Bit the bullet!

I finally had to bite the bullet and buy another pair of shoes today (Wednesday, 20 December). Its been inevitiable for a while now - since my trek in Tibet - even though I've been putting it off. The pair I've been wearing for the past ~7 months (for who knows how many miles of city walking and mountain hiking) were literally falling apart. They've been repaired twice but everyday a new hole would appear! The soles are almost worn smooth on the balls of my feet - which is one of the reasons I couldn't walk on the icy snow in Nepal. Plus I wore through my original insoles long ago and have been using insoles that are too short (read: annoying) for a month now. So I realized Chiang Mai was my last chance for a couple of months to buy good quality shoes here in Thailand (where you can buy quite literally anything). I paid the same price I would pay back home which is a lot ($90) by Thai standards and really hard to swallow when I'm "counting pennies" on a daily basis for food, accomodation, transport, etc. I guess I'll call that a Christmas present for myself even though it was more a necessity. The impetus may have been the big box they have at my guesthouse where they are collecting any and all clothing items to give to Burmese refugees; so my old shoes will go to a good, needy home and not in the garbage.

Prior to my 'shoe shopping', I walked around some parts of Chiang Mai I hadn't seen before. Originally Chiang Mai was a walled city with a moat around it. Most of the wall is gone now, but I wanted to walk the perimeter anyways. I stopped by a couple of nice, untouristed Wats along the way too (Mornthean Temple, Wat Lok Molee, and another I don't know the name of). There are so many Wats/temples here that you really couldn't possibly see all of them; and I personally wouldn't want to as I get 'wat-ed out' rather quickly.

Met some other travelers people in my guesthouse last night (Tuesday, 19 December) but none that are going to Pai or Chiang Rai. Everyone is heading to the islands for Christmas but I'm glad I'm not. It would be way too crowded for me. This guest house has a great hang out area and its great for meeting people. I remember meeting some cool folks last time I stayed here too.

I'm ready to head to Pai tomorrow as there isn't much more to see here for me. I may go to the night market tonight for a look-see and maybe to buy a cotton shirt since I only have synthetic ones with me and they are getting kind of old. The Chiang Mai night market is where I stocked up on Christmas gifts on my last trip here....