Day 34, Summer in Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand

So an elephant and the Buddha walked into a bar, wait, wrong story. So there was this elephant, who somehow was given a bone from the Buddha. The elephant began to glow, then walked up a mountain, stopped at a certain point, circled three times, laid down, and died. Now, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep marks that spot and many people make the sojourn to this relic resting place.

On the day we visited, a large group of young monks were walking up the mountain. We, in contrast, were being driven up by our law student Grab driver in her sporty red Nissan.

We stayed as the monks reached the temple and watched them ascend the dragon staircase. It was like something out of a movie. Our driver said that sometime during their first year as a monk, they walk up the mountain to this Wat. In this way it would be advantageous to start young, which most of them were.

Then we went back for lunch to our favorite cafe, See You Soon. There are limited hours when you can buy and consume alcohol. The women at the cafe said you can’t drink when the kids are in school. Seems to me that’s when you should be drinking. Or maybe you need more alcohol when you have to deal with the kids. Not sure of the rationale. So they disguised Paul’s beer in a huge coffee mug. He had to slip them the mug behind the counter for them to refill it.

That’s his guilty drinking-when-the-kids-are-in-school look.

Drink Cocktails No War sign, probably shouldn’t be displayed during school hours either.

Then we went to the oldest Wat in Chiang Mai, Wat Chiang Man. It had a spectacular ring of elephants at the base.


From there Paul and the girls tukked back to the hotel. I walked back because there were some stores I wanted to hit.

I walked by kids in colorful school uniforms.

We got to the restaurant at 4 for dinner, but it wasn’t going to open until 5. The girls and I had a coffee down the street while Paul went back to the hotel to take a shower.

Now that it was open, we went one last time to our fav Italian restaurant with chef Dan. While traveling it’s always a balance between trying new food and going with a sure winner.

15 employees were now at the restaurant. At least 7 of them watched us while we ordered. We find that a lot of places here are very over-staffed. Many employees seem to be standing around with nothing to do.


Like Angkor Wat, Chiang Mai is a place I’d return to. Although we saw a lot, there were many attractions we didn’t see.