Yesterday I got a good massage at Good Massage, right across the soi from my building.
The cost for 2 hours of traditional Thai massage was 300 baht (less than $10).
Breakfast: 70 baht ($2). Fried egg over stir fried pork with basil over rice.
Fresh fruit (including mangoes) with yoghurt and museli is also 70 baht and I will
hopefully start that regimen when my system adjusts.
Out for a walk after breakfast, I headed over to the Warorot Market and the flower market.
Mosques are more common in the south of Thailand, near the border with Malaysia.
Thailand is 95% Theravada Buddhist.
For a shopper, this is a lot of fun packed under one roof.
Next door is the flower market
Cyclo
Lotus buds
What's the unspoken message? I think it is something about the transitory
nature of things.
Next to the flower market is a Chinese temple.
Read the next frame, which is an inset of this photo more closely.
Food stallions????
Near the world famous Chiang Mai Night Bazaar
Lunch today with JT and Mai at a place nowhere near the Night Bazaar or the Burger King. This was JT's dish, a northern Thai specialty called
Khow Soi noodles.
This was my lunch - Khow Man Gai. It was the best thing I have had since I arrived.
Those of you familiar with Anthony Bourdain's show on the Travel Channel, "No Reservations",
may recall seeing Tony reach a state of near nirvana when he had this dish on his show
about Singapore. The chicken is boiled in a certain way, with
certain spices to impart a sublime flavor.
It may look bland, but I assure you it is not. You can "condimentize" it any way you want - ginger, peppers, fish sauce.
That little pink bowl of sauce in the middle: as Guy Fieri would say, "That's money."
The food was 25 baht. The big bottle of Singha was 60 baht. When it's all said and done, my
biggest expense will be beer; more than food; more than rent; more than everything else. But that large bottle
of Singha, roughly the equivalent of 2 small bottles, was less than $2. Two beers in Manhattan could easily set you
back $14.
JT and Mai
Sightseeing on the way back, I first stopped by the Three Kings Monument.
The King and Queen of Thailand
A super pimped-out VIP bus. This is how you get to Bangkok from Chiang Mai or vice versa
if you do not want to spring for the airfare. Not a bad way to travel, although I prefer walking, if
possible.
