These are some shots of my room and building, as well as some shots I took just walking around today - my
3rd day in Chiang Mai
this is the view from the 5th floor rooftop veranda looking towards the mountain
this is the same view zoomed in a little showing the wat and the chedi on the left
looking 90 degrees in another direction
this is what the shared space on the rooftop veranda looks like
this is a view in a different direction
a banana tree
exterior view of my building
this is the interior hallway on the 2nd floor. note the open spaces between floors to create air circulation.
this is the outside of my room, which has grillwork over the windows for security.
this is what the shower looks like and is typical for guesthouses over here. the hot water heater
is integrated into the shower and only heats water when the water is flowing.
the other part of the bathroom
my balcony
there is a built-in storage unit, a tv with cable and several English language
stations, a small refrigerator, and a desk. the room costs me 6,000 baht
a month, or about $200 plus electricity.
the bed is large and comfortable. I bought the fan at Tesco Lotus so I could
minimize the use of the A/C and conserve electricity, which costs an additional
7 baht per kilowatt used.
there is a small table and chair as well
a banyan tree
I forgot what these are called. They guard the entrances to some wats.
another banyan tree along the moat. The city dates from the 1200's and was
protected by a wall and a moat, parts of which still exist.
the road along the moat
the Tha Pae Gate
part of the wall
I live inside the moat and the wall near the Tha Pae Gate in what is
probably one of the largest concentrations of guesthouses or backpacker ghettos
in the world. Not as large as the Khao San Road area in Bangkok but there
are too many guesthouses here to count; something for every taste and budget.
the moat
green papayas growing on a papaya tree. Som Tom, one of the most popular
Thai dishes is a spicy salad made from shredded green papaya. Those of you
who are graduates of The Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School are familiar with
how it is made.
a bowl of chicken noodle soup, sort of a Laotian version of chicken Pho, which
costs 30 baht or around 90 cents.
some shots of a wat near my place at night
the exchange rates in effect on 3 October 2009
this place did not compare favorably to the Irish bars in my former
neighborhood back in Woodside, NY 11377, but we had to give it a try
