Chiang Mai - Day 1

Today we slept longer than we have any other day - till 9AM!!! We have been getting up at 5AM, so this was a real treat for us. We decided to take it easy and lay by the pool today. The pool is very beautiful and overlooks the rice fields. We ate lunch and then decided to go into town and walk around the Ping River area. We took a carriage back to our room - this was a trip!

The Ping River areas is where all the nicer restaurants are. We ate at "The Riverside" restaurant for $17!!! This included 2 meals and 4 beers! We couldn't believe it! After dinner we went to the night market. We thought this would be a short street full of vendors - we were wrong. This was the largest outdoor market we have ever seen. It probably went for 12+ block and was probably 5 blocks wide! It included everything from silk robes for $20, handmade paintings for $30, designer jeans, silks, jewelry, purses, shoes, etc. EVERYTHING! We loved the handmade sculptures. We will probably buy one tomorrow night - we were way too indecisive this evening.

Since it's Christmas eve the hotel had the entire area lit with thousands of candles. The lobby area also had huge hand designed ornamets (made with tiny rocks) that were displayed at the entrance. They made us feel even more welcomed with a huge heart made out of roses on our bed and a Christmas stocking! We love it here!

Tomorrow we are getting up bright and early for a private city tour - I'm sure the pictures will be fabulous!