Chiang Mai, Thailand my winter home…

Novice monks at the Chiang Mai Gate market

This is my fourth winter coming to Chiang Mia and each year it feels more and more like my second home. I stay at the same apartment hotel “Smith Residence” each time and they always make sure that there is a room waiting for me.  I have begun to know the streets, the coffee shops and markets as well as any city in the world.

I rent a motor scooter when coming here for $80 a month and I can zip around town to the places outside the old city like Airport Plaza which has a Major Cinema. The movies are in english and it is  usual to hit the movies once a week. It is a treat because in much of the developing world movies are not available to me. Four years ago there were far fewer cars on the road and driving my motor scooter did not seem such a brave thing to do. However, the number of cars appears to have doubled and I am getting less devil may care in my driving habits and more cautious of the clueless drivers around me.

Amulet seller and at the morning clothing market.

Chiang Mai is divided into two areas “Inside the Moat” and “Outside the Moat”. The old city is surrounded by a moat and what is left of the 700 year old brick walls that once protected the city from the neighboring kingdoms. I live outside the moat, but only by a block. It is a choice to live out of the old city because it is less densely populated and quieter but many of the younger travelers, largely backpackers, want to be where all the bars are located and the action is located…Not Me, I want a good night’s sleep.

To live by the Chiang Mai Gate, which is a ever changing landscape of commerce and religion, is one of the boons of living at Smith’s.  Just before dawn as the vegetable market opens, the monks start streaming down the street.  They come from one of a dozen of Buddhist Monasteries in the immediate vicinity, to beg for offerings. Kneeling Thais line the street seeking a blessing and offering food or flowers in return.

Receiving a blessing in the used clothing market.

As the sun comes up clothing vendors start arriving to fill the small square… assembling metal racks and filling them with men’s and women’s used clothing. At the same time a couple of food carts pull up to offer up traditional Thai breakfast and they fill a corner of the square with small folding tables and chairs. By 11 AM all this is taken down and for a few hours the open space is filled with meandering tourist and flocks of pigeons.

Fruit stands at the Chiang Mai Gate Market

I love to watch this transition…maximum use of an urban space. By 4pm the vegetable vendors start to disappear and food vendors start arriving. Carts and scooters with sidecars arrive and depart, umbrellas are put up and lights strung, folding tables and chairs are placed in the square. On the side of the road where the morning vegetable sellers set up now the take-away food vendors line the street.

Stalls line the narrow lanes at the Chiang Mai Gate

That is why I love to stay in my Chiang Mai neighborhood…it is vibrant, dynamic and filled with life all hours of the day.  Between the Gate and my residence Wualai Road angles off from the square. This road during the day is filled with silversmiths, pounding out ornate bowls to be used in the temples for offerings but on Saturday night it changes into a open air market and the street is lined on both sides  with booths filled with colorful traditional Thai crafts and clothing. From early evening till about 11pm the street is heaving with tourist buying things to take home as souvenirs and eating street food.

Little streets are called Soi…this one behind the market

Every little street (called soi) or alley way is filled with an amazing array of fruits, vegetables and grains…along with street food of every description. No, they defy description and I am too much of a chicken to try much of it. They would consider me a culinary wuss.

Never a dull moment here at the Chiang Mai Gate….lots of color and texture.  Come check it out.