First Day in Chiang Mai

Something lucky, I was able to meet up with another girl with my group because we shared the flight from Seoul to Chiang Mai. Her name is Kristin and she flew in from Vancouver. We sat together on the plane and got to chat about the upcoming adventures.We arrived late last night and were picked up at the airport by our coordinators. It was really dark so we couldn't see much on the drive to the guesthouse. Plus we were exhausted and probably wouldn't have been able to comprehend much anyway. But after a full night of sleep, I awoke and looked out my window. There are three gorgeous temples within view that were hidden in the darkness.

After a much-needed shower, I met a couple more girls in the common area of the house. Since today is a free day for people to get over jet lag (I feel surprisingly well) and get settled in, we decided to explore the neighborhood. Last night it was warm, but stepping into the Thai sun for the first time was like stepping into an oven. It probably is the humidity more than anything. Nonetheless, we were hungry and braved it. (And yes, mom, I remembered to wear my sun screen.) After walking down a few streets, we found a little breakfast cafe with air conditioning.

Everyone ordered different things, and the menu was huge! We were remarking how it seemed like an encyclopedia of food. It probably took us half an hour just to get through all the pages. They had a page just dedicated to mango foods only, which drew me right in. Ended up ordering the mango crepe special, which is a traditional Thai crepe (a little fluffier than at home) with fresh diced mango, mango ice cream, and a sweet syrup drizzled over.

It was heavenly! I ordered a Thai iced coffee with it (which I'm now in love with thanks to Chim's in downtown Columbia) and the total for everything was the equivalent of about $3.25. I think I will be eating very well here in Thailand.

I also found the Starbucks! Heidi, this is for you. It's only a couple blocks from the house and is three stories high. The first floor is the coffee bar and the top two floors are seating areas.

Oh, and there was a little confusion about this.. You can click on the image to make it bigger. Mom and I figured that out.

Then walked back to the house to unpack. Saw some cool things along the way, but the city tour the group is taking tomorrow is sure to be full of so many beautiful places. This city is fairly large, so I'm looking forward to having a bit of help looking around.

Just a little preview of things to come. These were just on the walk home. Will be getting better access and pictures tomorrow. There are elephant statues everywhere, too. Saw a monkey on the power lines above the temple but it ran out of sight before I could snap a picture. Our outdoor eating patio at the house has signs warning people about monkeys coming in and stealing food. Is it weird if I plant food and just sit and wait until a monkey comes along?