The Reservoir
We thought talking too much was no substitute for eating so we went in search of a meal. We ended up in a small restaurant in the 'food area near the main road.' An older lady helped explain the food photos in the best way she could. We ended up with some great food and even had chopped up cloves of garlic to add to the dish. This is the first time we had seen this as an extra and took full advantage. We now stink!
Staring at the map and looking for a route to nowhere in particular is our favourite pastime in Chiang Mai. We didn't have a lot of time before darkness fell. We decided to follow a small stream which lead off the Ping River in a circular route leading us close to our hotel before dark.
We were not far from our starting point so off we went. The first obstacle was a locked gate on to the little stream. We followed the map to join the stream down a small alley of houses. The map only shows little lanes as white lines so we had no idea that our route would be blocked. About to turn back, a young man appeared. He didn't speak any English and our 'hello' and 'delicious' in Thai didn't help to explain. We tried to show him the locked gate that seemed to lead to the river. We could see through the gate and it looked like a path along the river bank to walk along. The young man disappeared into the house of his neighbour. We waited a while and nothing happened. We were about to give up when a really, really old man appeared. He was very cute and his age meant he managed everything at a super slow pace. We still had no idea what was happening until this kind old man discovered his hidden key and opened the gate. We said thank you and headed onto the river bank. It was a beautiful sight lined with flowering plants, beautiful butterflies and a small bamboo lined, pebble path leading us along the stream. It was then we realised ... it was his well kept garden! Oops.
We continued along the river and passed a number of well kept areas. We did manage to escape, not back though the old man's gate but out onto a public bridge. The stream turned into a man-made canal. The water turned from water in a stream to brown sludge or at least that is what it looked like. The canal widened and became a reservoir full of clear water. It was surrounded with a path and a number of locals out for their daily exercise.
We climbed the odd small fence to help facilitate our route. A dead end almost put our journey to an end but we discovered a way around. We passed some beautiful houses. One contained a drive full of old cars. The owner must have been a fan of old Volkswagen's and land rovers. His drive even had a VW camper laid from coloured tiles.
We passed houses, fields of trees, restaurants and finally huge, expensive resorts which lined the river. Our path along the water came to an abrupt end, now blocked by waterside retreats for the rich!
The roads led us back to our hotel, though this did give us the opportunity to check for our concrete footprints from the other day. We found the concrete that we had trodden in, now set and no footprints. They had been levelled out - shame as we like to leave our mark wherever we go! We passed a hot soya milk and donut stall, purchased some and took it back to the hotel for an early evening feast.
At around 8pm, a little later than usual, we headed to the centre for dinner. On our first night we discovered a small restaurant next to the more expensive central food court. This is where we both enjoyed a delicious Khao soi and listened to a singer in the food court area. We are learning to route home via various snack streets and that is exactly what we did this time too!
