Chiang Mai - Saturday

Okay - so, you have some hits and some misses. Yesterday's cooking class was definitely a HIT. This morning's half day city tour was an unfortunate miss. We went to two temples in the city and then were brought to several different tourist centers where we were demo'ed different handicrafts and the sent off to shop. We went to a silk making center - that was actually pretty interesting. Then we went to a gem processing/jewelry making building. The film that we were shown was somewhat educational and then we got to see them doing some gold smithing and then were let loose in this HUGE showroom to buy. After that - we went to a laquer and wood making center. I was pretty tired by then and the lady who did the demonstration was not a happy camper. She seemed pretty damned miserable to me.

I am happy to report that I didn't buy a damn thing. I'm proud of myself. =) Okay - I did buy a bottle of water for 10B.

After a short rest at the hotel (I caught the last half of the Lake House with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock), I caught a tuk tuk to a Mexican restaurant called El Toro. It was recommended by the Lonely Planet. I had the chicken chimichanga - it was okay. Of course it's not the BEST mexican I've had, it wasn't the worse by far...it was passable. =)

I'm now walking about the touristy area part of town. It seems like this is where all the backpackers are. I got my photos burned on a DVD for 150B ($5) since I'm running out of space on my camera and I found this internet cafe.

There have been some grumbles about the lack of photos, for which I apologize. =) I'm bad about posting pictures in general, but I'm even worse on holiday! I was going to post some shots after I was accused of writing from the comfort of my mom's house in front of the travel channel...but alas, the computers at this internet cafe don't have a CD drive for me to upload photos. What an "unfortunate" coincidence! hahahhahahaha =) sorry - everyone, you'll just have to take my word for it! I'll post some shots up by the end of December - I've even got a few shots of me at these different places to prove that I've been there!!

Sending my love - miss you all and am looking forward to seeing everyone in about a month!! Tomorrow I fly out to Luang Prabang, Laos.