Day 4: Chiang Mai

Another early morning for the Heckermachers. This one found them heading to the airport to catch a domestic flight north to Chiang Mai, Thailand's second-largest city.

Anna took this picture from their hotel lobby in Bangkok while Tim checked them out.

Not allowed in Thai taxis: durian, foxes, boning, rams. 

Within fifteen minutes of landing in Chiang Mai, they were at their hotel, a boutique in the center of the city. Their suite was lovely, and Anna was impressed with Tim's taste and booking prowess. 

Sweet! A suite.

After settling in, they grabbed their cameras and set out to explore the city. This turned out to consist mainly of visiting temples. 

Said to be the oldest Chedi in Chiang Mai.

An older man who was volunteering in this temple struck up a conversation with the Heckermachers. He took their map and marked it up, telling them where in the city to go. The two things he wanted them to do the most: visit the Silver Temple, and get a suit made. They didn't have time to get a suit made (even though he assured them that they were very fast and good, and quite inexpensive), but they did make the Silver Temple their next destination. 

The best way to describe the Silver Temple, Wat Srisuphan, is "bananas." It's one of Thailand's few silver temples - and everything is silver.

While the Heckermachers were admiring the ornate metalwork (okay, fine, they were admiring two cats sleeping in the sun), a local woman came by and struck up a conversation with them. (Turns out, Chiang Mai is quite a friendly town.) She told them that the outside of the temple is actually aluminum, not real silver, and that the temple was still a work in progress. People who live in the neighborhood come by every weekend or after finishing their day jobs to work on it. The improvement project has been going on for eight years, and is expected to take another 3-5, with hundreds of members of the community giving hours and hours of their time to create something they can all be proud of.

She explained that women weren't allowed inside Wat Srisuphan, but urged Tim to go in and take photos to show Anna. Here they are:

Silver Temple interior. 

It was "bananas."

The entire time they were on the temple grounds, the air run with the sounds of the community forge. Located under a pair of pavilions, it was filled with monks and townspeople both old and young, all pounding away at metal relief imagery for the temple walls.

What's this guy making? 

A mermaid!

This guy struck a pose. 

Even the toilet sign was hammered metal. 

After checking out Wat Srisuphan and the forge, the Heckermachers were hot and tired. They began their journey home, walking behind this cadre of young monks. 

On their way, they passed a statue of the world's happiest pig. 

And also the Hello Kitty-mobile. 

Although there was more to see in Chiang Mai, the Heckermachers decided to spend the rest of the afternoon lounging by their hotel's rooftop pool, nibbling spring rolls, and sipping fruity cocktails. After all, they were on vacation.

That evening, Tim fell asleep in their hotel room, and an adventurous Anna decided to explore the city on her own. She set out looking for the Old City's largest and most famous temple, got hopelessly lost, eventually found it, and then proceeded to get even more hopelessly lost, finding herself outside the walls of the Old City on a busy thoroughfare where numerous sizzling food stalls made her tummy grumble. After nearly two hours of wandering, she threw in the towel, hailed a Tuk Tuk, and was driven back to the hotel. 

This may or may not have been Chiang Mai's most famous temple. 

She returned in time to wake Tim, and they headed out for a late dinner of duck curry served inside a pineapple shell at an outdoor restaurant draped in billowing pink and red fabrics. It was called Hot Chilies – no relation, they assumed, to Chili's.

Although one can never be sure.