Songthaews and Silver Temples

Last night, I met the friends I had made in Bangkok at their hostel. The best way to get around Chiang Mai is on a songthaew, which is a covered pickup truck taxi (I'm not sure how it's pronounced). You flag it down then ask the driver if he's headed where you're going. If he is, you hop in the back with all the other people. On the way, the driver stops to pick up other people going to other destinations. The fare is never more than 40 baht and it's usually about 20. 

I guess a yellow songthaew works differently than a red one or a blue one but I haven't figured it out yet.

I met my friends at their hostel and a bunch of other people joined us. For some reason, we ended up going to dinner at a place called Chiang Mai Saloon that had a larger selection of typical American food (buffalo wings, cheeseburgers, etc.) than it did Thai food (I ordered a Thai dish that was quite good.) 

Our group at Chiang Mai Saloon. I guess my camera lens was a bit smudged.

After that, we went to a club called Ska Party. They had an excellent live band with a full horn section playing reggae and ska music. After hanging out there for a while, I took a songthaew back to my hostel.

Pick it up, Pick it up, Pick it up, Pick it up, Pick it up.

This morning I decided to go an adventure. The night before I had made a friend (a guy from Wisconsin) who I had agreed to do something with but I woke up kind of early so I decided to go off on my own for a while. I ended up going to Wat Sri Suphan, which is a temple that is completely silver. There is a big silver industry in Chiang Mai and while walking to the temple, I heard the tapping of a hammers coming from the shops of dozens of silversmiths. The sound was also audible within the temple grounds as the temple is currently being renovated.

In Phitsanulok I was required to kneel for photos in the temple. I did it here and later realized I probably didn't have to.

After visiting the temple, I started walking back to my hostel. On the way, I passed by a motorbike upholstery shop with scraps of vinyl on the floor. The vest I wear every day has gotten really threadbare so I went into the shop and tried to get a scrap of fabric to patch it up with. After the typical confusion that comes with two people communicating in two different languages, I was  given a scrap of vinyl for free. I went back to my hostel, borrowed a pair of scissors from the front desk, then went about patching up my vest with the needle and dental floss I had in my backpack. It turned out pretty well and will extend the life of my vest for a little bit longer.

The blue patch is the new one.

After that, I went to meet my Wisconsinite friend from the other hostel. We ended up just walking around Chiang Mai for a couple hours and getting lunch. We stopped by a bookstore that sold books in many languages and I bought a copy of Slaughterhouse Five. I'm already traveling with a few books but I like reading so I'll get to it eventually. I finished The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman when I was in Bangkok and left in my hostel for someone else to enjoy.

Now I'm back at my hostel. It's just about naptime for me then I'm either going to go to the Chiang Mai Couchsurfing meetup or I may meet up with the crowd from the other hostel once again.