Thailand 2025. Day 15. Rest day in Chiang Mai

A full day to prepare to travel forward ends being way too long. Last night my hotel room looked like a Chinese laundry, with all clothes hanging from every available protrusion to get the accumulated dampness out of them, but by the morning they were ready to be rolled and put inside their plastic bags and then stuffed in the back pack, which would take less than 10 minutes. My buddies Karen and Pat have a harder task because they have been buying all sorts of souvenirs and now feel they need to buy an additional piece of luggage to fit in all their purchases

Leaving them to it, I got on my bike and headed toward the river east of downtown. On the way I visited a very old temple, Wat Lok, and parallel to the river the flower market, which happens to be the front of the overall market district where I spent a delightful hour wandering through all sorts of stalls.

I then followed the bank of the river to the south until I got out of the city and into the surrounding countryside. The sun was shining and I was not in any hurry, so I enjoyed meandering along the levee road and looking at small riverside communities. Several of these communities keep fish farms along the margins of the river and their lives appear to unfold with little effort.

I caught sight of a detour that promised to take me to a wood carving village, only four kilometers away. OMG, the town seems to be an endless row of workshop fronts displaying the most amazing figure carvings and wood furniture. My favorite was a shop that had dozens of large elephants (maybe half of real size) and rhinoceros. I need to let World Market know about this village, so they can buy entire containers with these exquisite carvings.

On the way back to town I stopped at a mall to use the bathroom, and was able to ascertain that malls are the same the world over.

Tonight I get to say goodbye to my young and adventurous travel companions. They have been so sweet, adopting me as an old uncle and always attentive to provide a helping hand or shoulder. Pat is an experienced rider, so for the last ten days he took point on all our adventures. Together with Karen they did a lot of the planning so I was able to acquiesce and follow their lead. It has been a real privilege spending time with them.