Chiang Mai - Oh My!

While we were lamenting the loss of the beach and not liking the city scene in Bangkok, we are in love again with Thailand. Chiang Mai is a very cool city, weather is hot but not too hot with no humidity and evenings are cool. The city is laid back and has 300 temples to see! There is a moat in the middle where the old city is and where we are living in a lazy old guest house where you just mark down your drinks or whatever and take care of everything later. It's the Disneyland of food and drink and guest houses and it's cheap! We are staying in a huge room for 200 baht a day, about $5.75 Canadian and although the water is solar heated - scared to get in cold shower - it's a groovy place where the kitty's wander in and out and with a big paperback library in the foyer where everyone gathers for beers and chats. It would be so easy to stay here but our visas expire in a couple of days so we gotta go soon. Lots of people end up teaching English here and hang out for years.

Last night we went to the night bazaar with about a mile on each side of stalls filled with food, silk, shoes, paintings, lights - EVERYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE - and artists who do portraits from photos that are eerily lifelike. You can walk and walk and shop and drink and blah, blah, blah etc. On our way back our eye was caught by a free show mall where we sat down at a bar and watched Muay Thai boxing - these little guys kick the crap out of eachother every night and it's no holds barred, feet, fists, elbows - anything goes. Ouch. As it happens, our table was at a katoy bar (transvestites) and one of them came and sat with us (for a free drink of course) and we had a long chat with her/him about life as a bar boy/girl - I never know how to address this. She works for commission off the drinks she garners from customers and gets about 30baht (35 cents) from a one hundred baht drink - no salary. They really hustle. These are men who get breast implants and look and walk and talk very feminine but keep the original equipment intact and like men so essentially, they are gay with girl looks. She was very charming and sweet and very attractive as well. I feel sorry for them though, life is not easy hustling drinks and keeping long hours wears them out and they grow old fast. She was a sad soul.

Today we are temple hopping after I post this blog and tonight we are going to another blues bar where, reportedly, there is a hot guitar player so maybe Ivan can jam with him. His name is Took.More later. Damn, it's hot here today!