Today is going to be a doozy with the pictures. Today was my Sabbath so I wanted to do a little exploring. I try to do my best when it comes to choosing a day of Sabbath and sticking with it. If you aren’t familiar with Sabbath day, it’s basically a day that God instructs his people to rest from all their work. I’ll be honest, I have a hard time doing that and it tells me a little bit about my own heart condition. It means that I don’t quite trust the Lord enough to rest and that I need to be constantly working to reach my goals (This is a personal thing on my end and I don’t mean to generalize).
I did pretty good though and relaxed for most of the day. I did work a little bit on MilliardCo. but not much. I watched the videos on Numbers from the Bible Project. I also did laundry today. The thing about laundry in most parts of Chiang Mai is that they don’t really have dryers. At the old place I lived, they did but most Thai folks use a washer and then hang dry their clothes outside since it’s usually pretty hot here. It’s not just hot but it’s humid too. It reminded me of when my grandma lived with us when I was growing up. She would hand wash clothes and then hang dry it outside. In our second house, we had these clothes lines that were literally built in the back. They ran across our entire back portion of the yard. A little nostalgic when I hung up my laundry outside for the first time.
After laundry, I headed out to the Old City in Chiang Mai which is a really popular place. It’s literally a square city that’s surrounded by a moat and it used to have walls all around. I didn’t do much research before I went, but I just knew that it was a popular attraction and it was the thing you need to check out when you’re in Chiang Mai.
I grabbed a Grab ride for 100 Bhat which is about 3 dollars. Grab is seriously one of the greatest thing for travelers because the app translates for you and doesn’t require the driver to understand you. It’s also really cheap to use. I had the Grab driver take me to the further corner of the Old City square. I wanted to walk through the place and then take a Grab ride back. However, once I started walking I wanted to keep walking. It was good exercise and I wanted to go to the MAYA mall again and to the place where I get skewers.
When I got dropped off, I didn’t think much of Old City. I thought it just seemed like a regular part of the city. I walked the perimeter from the furthest corner to the middle section where there is an opening in the wall. Luckily, I think I found the busiest section of the Old City where there is a night market that feels like a massive maze. I’m pretty sure I got lost several times and walked down the same street but I couldn’t tell because there were so many stalls. It was actually a really cool experience. Old City is big. You’d need about a day or two to be able to fully wander around the whole place. I basically made a straight line directly through the city to the other side, wandering here and there to see the different parts of the night market.
I was there for a good 4 hours. I tried some of the food, bought a black hat (I desperately wanted a black hat. I forgot to bring one from home), and then headed out of the place. I went to the MAYA mall and grabbed some pad thai there then I went to my favorite Teppanyaki place and ordered a bunch of skewers to go. The food is heavenly. Instead of talking about Old City, I’ll let the pictures do the job. There are a lot of them.
Chiang Mai’s Old City is a place all of its own. It has a unique culture and historical richness to it that still permeates the city. I can see why it’s a tourist hot spot. I think I’ll visit the place one more time before I leave Chiang Mai. I think there is more to the place than just what I saw.
Today also marks the 1 year anniversary of The Gathering. I’m currently watching right now and I can’t believe one year has already passed. Alright enough for today. Shower and then sleep. Good night!