Chiang Mai! Day One.

I will be in this cool spot for 4 days, so I really get to explore :) I got an aircon (as they say here) room for my first night at the Thana Hotel for 400B, which is very low as far as aircon rooms go here. 

 Here's my hotel, which was nice enough except they kicked me out after the first night because I didn't group book their package tours! So... the next night I found somewhere cooler.

 

This is the Tha Pae Gate, the eastern gate to the central city. The city is very interesting. Though the city extends far beyond, it has a central square surrounded by an aqueduct and has symbolic seeming brick gates centralized on each side and brick corners. Perhaps they used to all connect.

I breathed a silent prayer of thanks upon arrival for it being overcast, as I was still a lobster. My throat started hurting last night in my bamboo bungalow, so I found a pharmacy where the owner sold me antibiotics and lozenges for $3... ya. Getting meds and seeing a doctor is so easy here. Traveler's health insurance... puhleeez.

I also found a spicy garlic chicken rice soup for 35B... $1.15. So I ate that in the evening and the next morning as well, it works wonders!

I walked around the markets during the day. There are so many flower vendors and beautiful flowers everywhere. These are offerings for the many Wats (Buddhist temples) abounding all over Chiang Mai.

Mmmm lemongrass mint tea. 30B

After 5 hours of securing a hotel, exploring, and eating great food, I felt like I was beginning to feel sick with sore throat and tiredness, so I went to check online to make sure I wasn't going to die from some weird virus. Satisfied, I went back to my hotel and passed out. That's day one people!