Our first night in Chiang Mai was full of food, culture, more food, and the best souvenir I’ve ever bought.
We wandered around the city all day and stopped at a beautiful park. There was a man selling ice cream cones at the entrance and I can’t turn down ice cream on a hot day. Thankfully he had yellow flavor. That’s my favorite! I had the choice of coconut or yellow. If you’re a little bit confused, that’s okay. So was I! But I got yellow flavor and it turned out to be vanilla.
Added the strawberry sauce to my yellow ice cream
Don’t worry, I worked off those extra calories at the local gym.
Thai Gym – Oblique destruction
Then, we got ready for our night at the market. We had plans to see a Muay Thai fight after walking around for an hour or two.
Before we got to the fight, we walked by this man and woman free-drawing a picture of a picture. It was breathtaking. We went into the studio and looked at all the drawing and it hit me. I HAD TO HAVE ONE! I’m not a souvenir person at all. I never buy anything to remind me of a vacation. But I felt this was practical. I decided to get the picture of my boyfriend, Sean, and I at his Police Academy graduation. It’s my favorite picture of us and I’ve always wanted it blown up and hanging in our home. This was my opportunity to take something back to America with me and not have it stick to my fridge. This was very sentimental to me.
Next was the Muay Thai fight. I don’t have words. The athleticism of the fighters was incredible. They truly put on an amazing show! We bought VIP seats to sit in the front row. I could go without that next time because I wasn’t a huge fan of sweat and splashing on my face, but it was all part of the experience.
The next day was the unscheduled start of Songkran, Thai New Year, and we were getting prepared. We bought our Hawaiian shirts, water guns, and sandals that could be destroyed. The Thai New Year is 3 days long (April 12-15) and consists of a countrywide water fight. This is not an exaggeration, this is real life. You can’t go outside if you don’t want to be splashed. No one is safe!
