This is our final blogpost for Chiang Mai- the knockout round. Actually, I have no idea if there are KO’s in Muay Thai fights… I only know there are 5 rounds….
Anyway, after Phil left us in Chiang Mai, we spent most of our week at an Airbnb catching up on travel planning. We stayed just outside of the Old City (touristy area), across the street from the hospital and medical university. We love staying in places where we really feel like locals! We ventured out and found a nearby market so we could cook breakfast for ourselves. During our first trip to the market, we suddenly noticed that there was no traffic on the major road we were walking on, and that there were policemen in uniform standing in the street. It was kind of creepy at first, and then I noticed that there were some shopkeepers coming out of their shops and standing on the edge of the road. Jeff and I walked a few more blocks, and then we stopped and I asked someone what was going on. They told me that the princess was coming! So, we waited on the road with everyone else and got to see the Princess of Thailand! Well, we saw her motorcade…. and I’m not 100% certain which princess it was, but I think it was the eldest daughter of the late king (more on that in the next post). My assumption is pretty accurate because I saw her on the news later that day handing out diplomas for graduation! (Below: the main street without cars getting ready for the motorcade.)
We did see a lot of people in caps and gowns too!
Eating out is so cheap in Thailand, that we didn’t ever bother to cook ourselves dinner, we just found a new restaurant or street vendor every night! Lots of pork, noodles and rice. We also averaged about 1 mango fruitshake a day and I tried green milk tea a few times. One of the best meals we had in Chiang Mai was at a restaurant called 'Rosy Cheeks,' and we had a pho-ritto (pic lower right corner). It combined Vietnamese pho with a burritto- amazing!
When we weren’t shoving our faces with food, or planning our future adventures, we got some exercise in! CrossFit was a huge part of our lives in Virginia, but since we’ve been on the road we haven’t made exercise a priority. Both of us have lost most of our muscle mass and the clothes we bought for this trip don’t really fit anymore- we are really glad we both have belts to keep our pants up! I know, I know, this is not something that I should be complaining about…. My point was, we are extremely out of shape. So, I was a little nervous about dropping into a CrossFit gym. We hadn’t been to one in 8 months, and I wasn’t even sure if I would like it anymore.
Still drinking the kool aid friends, it’s like riding a bicycle, but with soft baby hands that tear after 5 clean and jerks! Many thanks to CrossFit Chiang Mai for letting us hang out with you for a week!
-Cara
Just a couple bonus images! We were in Chiang Mai for Chinese New Year and caught a show (we were hoping for dragon dancing, instead got 'Toddlers and Tiara's, Asian Edition), saw some more temples in town, and saw some sweet street art! Who doesn't love minions?