Asia 2014 Day 4: Chiang Mai - Art in Paradise, Warorot Market, Chiang Mai Cultural Center

Had a later than usual start to the morning.  I went to the Art in Paradise museum, which opened at 9am.  It's an art museum that features 3d paintings. All meant to be an optical illusion and perfect for picture taking.  I was pretty bummed that I was alone though -- the point is to take fun pics of you posing in the 3d paintings...which is not at all possible going solo.  And since I got there right when they opened, I had the place to myself for about 40 min.  I did run into a group eventually, and had a guy take a photo of me...that ended up blurry of course. I don't understand how people don't know how to take a clear photo.  Still, was impressive seeing how the paintings gave the impression of depth.  Loved a lot of the murals.



Impressive 3d murals!

After the museum, walked over to the Chinatown area in Warorot. Wow.  Warorot Market is a four story complex w booths and vendors packed inside.  SO densely packed.  It took me a while to absorb everything.  The first floor was food and groceries, and the rest clothing, textiles, etc.  Almost no tourists here.

Outside of Warorot

Warorot Market is essentially connected to the Ton Lam Yai Market.  Another densely packed maze of shops.  I couldn't even keep track of where I was, and what market.  All the streets outside are full of booths too.  It was incredible. I wandered into a flower section towards Ping River.  So beautiful. I loved their arrangements.






Foods sold at the market

So many booths inside Warorot Market

Beautiful flower arrangements

I saw some live turtles, eels, fish in a bucket without any water.  Thought I'd see more live animals.  There were also little birds in a woven basket cage. I think they are meant to be purchased and then released elsewhere.  They're probably trained to fly back home.

Had lunch from a side street's food cart.  Egg and fried turnip cake, 30 baht.  Stumbled across another cart and got some iced coffee that's served in a little baggy, just like in Malaysia.


Delicious and cheap turnip cake

Iced coffee!

Strolled around the area some more, and gave my feet a break as I sat in front of Starbucks and people watched.

 

I got back to the hotel around 3pm and wanted to take it easy until the khantoke dinner and show in the evening.  Lounging around the pool it is!  Was pretty relaxing until some loud kids came.

The cultural center's shuttle picked me up around 6:45pm.  Loved the dinner set up.  There was a raised stage, and majority of the seats were on the floor.  Some tables were more toward the side, and there was also a raised podium in the back with cushions for seats.  I was on the podium, and had a pretty good seat toward the center.  Sat cross legged on the cushions, shoes off,  and received a huge assortment of dishes for the khantoke dinner.  Pulled pork curry, a cabbage mix, a spicy minced meat, free chips, chicken, fried pumpkin (so good!), fruits, chicken soup, sticky and white rice.  All refilled when you started running low.

Food and performance at the Khantoke dinner

Musicians played traditional Thai music while everyone ate, and the dancing started at 8pm.  I would have preferred the dancing to start while we were still eating dinner..the show was long. 

It was interesting to see the Thai outfits and hairstyles.  The dancing was generally slow. I enjoyed the faster paced acts, like the ones incorporating swords, fire, and bamboo sticks.  During the outdoor portion, one act reminded me of Chinese culture.  There was a goat, consisting of two ppl underneath the costume, dancing around.  Very much like lion dancing.

Got taken back by the shuttle around 9:30pm.  Super exhausted... but really looking forward to the Elephant Nature Park tomorrow!