SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2016
Tracy got up early to go see the flower parade. My alarm sounded, but I was not moving haha. So, Tracy went to the see the flower parade and I chose to snooze some extra Z’s. Once we checked out of the hostel, we went to a LARGE market. I capitalized the word “large” because it just went on and on. The market was huge! Some vendors were outside and some were inside. Some were in small alleys that led to another small alley. The name of the market(s): Ton Lam Yai Market and Waroros Market. They’re all connected some way, maybe just across the street from one another.
For lunch, I got a papaya salad from a food stand. I loved that it was fresh. Weirdly, there’s not much “fresh foods” in Taiwan. Maybe, I’m looking in the wrong places, haha.
I also splurged and got myself a strawberry vanilla smoothie from a coffee shop. After a brief rest in the air conditioned coffee shop, we walked back, stopping at some of the temples we passed along the way.
The weather was hot that day. I would choose it over the cold, but it was hot. Another tip, bring toilet paper with you. I had one of those experiences, where I really had to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t have toilet paper. It’s the worst. Luckily, Tracy spared me some.
Tracy also read somewhere in her Lonely Planet book about a Saturday Walking Street. I liked this a lot more than the market area we went to earlier in the day. This Saturday Walking Street had a more night market feel to it. This market is only there on Saturdays. There’s one on Sundays, but it’s on a different street.
I bought lantern lights and a skirt, and probably something else I can’t remember. It’s called Wulai Walking Street Market. They literally shut down the entire street and there’s vendors on both sides for a couple blocks. I’m surprised we even got to the end, because it seemed to go on forever. I recommend going earlier (maybe 4-5ish) because it was kind of crowded on the way back. We hustled our way back to the hostel, picked up our suitcase, and grabbed a taxi to the airport.
Taxis in Chiang Mai are a little different. So, taxis aren’t actually allowed inside the “square,” but they have these trucks, where people sit in the back facing each other. The owner of the hostel was very nice and got us a good price. He knew the price and refused to accept anything above that price.
We got to the airport and everything went pretty smoothly. Tracy and I each got our own row of seats and it was a quick flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok.
Steps walked: 20,144
