The Chiang Mai Flower Festival is staged every year during the first weekend in February. The city is awash with vibrant colours. The sheer profusion of colour that the flower festival and carnival bring to Chiang Mai aptly gives the city its name "Rose of the North".
We had no idea that the festival was on until we arrived. We enjoyed the parade where all the floats are decorated with flowers, much like the floats in the Rose Bowl Parade. At the end of the parade route a local city park is filled with food stalls with vendors selling every imaginable Thai food. While the food is difficult to resist, a Thai foot massage is a must. We both received massages but, I have to admit, they can be somewhat painful. Nobody said this adventure would be easy! Our accommodation in Chiang Mai is great, if somewhat rustic. We are in the old walled city (not much of the wall is left but it is surrounded by a moat). There are lots of interesting places to explore. Chiang Mai is fairly compact. There is no municipal bus system but there are lots of tuk tuks (three-wheeled rickshaws – pronounced ‘took took’ which mimics the sound of the engine) for hire. While it is hot and sunny, (33 to 34C) it is definitely less humid which is a nice break from the weather in the south of Thailand. It actually cools off overnight and apparently is even cooler in the surrounding mountains. We will find out if that is true as we have several excursions planned for the week that will take us out of the city. Comments are closed.
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AuthorIn January, 2012, Curt and Char left their jobs in Canada to spend four months travelling around the world. Archives
May 2012
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