Glorious Chiang Mai

Cindie, you were RIGHT! I LOVE THIS PLACE! I haven't even been here 24 hours and it's already made it's way under my skin! For starters, the warm air as I walked off the airplane, the smiles of the Thai Airways staff and the flowers everywhere..on their uniforms, in the airport, in the city....they've enchanted me. PERFECT TIMING! Last night, as I arrived, it was the night of Loy Krathong, a full mooon festival at the end of November that celebrates the ending of the rainy season. It is a festival that honours the spirits of the water at a time when all the fields are flooded and the rivers are overflowing. To honour the goddess of water, Thais put flowers in the waters of the river (basket floats made of banana leaves) and send paper ballons up into the air so the sky is filled with tea light looking dots. There are fire crackers and fireworks going all night long. It is magical.

I arrived last night and the first thing I did was join a group of girls staying at the hotel (Japanese, Aussie, Philippino and American) with Yo, our hotel driver and helper and went off to the moat (on the hotel pick up truck) to experience the festival 1st hand, light a ballon and walk around the night bazaar! I LOVED IT!!!! My hotel, a small guest house north of the old city, is a wonderfully laid back place, with a terrace on the bottom floor looking onto the street with laid back sofas and free internet. You have breakfast there and the people staying here, as well as the staff, are truly adorable. So I'm gonna head off to get my bearings and explore the city a bit. Tomorrow I begin a 5 day Thai cooking course at what is considered the best school in Chiang Mai....the owners of the "Wok Restaurant" hold the course in their restaurant as well as at their rural home in the outskirts of the city! (the latter in my case!)

Then I've had the best tip-off for an awesome local school to learn reflexology massage...my next activity. Looks like I'll be settling down here for a while!