To market, to market.......

Chiang Mai is quite the market hub! Night Market, Walking Street Market, Wood Carver's Village, Sa Paper Village, Daytime Thai Market.....and we have made the rounds several times. The Thai make so many things. Prices are very reasonable, plus you bargain with them for a lower price. The baht is the Thai currency. Divide a baht by 33 for the value in US currency. If something is 100 baht, then I know I am paying $3.33 in American money for it. Thai use very few coins, but have paper money down to 20 baht, which would be about 60 cents.

This is a little spirit house in a store. Every home or piece of property has a spirit house. This one in a drug store, is for people to leave food or gifts to please the spirits in this store. The front yard of homes have one of these also. People put out food every day to please the spirits and bring good fortune on the home. The next morning all the offerings are thrown away and it starts all over again.
There are countless blind people singing or playing an instrument for money. Here are four blind men singing and playing at the Sunday night Street Market. Thai people are so sweet and willing to have photos taken of them. Very appreciative of our purchases. They are not real respecters of personal space, so I get a little overwhelmed sometimes of how they want to help you, so stand really close while you are looking at something to purchase. They are so kind, so I appreciate it, but it is just hot, and space would be welcome. :) Here is a photo of women making umbrellas.

The markets are so interesting, and a great opportunity to people-watch! We have watched them make umbrellas, paper, wood carving, mats, jewelry, etc. And everywhere in the markets are food carts. Watermelon smoothies are our favorite, but today I had a mango smoothie, which was definitely worth ordering again!

Hand made paper stacked up at the sa paper village market. Yesterday we were walking between vendors at a market, and two elephants walked down the center of the street. We loved it and bought bananas from the local vendor to feed them.

It is hot and humid here. Sweat (can't even begin to call it perspiration, it is SWEAT!) rolls down our faces, necks and backs. It really is exhausting to be out in the heat, walking among sausage and fish stands, etc. But, we don't want to miss anything either...so we just crawl along like little slimy slugs! (Now isn't that a pretty picture for you to imagine!) BUT, there is this wonderful trade-off.....massages. In the middle of that hot shopping, massages are really inexpensive and wonderful. This was a time when the four of us stopped for one hour foot and leg massages. I forget what we paid here, but last night at 10:00 p.m., we all had 1 hour and 45 minutes foot, leg, arm and back massages and it was only $20 per person. We got home about 11:30 and let me tell you, we slept very well! The massage mats or chairs are all over, it is just a common thing to do when you are shopping!
Judy and I went to a market today, stopped to have lunch at a very nice tea room, then rode a tuk tuk through town to their home to rest and cool down.