Lampang, Chiang Dao and on to Chiang Mai

If there was music playing in the background, it would have to be the song "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes". Lampang is a very old city that we visited in the past and really like but the smoke really had an effect on this trip! Masks became just part of our 'outfit' as we ventured outside. It made for some great sunsets and, thankfully, cleared somewhat after we left Lampang and is improving each day, today being a hot (90's) but pretty clear day at our present location which is in the suburbs of Chiang Mai. So, back to Lampang. The city is charming and on the Wang River which is a tributary of the Chao Phraya (the river that runs through Bangkok. It is filled with very old teak buildings, horse-drawn carriages and some incredible street art. I took many photos of the street art but have included only a few. I think they're impressive...

While in Lampang we visited an ancient wooden temple which seemed to be a pilgrimage site. There were some beautiful buildings, an amazing and very old tree that was propped up by lots of posts and sticks to help it along which I loved and a couple gnarly dogs that went charging at Paulette but when she turned to face them, they just laid down. That being said, one was muzzled and I imagine there was a good reason for that!

We spent only one night in Chiang Dao, a small town with some beautiful mountains and hiking in the area. It was fortunate that we only stayed one night as it was really smoky and not the kind of climate to hike in. Our cute little bungalows were in a lush and forested area which protected us somewhat from the smoke and made for a beautiful sunset.

We are now in Chiang Mai staying inside the walled city after spending the weekend with Paulette and Chuck's son who teaches chemistry and sciences at a school in the suburbs of Chiang Mai. We attended International Day at the school which was so, so cool! I am not including photos as there are children and for that matter adults who may not want their pictures published online. But it was very cool with performances from each grade representing different countries and lots of delicious food from around the world - all of it delicious. A couple bird photos taken at Colin's house will have to suffice instead instead of adorable little kindergarteners singing and high school kids doing amazing dance routines. Sorry! I'm not sure of the small bird in the flowers, but the other is a White-breasted waterhen. We are now in old town Chiang Mai, a walled city and fortunately, the air quality has improved. Whew! Tourists have returned and we have been eating delicious food and getting $10 massages as often as we can. More on Chiang Mai later. Bye for now.