A terribly early start of 5am this morning as we have a noon flight out of Bangkok to Chiang Rai. What with loading us & luggage into the longboats to take us back to the pier, and a 4-5h drive to the airport it meant getting up before the roosters.

1h20m flight up to Chiang Rai and we scored once again with our riverside hotel. We were given 2 hours to settle in and relax before setting out on our food tour of the market, followed by dinner (!)

We stopped at a couple temples first. The first was that of the “original” Jade Buddha. Story is: “In 1434 A.D lightening struck the temple pagoda (Phra Chedi) causing the reliquary to crack opening and reveal the Emerald Buddha.” This became the most holy of the Thai buddhas and now resides under lock & key in the Grand Palace, Bangkok.

Our group of 14 was split into 2, each with our own local guide mainly along the Carnivore/Picky Eaters divide. They gave us a little Street Food necessities gift before leading us through the market. I did not try a lot as the food was either deeply fried, fruit, or spicy but that just saved room for dinner!

We then walked on through the Night Market (souvenirs and elephant pants) to finally arrive at our restaurant at almost 8pm. A very late supper considering we were up at 4-4:30am. The food was good, lots of dishes to try but I think it was the staff’s 1st day so service was woefully slow. No bed until 10pm😢