Snapshots of Chiang Mai, Thailand

 Wooden objects for sale at the Chiang Mai Night Market.

 Brightly colored handmade items are the most common items for sale at the night market.

This is not the night market, but it is Toppae Gate (pronounced top-eye gate). You have to look hard, but take a look at the clever little handlebars on this bike!

I bet you've never seen a drum set quite like this one before, made out of plastic tubs and trash. It was actually quite functional, and this guy could sing and play very well. His first song was "Achy-breaky Heart." Surely most of this odd set up is to draw interest from tourists, but he did seem a little embarrassed to be making a living on this poor looking set. I got the feeling he'd rather have a different kind of employment.

 Colorful soft drinks are for sale near Toppae Gate, which is near the city wall and moat.

A little boy waits for a lady to make a tropical drink. Drink and food stands can be found all around town during the day and in the evenings. This is a food and drink paradise. The rest of the world ought to give up sharing recipes and just adopt Thai recipes for everything.

If I saw these clouds in Texas, I'd head for a storm shelter. But here these clouds are common, and may or may not produce heavy rain. In Chiang Mai, I'd go out if I saw these clouds. This was taken from the window of my hotel room though.

 I went to the Art Cafe today. Good food and a nice setting!

 Here is one of hundreds of street stalls that sell Thai food.

I was passing by on the sidewalk and saw people inside a spa with their feet in a fish tank. The minnows eat your dead skin. Or at least that what entrepreneurs would like you to believe. Plenty of tourists think it is interesting enough that they pay to have the little fishies bite their legs.

 A stone elephant overlooks the moat in Chiang Mai.

There are three kneeling elephants overlooking the moat. Elephants are everywhere around here, and really cute too.

Most restaurants are open-air sidewalk cafes with inexpensive delicious food. This one has water jets that cool people off.

A woman at the night market checks her cell phone while waiting for people to buy her flip-flops. The first customer of the day always gets a deeper discount when bargaining. They slap the bills from the first customer on their goods, thinking it will bring them good luck. I'm not into the superstition stuff, but I do indeed like being the first customer of the day and getting better prices!

In the corner of the concrete you'll see some incense sticks. The dish of food and incense sticks are there to appease some false god who can neither smell or eat. But all is not lost. At least the birds find nourishment in the food left out.

I am riding in the back of a tuk-tuk (pronounced took-took), a motorcycle taxi. They're noisy, but otherwise I like them. Hopefully the windblown look is popular in Thailand, because after riding in their public transportation, it's impossible not to sport said look.

This is a songtow, which is a pick-up with a cover on the back. It has two pews, one on either side, and you climb in the back. These are cheaper than tuk-tuks. Real taxis are few and far between, so I have to ride these to and from the airport sometimes too.

More later!