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| Chiang Mai is a colorful city, great place to get lost - I recommend it |
After we finished our build project we spent about a week in Chiang Mai for a community development conference. Getting in a tuk tuk (little three-wheeler taxi) with a driver that doesn't know any English and having no idea where he's taking you is a small adventure in itself. After getting to know the area we really had a good time exploring the city, bartering with people at the night shops, and checking out the many Buddhist temples.
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| A traditional Thai musical performance outside a temple |
People were very friendly and smiled a lot. It's a bustling place but you don't get the feeling that people are stressed out at all. The layout is quite interesting, with the old city in the center with a brick wall and a moat all the way around it. It took a while to get used to cars driving on the left side of the road, gotta make sure you're looking the right way when you cross the street. Especially with mopeds shooting by in all directions.
Having some free time after the conference seminars, I found it entertaining just to walk around and see some Thai culture, how people live. At the same time it's hard to watch all these people go about their lives, knowing that about 95% of them are Buddhist, and over 99% of them don't know Christ. Seeing rituals performed at the Buddhist temples just looked so empty.
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| Buddhist temple where people burn incense and walk laps around the fence |
By the time we left to go back home, I felt like I would've liked stay for a while longer. Even though it was such a completely different world, for some reason I felt welcome there.
Here are some pictures I took around the city: Chiang Mai
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