Last days in Thailand

From top to bottom: The Sunday Market in Chiang Mai, the center Chedi in Doi Suthep, a long neck Karen woman


I never thought you could ever cram so much into one day of traveling but dad and I managed to. Yesterday we spent the morning at an elephant camp where they had a show in which around 2 dozen elephants paraded around, dragging logs, did crazy tricks and for the finale they painted paintings on canvas with their tusks. crazy. Afterwords Bo (our tour guide for the day who we hired to take us around) took us to a small ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) center where we spent an hour shaking and speeding down the pot-hole-filled rodes of rural Chaing Mai. It was pretty fun, an adreniline rush and a bit terrifying but fun all the same.
In the early afternoon we visited Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai's largest, most famous and most beautiful attraction. It was an amazing vast complex filled with small temples housing Buddah images, incense burning, locals and travelers praying and meditating and monks wandering. Although the centerpiece of the temple, a massive gold Chedi, was under construction the whole place was still extremely beautiful. We traveled around the complex clockwise (to insipire good luck according to Bo) and visited each little nook and cranny on the hillside temple where I payed my respect by doing the traditional three bows while Bo recieved blessings from the old monks. I also managed to find a small book written by the head monk who started to retreat for foreigners I went on and paid a few dollars for the small primer on Buddhism.
After the temple Bo said his goodbyes and dropped us off at the Holiday Inn, a nice place East of the town center, near the Night Bazaar. We settled in and then left at around 8 for the Sunday Market, what must be Thailand's biggest market.
It was endless, with the scent of ever food imaginable, the sights of old and young alike walking down the long stretch of road huddled in one massive throng as if we were walking to go hear someone of great importance speak. The stalls were filled with everything from Tshirts to incense to dolls to small blue things that served no purpose at all, there was everything. I bought a little bag of deep fried squid to snack on and some Thai sweets as we parused down the street gawking at everything under the sun being sold for 1/10th the price it would be in America. After two long hours of walking and eating and shopping we sat down in some nice comfy chairs for a particularly brutal $2 foot massage by some old Thai women. The women must have been out to get me or perhaps just had strong fingers but for $2 I didn't really care.
We went back late and had a nice long nights sleep. Today is a day to catch up on work, unwind, pack and prepare for tomorrows flight to Hong Kong. So I guess this is goodbye to Thailand, it was great while it lasted. On to Hong Kong...