Nan to Chiang Mai

Nan Province has its capital Nan city. From Pua (the town near the national park) I headed there. The bus is a pickup truck with benches and just smooth enough to read on.
In Nan I stayed a simple hostel with a large room and comfy bed. The town was alright, some interesting temples,

one with a room of mannequins containing scenes from hell. They were burning, being torchered, having liquid poured down their throats and one monk flying like an angel on top. It was right next to a Wat with a 4 giant Buddhas, once facing each direction. This is all in the same compound.



One day I rented a bike and roamed the countryside, stopped for a curry and returned, all this while my laundry was laundered... it was about time after a week of hiking... Here is a river I went along


The highlight of Nan was a Buddhist restaurant. It is open to serve Buddhists and is a local vegan restaurant. I had heard of these but they are mainly for locals and don't advertise. You get a large bowl of brown rice and then there is a buffet to add as much as you want on top. There were veggie dishes and some imitation meats. It was the cheapest meal I had had, 50 cents, and it was one of the tastiest.

From Nan I headed to Chiang Mai, the second largest city in the country. Bangkok and area has around 11 million people and Chiang Mai 200 000. Still a large city and it was great. I arrived on Sunday evening in time for a night market. It was very different than Bangkok as no one actively sought you out to buy things. The attitude was warm and friendly, and there were musicians in the street. To be continued....