Markets, Temples, and fish baths oh my!
After a few days of checking out what downtown Chaing Mai had to offer, we were ready to venture out of the city. After considering our options of transportation (tuk-tuk, rental car, motorbikes, we decided the safest and most economical was to hire a songthaew driver.
At 7am, we greeted our driver, hopped into the back of the songthaew and were on our way.
40 minutes later, we arrived at our first stop, Sanpatong buffalo market. Downtown Chaing Mai has many markets but none quite like this one, Sanpatong buffalo market is a hidden gem not a tourist in sight. You can buy everything from clothes and food to motorbikes and even water buffalo! It turns out our songthaew driver was a local celebrity at the market. He introduced us to several of his friends and even bought us a few interesting foods to try.
After about couple of hours roaming through the market, we hopped back into our songthew and headed to the mountains. Our first stop was a small cloud village where we grab some lunch and walked through some of the shops.
After a great lunch, we were on our way to Doi Suthep. Once we arrived our driver asked stairs or elevator? 290 steps? No problem! After we've climbed mountains, temples, and the Eiffel Tower already, 290 steps was a piece of cake. At the top of the stairs you enter a complex of temples and sacred sites. Miles got blessed by a monk and we all walked 3xs around the temple chanting. After checking out all the nooks and crannies, we were ready to leave. Just as we put our shoes back on it started to downpour so we ran down all the steps back to our ride.
After a long day, our last stopon our tour was for some ice cream before we headed back to our hotel. Yep! you can get ice cream in any country!
Even though we all tired and cranky, Ella was anxious to get a fish massage(Eww!) so we headed to the Night Market for some food and fishes!
