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Chiang Mai



                     ur escape routes,                                                    ang, Wat Phan Tao, Wat
                     both right and                                                       Ched Lin, and Wat Chiang
                     left, were walled                                                    Taem. Statues of the Bud-
                     off by swarms                                                        dha, with his enigmatic
          Oof amateur pho-                                                                smile, were everywhere,
          tographers  holding  up  iPads,                                                 along with the smell of in-
          cell phones and every Nikon                                                     cense, the sound of prayer
          in the catalog. We could envi-                                                  and the chatter of young
          sion  the  YouTube  video  that                                                 (age seven for some) shav-
          would go viral — “American                                                      en-headed monks, who
          travel writers trampled by                                                      walk the streets in early
          frenzied flower festivalites.”                                                  morning collecting alms.
          And we were having the time                                                     Each wat brought discov-
          of our lives. Chiang Mai is like                                                eries. Behind one we found
          that: exciting, exotic, thrilling                                               monks’  laundry draped
          and unpredictable.                                                              over racks of bamboo --
                                                                                          great cascades of red-or-
          We spent five days there last                                                   ange robes drying in the
          winter, exploring the walled                                                    mid-day heat.  Below the
          city and its labyrinthine al-                                                   steps of another was a
          leyways, walking its vibrant                                                    3-foot tall concrete Donald
          markets, trying to identify                                                     Duck.
          plants and meats we’d never
          seen, eating some of the most                                                   Every wat is decorated
          delicious street food we’d ever                                                 with  carved  dragons  and
          tasted and touring rural vil-                                                   warrior kings, fanged ser-
          lages to see how tribal people                                                  pents, ornate stone pea-
          live. Between us we got  six                                                    cocks, grinning tigers, and
          massages, two foot rubs and                                                     innumerable  fantastical
          a facial, ate barbequed animal                                                  deities.  It’s overpower-
          parts that tasted better than                                                   ingly ornate, even other-
          they looked, and learned to                                                     worldly. And maybe that’s
          make chili paste.                                                               the idea.

          Chiang Mai is the largest city                                                  After  a few hours,  we
          of  Thailand’s  northern  prov-                                                 reached wat overload and
          inces, but it’s nothing like the                                                were  ready  for the  top
          behemoth of Bangkok, some                                                       tourist concern: Thai food.
          400 miles south.  While near-                                                   We’d  arrived  from  Hong
          ly 1 million people live in the                                                 Kong  the  evening  before
          area, only 200,000 inhabit                                                      and 10 minutes  after
          the old city, the focus of most                                                 dumping our gear at our
          tourist activity.                                                               B&B, we were in the night
                                                                                          food  market  along  Bam-
          Founded in 1296, the old city                                                   rung Buri Road, which par-
          is still surrounded by the orig-                                                allels the southern edge of
          inal moat, vestiges of ancient                                                  the rectangular old city.
          city walls and its original four
          city gates, one for each main                                                   In a moat-side park dot-
          compass point. It is little                                                     ted with brightly lit  food
          more than half a square mile       ples, armed with a camera, an iPhone,        carts we had our first Thai
          and easily walkable, but also serviced by   a reporter’s notepad and a single Thai   meal: spicy chicken, spicy pork salad
          hundreds of tuk-tuks – motorized rick-  phrase -- “khob khun krab” (“thank   (called “larb moo”) and green papaya
          shaw taxis.                                                           salad.  “Spicy” is the key word. If the
                                             you”). It was a sunny day, headed to a
                                             high of 88. Every day was sunny with a   80-degree days don’t make you sweat
          More than 1.5 million tourists visit   high of 88.                    the  food  will.  And  it  was  better  than
          Chiang Mai every year, so navigating                                  our best Thai meal  in the United States.
          the city’s night markets can seem like   There are some 30,000 active temples   The difference between Thai food here
          playing rugby in the aisles of an exotic   – known as “wats” -- in Thailand and at   and Thai food in the United States is
          Walmart. But it’s a cheerful game, with   least 30 are inside the Chiang Mai moat.     like the difference between canned and
          smiles the common language.                                           fresh peaches and green papaya salad —
                                             In  the  space  of  fewer  than  20  blocks
                                             we visited Wat Jet Lin, Wat Chedi Lu-  all for $5.
          We started our first day visiting tem-


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