CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

Note the "M" above: Today Kyle, Chris and I took a bus westward from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai, Thailand's second-largest city. Like Chiang Rai, it's a good base for trekking and such, but it's definitely more on the tourist trail, with lots of backpackers and other westerners about. It's also a little more interesting, as it contains over 300 temples, as well as the remains of the old city, founded in 1296, which forms a perfect square in the center of town. The moat surrounding the old city is still there, along with crumbling sections of the four walls that once ran along it.

After arriving in the afternoon, we caught a tuk-tuk from the bus station to our guest house, the Bow Chiang Mai, which is actually a rather cushy (for our standards) five-story hotel. After getting settled, we walked to nearby Wat Chiang Man, the oldest temple in the city (over 700 years old), which includes a large outdoor stupa with big plaster elephants around its base. The temple buildings themselves were closed for the day, but we could hear the monks chanting furiously inside, which was kind of cool.