Runway
After breakfast of fresh mangoes and local mini bananas we had enough energy for a day of walking. As Darryl got up to leave the leg of his chair fell off the edge of the raised platform and he landed in the plant pots. Unhurt he did make quite a mess as most of the soil was now on the floor!
After helping to clean up the mess, we headed towards the central bus station to see what time the bus departed to the white temple. However, we were distracted by some paintings inside the station and eventually decided not to go. Instead we created our own mini tour in Chiang Rai.
First stop 'school street'. We know outside the school they sell the really yummy iced drinks. We have no idea what they are called but today's flavours were honey milk and Oreos. After school we headed to the hospital. Well we took a short cut through the car park to find the start of our route.
From here it was a nice straight road to our destination - the old Chiang Rai airport. The runway remains but it is used as a recreation area now. We walked the runway, played on a small plane (with the engine in an odd place) and Darryl fell down on the grass. He managed to step in a large disguised hole and ended up on his back. Unhurt but covered in grass!
Next to the runway was a viewpoint so we headed up the steps to look out on Chiang Rai. The only problem being there were too many trees to see anything. However, a huge Buddha statue and a temple were there too, so all was not lost. We even got to watch the locals having their Thai dancing lesson outside the temple and the music was really nice.
Just across the road from the viewpoint was the Central Plaza. A huge shopping centre where the air conditioning was calling after our long walk in the sun. It didn't disappoint and the food court was great too. In fact the prices were the same as the street hawkers and the food was divine!
It was now getting dark and we had a long walk back to the centre. We had walked a lot today so decided to eat on our way home. Snacks were also required for a little later in the evening too!
