DAY 5

After a busy couple of days we decided to have a lay day or as the Thai's say we 'have no program'. A sleep in and a leisurely breakfast was the order of the day!

We decided to walk around again and see what we could find. We took photos of the wall that surrounds the 'old city'. At Katam corner we found out that 'Katam' means a trap to catch animals. The city's water channels used to end near this corner of the city wall where the water collected in a pond that was rich with fish. People used fish traps (katam) to catch the fish therefore it was named 'Katam Corner'.

We wandered aimlessly before stopping for a juice just inside the gates of the old city for a spot of people watching. It wasn't long before we were approached by an Australian guy who asked if we knew which temple had a ceremony that afternoon, he was keen to take some photos of the monks. Soon he raced past in a tuk-tuk pointing out the direction for us. We finished up our drinks and walked in the general direction he had pointed. There were monks walking everywhere but we finally turned up at a temple where we saw this guy snapping away. He looked at Jay and said, 'Are you from the Gold Coast?' His name was Sudsy, he worked at Melba's for years and is now a wedding photographer. Jay recognised him as well but they couldn't work out where from. We said our goodbyes as he was rushing around taking photos in the good 'just before sunset' light. We walked to the back of the temple and watched some novices making bamboo stands to hold dozens of lanterns.

We left to see another temple Wat Phra Singh which is Chiang Mai's most visited Buddhist temple, some of the monks were supposed to be chanting there. Of course we missed everything with our perfect timing but we still had the opportunity to have a look around. Wat Phra Singh houses Chiang Mai's most revered Buddha image, Phra Singh, the Lion Buddha. Started by King Pa Yo in 1345, the large hall that houses the Lion Buddha was completed between 1385 and 1400, that's a lot of years ago! Along the walls of the main hall are narrative murals which date back to 1870. As with most temples it was beautiful. They also have a thing there called 'Monk Chat' but we were a little too early to have a discussion about life and enlightenment with a monk. Oh well, maybe next time.

For dinner we decided to forgo Thai food and headed to a restaurant specialising in Italian and Mexican food, a strange mix but I liked the name, Pizzadilla! The food was good but the people watching was not as good as in other areas. We moved on to a restaurant close to our hotel where we were hassled by a hill tribe woman to buy something, she wouldn't take no for an answer and must have spent a good hour on us for nothing! Despite our pleas of 'Mai chai!', (no!), she persisted. The highlight of my night? I fed a baby elephant! He was beautiful and gentle. He wrapped his trunk gently around my hand to slide the food out of it! His skin was rough and bristly to the touch but he was gorgeous, definitely the highlight of my day!

THE PHOTOS FROM DAY 5 ARE NOW IN THE GALLERY!