"Please don't let garbage, no have bin here."

First off, it's Mu's mom's birthday today!  Happy birthday, Marilyn!  We hope you have a wonderful day and a very happy year!

Random adorable "See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" monks

Small but lovely new-to-us Wat

Buddhist University at a large Wat

We've been in Chiang Mai for 2.5 days now, and they have consisted of mostly unorganized wandering about, some wats, massages, and lots of food.  We seem to have been successful at having a more relaxing vacation than normal, at least so far!  We've also been adjusting to the time zone (we're still falling asleep and waking up super early, but it's getting better) and just getting used to being in Thailand itself.  It's really such a contrast from India, but also from the US. :)  It's definitely a poor country, with dubious water and a distinct lack of trash bins, sidewalks (though that's a US problem in some places, too), and safe crosswalks.  On the other hand, it's much cleaner (though not exactly clean) and less crowded than pretty much anywhere in India.  The public toilets (when they exist) are usable, and we've felt safe eating meat and drinking fruit juices.  We're in the Old City, which is pretty touristy, but we're in a less touristy area of it.  We rarely get hassled by taxi drivers (only when we go to the more touristy areas) and never by shop keepers or restaurant owners, unlike India.  You all know we loved India, but we're glad to be on a less effort-full trip this time!  Things here are also much cheaper than they are in the Western world (and about on par with India).  Apparently, this is only true for Northern Thailand -- Bangkok and south are more expensive (though still cheap compared to, say, Europe).  Anyways, we're glad to be here.

Random crepes!

As I said, we've mostly been taking it easy.  Mu's shoulders had a major fit over our flight schedule, so one of the first things we did when we got here was go get massages!  He got a Thai massage (which he enjoyed, and it helped his shoulders some), and I, somewhat stupidly, decided to get an oil massage (what we would call a Swedish massage) because I wanted to see what that would be like here.  Well...it was kind of the bastard love child of a Thai and Swedish massage, with not much to say in its favor.  There was an inordinate amount of oil involved (which later got wiped off, helpfully but somewhat weirdly), there was very little focus on specific muscles, and there were Thai-style stretches.  Very odd experience.  I spent half of it contemplating what I'd say in the blog about it, which tells you something. :)  Anyways, the next day (yesterday) we got massages again so that Mu's shoulders could keep getting better, and I got a Thai massage this time, as well.  It was very much an improvement.  I don't know that we're going to get daily massages, but at 200 Baht (about $6), it's pretty easy to justify getting them frequently!

Pig ears at the market. They're huge!

The other thing we've been doing a lot of is eating!  I tend to travel with food in mind, as you probably know, and while Mu doesn't do it to the same extent, he goes along for the ride with me.  Last trip, we had a slightly more difficult time in Thailand as far as food goes.  There are lots of veggie options, but they can be hard to find and communicate about.  Thai people love their meat, especially pork!  Now, Mu is no longer vegetarian and I decided that just for this trip, I'll eat pork.  It just makes life so much easier here.  I'm not seeking it out, but I'm just not going to worry about what meat is in my random dishes.

Rice dumplings, made blue by a flower

Chiang Mai sausage, among other things

Anyways, eating!  The first night we were here was Sunday, so we went to the Sunday walking street (a huge market in the middle of the Old City).  We didn't buy any stuff (except 2 pillows to supplement those in our room), but mainly walked around, took it all in, and ate street food.  I love how cheap it all is!  For 120 Baht (about $4), we had popcorn chicken to share and a mango shake, noodles, meat on a stick, and custard tart each.  I posted about this on Facebook, but the contrast in prices between traditional Thai food (especially street food, but even in restaurants) and Western or packaged food is amazing.  A candy bar at the 7-11 costs as much as a bowl of soup.  Even street food snacks have a similar price difference.  A crepe (which I had to have, because Nutella and banana crepes in Thailand?  Yes!) cost about twice as much as mango with sticky rice.

Our breakfast (and toppings in the background)

Sticky rice in natural and 6 other colors!

To continue with the eating theme, this morning we went on a street food tour!  Our guide, Chang, picked us up in the morning for a breakfast and lunch walk.  Breakfast happened at the market, where locals go to buy food each day, both for personal use (at least, the ones who cook at home) and for cooking at restaurants.  You can buy pretty much any food stuff there -- fruits and vegetables of all kind (at least the ones that are available around here, though a few exports for more money), meat (primarily chicken and pork), fish and other aquatic creatures (shrimp, frogs, eel), tofu, noodles of all kinds, rice, and spices.  There are also tons of prepared food stalls where locals eat breakfast.  There's lots on offer: stews and curries, noodle soups, Chiang Mai sausage (made fresh daily with pork, basil, lemongrass, and probably other spices I can't identify), chili paste of all kinds (veg, with chicken, with fish, with pork, with frogs), pork rinds, sticky rice (both sweet and not), pastries, dumplings, and much more.  In addition to being delicious, some of the food is made for prettiness -- one vendor, in particular, makes sticky rice in 6 different colors, all using natural dies from plants and spices!  Our (extremely large) breakfast consisted of sticky rice with spicy chicken salad, pork rinds, Chiang Mai sausage, chili paste for dipping, rice dumplings with onion, pork noodle soup, sticky rice with potato filling, mango with 6 colors of sticky rice, an egg custard, and some other sweet sticky rice thing that I never caught the description of.  Phew!  Also, you can see why I've decided to eat pork for this trip!

All those things in the front are different types of eggplant

As if all that wasn't enough, we walked around for a while and then had lunch!  Lunch was less crazy, but still intense, especially given that it came a few hours after breakfast.  There was chicken khao soi (a traditional Northern Thai dish, consisting of crispy noodles with yellow curry and meat), boiled chicken over rice (better than it sounds, and flavored with a super spicy sauce), fresh coconut ice cream (which I actually liked, despite not liking coconut), and deep fried banana.  After all this, we felt like we had to be rolled back to our hotel!  The guide also talked to us about random things -- both food-related (for example, people here eat every part of the animals, like they do in many non-Western countries) and not (Thais from all over the north come to Chiang Mai because it has the best universities in the area).  He was pretty cool. :)  We liked the tour a lot, and are doing an evening food tour (visiting places outside the Old City) with him next week.

The obligatory book store visit :)

We've also been visiting some wats, both ones that we saw last year and ones that are new to us.  I'm hoping to get to see more of them during our stay, as there are apparently 36 in the Old City alone!  There was a cute but baffling museum in one of them that seemed to be about random kings, not entirely related to the wat itself.  We also went to a used book store (of course we did!).  Tonight, the plan is probably to go to the Night Bazaar, which is a nightly market outside the Old City.  Coming up in the next few days are a general tour (we never did that last time), a cooking class, and a visit to an elephant conservation park!

This is called "stopping relatives from fighting posture."  If I stand like this when family is having an argument, you'll know why.