one in the jungle overlooking the city using what is called 'the monk's trail' by using somewhat ancient cartography locally known as Google maps. The trail had somewhat different markings than others I have seen over the years (e.g. painted rocks)-

 They say some of the monks will hike the trail barefoot-

I gave that some thought, but decided that might be viewed as improper cultural appropriation.  The site was quite peaceful and some of the monks were there apparently attending some sort class-

I was happy to see authentic Buddhist monks still practicing, but I could not help but notice that a number  of them there and afterward appeared to staring down at small electronic devices in their hands.  Sacre bleu!  Maybe the monks standards have declined or recruiting is off?  Iphones just seemed at odds with my understanding of the objective of worldly detachment (or of serenity now), but what do I know?  (Of Buddhism, nothing). 

This early temple dated back to the middle ages and captured one artist's attention-

The street food scene of Chiang Mai is somewhat famous in Thailand and is one of the city's attractions, again for both locals and tourists.   It is a chaotic scene with vendor stalls laid out on busy streets mere inches from the buzzing motor scooters tuk tuk, but fun all the same.  You can get a good Thai dinner at these markets for $2-$3 if you don't mind some jostling and tuk-tuk exhaust. 

As mentioned, the night markets of Chiang Mai are also one of the city's big attractions.  Having bought my share of white elephants over the years, I perused the market, but was not about to fall for the various and sundry tourist trinkets and baubles on offer , not with my experience.  Except, well, maybe for a truly authentic white elephant-