Chiang Rai - Day 1

After a wild night in Chiang Mai, we woke up late and nursed our wounds by the pool. We both felt the the itch to hit the road in search of cleaner air and a slower pace. We hopped on the 5pm bus to Chiang Rai, a small city about 120 miles to the Northeast. We got the last tickets on the last bus out of town. Our company on the ride was composed of 45 asians, comfortably reclined in spacious seats....for an Asian. They put the two huge Americans in the back of the bus in the two smallest seats that don't recline. We don't recommend riding in the back of an Asian bus without any shocks or a bathroom. It was a rough 3.5hrs, but we arrived with just enough left in us to make our way to a guest house for the evening. Our first choice was the Akha River House, a bamboo tiki hut type of joint with a nice island feel and a serene setting on the river. We couldn't find a clerk, so we hopped back into the tuk tuk for a try down the road at PS Guesthouse. If this guesthouse was located in the US, it would charge by the hour. We were still hurting from the bus ride so anything would have done. The fact that there was no A/C was lost in translation. At $8 per night, we should have known. We opened the windows, cranked the fans, and headed out to grab a bite and wander the streets.
As we headed toward the city center, we came across a night bazaar. The entire street was closed off to foot traffic only and glowing white lanterns lit the street as they criss-crossed lines overhead. It was jam-packed with locals buying and selling their wares. Out of the 1 or 2 thousand people we passed by, we were the only foreigners. It was actually a real treat and more of what we've been looking for. We snagged some egg rolls off a vendor and made our way onward.
Besides an amazing gold clocktower in the center of town, we found a great outdoor restaurant located in the city-center night bazaar. We had a huge authentic Northern Thai meal with authentic Thai musicians singning "hotel california" on a nearby stage. I ordered a "snake head fish" that came bubbling from the small blaze of candles it came atop. Note to self: Snake Head Fish eyes are not as delicious as you may think. Once again, we ate too much and slowly waddled back to our sauna....er, guest
house.