Chaing Mai - the pearl of the North

This is our fifth day in Chiang Mai and we are totally enjoying it so I will tell you more about this beautiful city, surrounded by and ancient wall and a moat (if someone knows what a moat is, please let me know!). Here everything is much calmer, during the day we drive around the most beautiful and serene temples we have seen so far, one after the other more impressive and more stunning. With golden chedis (that's how the stupas are called around here) that blind you in the sunlight. The monasteries are made of wood in the 13, 14, 15 century and look like someone knitted an intricate lace pattern which still shines in the sun, their edges hosting an endless line of little bells that sing with the wind and take your thoughts away. And the gardens are full of all kinds of exotic flowers, whose smell is sweet and alluring.

In the evening, the city wakes up from the daily heat, the fountains start singing and the night market starts bubbling. And again the ancient chedis illuminated by the lights continue shining their beauty on this city.

The city is surrounded by a great number of national parks with beautiful waterfalls and quiet forests. These mountains also provide shelter for the hill tribes. Peoples that came from China, Laos, Burma throughout the centuries some as old-time refugees fleeing conflict and destitute, some as later- day economic migrants looking for new land to grow their crops and raise their children. They speak different languages, have different customs, live different lives and try to reconcile their identity with a changing world.