Touring around Chiang Mai

On Tuesday, another woman who was on the build, Sonya and I had agreed we'd spend some time together before she took off for Cambodia.
So we got together in the morning and tried to figure out what we were both interested in doing. We finally decided on a bike tour in and around the city. It sounded manageable for me. It was no problem for her - she only travels on two wheels when she's at home in Austin, Texas - either a bike or a motor bike.

I had also planned to move from the Park Hotel to a B&B that was closer to the downtown area. Sonya was curious to see the place, so she came with me, but first, we went to the roof of the Park to see the pool and the view. The view was nothing special but I got a shot of Sonya and the pool.


The new B&B, called Baan Orapin was fabulous - and if anyone goes to Chiang Mai, I would recommend it highly. As you can see it's quite idyllic.



Along with being a great place (and cheap!) it was also closer to the old city, and within walking distance of all kinds of interesting places - including the flower market, which was so beautiful.

After I checked into my B&B, Sonya and I had a nice lunch at a hole-in-the-wall place near the hotel - one of those places where you don't ask for a menu, you just ask them to give you a bowl of whatever they're cooking. And that was just fine.



Then we got picked up at the hotel by "Moh", our guide for the afternoon. He explained that Moh was his nickname, given to him by his mother when he was born. Apparently he was "as dark as a cooking pot" - and Moh means cooking pot.

Moh was great - his English was quite good, he had a lot of knowledge and could answer just about every question we threw at him, and he had a nice sense of humour. What else could you ask for?

He took us by van to a spot nearer the outskirts of town, and then we rode our bikes out past the university campus which is huge and eventually out to a lovely park with a man-made lake, and of course, some Buddha statues. Moh told us quite a bit about Buddhism, which was all quite interesting.

It was a lovey way to spend the afternoon - and I didn't hurt too much afterward. (Sonya wore a huge smile during the whole ride - I told her she looked like she'd just had great sex)

I was so happy with Moh, I asked him if he could take me on a tour the next day.

He was available, and that's what's coming up next.....