Thursday, January 11, 2007

Tha Pae Gate


Tha Pae Gate, originally uploaded by Robbi Baba.

Chiang Mai is a very old city, at least by our standards. It was founded in 1296 and still has the moat that once encircled the original city, along with some of the walls and gates.
Chiang Mai is home to more than 300 wats (temples).
It was nothing like I expected! Somehow I thought it would be green and bucolic (sort of like our Petaluma). A sleepy village of a city one could bicycle around. Ha!
It turned out to be gritty and urban and butt ugly for the most part. The traffic seemed insane and just crossing the street was a challenge.
I was in shock for the first day or so, until we discovered the back alleyways and little havens off the main drag.
Over time we came to really love being here and I would gladly return.

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