Last morning in Chiang Mai

It started pouring while we were driving back from the Elephant Park last night and it continued through to this morning. We had heard that Chiang Mai was supposed to cooler than the rest of Thailand, and we finally got to experience the coolness. By coolness I mean it was probably cool enough to wear jeans and a t-shirt and not die from the heat. We had another great hotel breakfast. This time I had green garlicky noodles, sweet sausage, pumpkin soup, and a cereal similar to cocoa puffs. 

Here's the breakfast patio on a sunnier day:

Due to the rain, we took our first tuk tuk of the trip. It's been great being able to walk in Chiang Mai and not use taxis. The Tuk Tuk was pretty nice for a Tuk Tuk, very spacious. It also had plastic covering on the sides so we didn't get wet. Our driver actually did not try to rip us off, he gave us a very reasonable price, especially given the rain.

He dropped us off at Wat Phra Singh on the western side of the city. Construction of the wat began in 1375. This is actually the only Wat I visited where there was a fee. I found it not particularly interesting, but maybe I was watted out at that point. The grounds were very nicely landscaped.

A lot of the temples have wax figurines of monks. They are extremely realistic, you can barely tell they are fake from outside the temple except that they don't move.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped to "warm up" and get some coffee. We both got white mochas. I don't think they were actually white chocolate, but there was a large mound of whipped cream on them.

We packed up and took our quick flight back to Bangkok. Our Chiang Mai hotel was pretty fancy, but the Park Plaza hotel in Bangkok is really fancy. We had several free kits (dental kits, shaving kits, etc.).

Hotel lobby:

 

The bathroom has windows!

Our booking included free drinks and canapes at 5:30. I had to wait 45 minutes, so I snacked on Thai chicharrones that I got at the night market.

Part of the hotel's happy hour spread:

I guess I was missing western food because I sat there and ate about 6 tomato and cucumber finger sandwiches.

Yuliya read on Trip Advisor that there was an ice bar around the corner. When we got to the bar, it felt cold, but then there was no ice to be found. She asked a waitress, and it turns out the ice bar is just a small room upstairs with vodka shots. We each got a shot for a total of $6. Unlike the ice bar in Copenhagen, they don't provide coats here, but the ice bar in Copenhagen also would have cost of $40.

Here we are being cold (the lights constantly change colors):

Lonely Planet had also recommended what they call the best bar in Thailand. We got to the bar, and it turns out it's run by a bearded hipster ex pat. It was a nice bar, but I can't believe it would be the BEST bar in Thailand. The Thailand Lonely Planet author seems easily impressed. I did have a great passion fruit hipster cocktail though. And yes, there were drinks out of mason jars and fernet.

We headed back towards the hotel in search of street meat. We found a jolly non-English speaking vendor. The best thing was the bacon wrapped hot dogs. Apparently were were exported back to the Mission. 

Tomorrow: last day in Bangkok!