Thinking of things in a relative sense is probably a Buddhist principle (more on that later), so take our concept of a rest day with a grain of salt. It really means we didn't have plans going into the day.
Breakfast by the pool at the hotel again.
Stacie was still under the weather, so Rachel and I were driven in the hotel car
to the pharmacy to get Advil, cold medicine and cough medicine. The pharmacist was great and 180 baht ($4.50) later, with the driver waiting outside of the pharmacy in full uniform, we were stocked up for the rest of the trip.
After breakfast we went to Warorot Market, a local market with food on the ground floor and local apparel stores on the upper floor. We tried (most of us) egg yolk candy (20 baht), and then went to a food stall recommended by one of the bloggers we followed
For crispy pork cutlets (40 baht)
At another stall we got Sai Ua, the northern Thai pork sausage, cut into bite sized pieces in a plastic bag with a skewer to eat as we walked around.
The girls bought more elephant pants and we were off to our next destination.
Now would be a good time to mention it was about 102 in Chiang Mai, but only 99 Real Feel, somehow. We decided to walk to the center of town, about a mile, and were drenched by the time we got there.
Once there we went to a Buddhist temple for Monk Chat. This was an opportunity to talk to a monk and ask them any questions you wanted He broke the ice by asking us a few questions and then we had a nice conversation for about 45 minutes.
After Monk Chat it was time for lunch. The next day was Songkran, the Thai New Year, but they start a day early in Chiang Mai. What that means is getting splashed with water (for good luck in the new year) while walking on the street or even driving by on your motorbike. Businesses have buckets, hoses, super soakers, and even kiddie pools:
We went back to the hotel and Howard went off to get massage treatments to try to fix his back. Thai Massage, hot stones, and hot oil left him relaxed but not 100%.
Dinner was at a local restaurant with Thai and Indian food and everyone ate a lot as we were in the air conditioning.
After dinner (rest day, remember) we went to the Night Bazaar and shopped for souvenirs. Rachel got a bag, Jessica a bracelet, and Brian a souvenir for his Bar Mitzvah teacher. There are no words to explain what we did next until you see the picture:
Yes, that's a tank full of little fish that eat all of the dead skin off of your feet. As you can see, Rachel didn't last very long, but she tried it (Brian and Stacie sat this one out). Jessica and I were sure our feet were as smooth as a baby's bottom when we were done.
Stacie and Brian were tired (of hearing us scream) at this point and went back to the hotel. Howard, Rachel, and Jessica were drawn in by a live Thai band singing Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, and more, so we stayed for a drink.
About 11:00, we finished our rest day. Headed to Phuket tomorrow.
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