Having fully recovered from my three days in bed after getting sick, it was decided that today was the day for touristy things, and temples it was… lucky for us there is a major Buddhist festival on for the next three days (still not sure which one) so all the places we visited today were teeming with locals and Monks, w0rshipping.

We entered the old city early in the morning and with the help of our Lonely Planet Guide, we began our temple tour…

Our first stopping point was at the amazing Wat Phra Singh, a massive temple known for the giant Buddha statue it houses. Also old monks… who remain rediculously still

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Next on the list was the small, but lovely, Wat Phan Tao, where the Monks used to live until they moved next door to the huge Wat Chedi Luang.

Wat Chedi Luang was an incredible place with a huge temple at the entrance and a crumbling chedi behind it (which was once the tallest structure in Chiang mai).

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We then wandered along past the three kings monument and eventually ended up at what was our favourite temple for the day, the Wat Chiang Man, the oldest temple in the city. Here we found a woman who insisted that for good luck we purchase birds to set free…

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so we did… althought I must say our birds were a bit reluctant to leave the cage

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but eventually we got there

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and they were free.

The grounds themselves were made up of lots of almost paddocks with grass growing in them, surrounded by little fences carved by hand, and dogs and cats roaming around.

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From there we continued to wander, seeing some of the smaller temples, and found lunch (possibly the most amazing food I’ve had in Thailand so far!)

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