Huean Pak De, Chiang Mai, Day 1

Christmas is now officially starting. As we move into our fancy new hostel it begins to feel rather festive. The hangover from the previous day has diminished and we are ready to do our Christmas shopping.
After checking out from the incredibly understanding and lovely hotel, we drop our bags off at the new and go out for dinner. We then get 50 pound each out of the bank and head off to spend it. This would be relatively easy in England, but out here where t-shirts are £2.50 it is rather hard. After walking around a few shops we can finally check in to our hotel. It is lovely. The room is very big, very clean and has a kettle with tea and coffees which is a special luxury out here!
We chill out for a bit before heading out again to try and spend a bit more. Our target is the Saturday market, and we plan to get there at 5pm when it begins to avoid the queues. As we go, it isn't too busy, and we manage to do a bit more shopping done. It is a lot less crazy then the usual markets around here (yet) and some of the stalls are lovely. We manage to buy a few more presents which takes us to about 25 pound each, and then give up spending anymore as it is too hard.
We decide it is time to leave as the place keeps getting busier and busier, and soon enough we realise we made the right choice as on the final stretch of the exit journey is spent bustling our way through a completely packed street. After a very stressful ten minutes we finally make it into the fresh air and can breathe once again. The walk back into the old town is lovely as we pass through the walls. Amy then has a fantastic plan to spend some of the money that was meant to be allocated to presents on food and drink that we can keep in the fridge over Christmas. We get back to the hotel with bags full of booze and chocolate and stock the fridge. After going out to grab something to eat we head back and have a quiet night, making the most of the five days off from exerting travelling that we have afforded ourselves for the festive season.Read more