Last night we were in a crush of a gazillion people at the Sunday Street Festival-there seems to be one for every night of the week here-drinking beer from a can with a straw as it was served to us and tonight we are wrapped in the mountains in a gorgeous pavilion in the middle of a rice field. Thirty minutes from Chiang Mai City in a very quiet community by day, and extremely loud at night from all the frogs, toads and birds screaming up a storm out there it sounds like a jungle. The birds sound like monkeys and the frogs sound HUGE but we understand now that these are very tiny frogs the size of the tip of your pinky making all of that racket. Even though it is a let down being away from the Night Bazaar and all the excitement of Chiang Mai City this place is breathtaking. There is a large patio outside of our room that is overlooking wonderful Asian statues, waterfalls, streams, bridges, flowers, amazing architecture of each of the buildings on stilts with layered rooftops. At night it is lit up with torches and hanging lanterns. The food is exquisite, different from the street food we have been eating. For instance tonight we had fried roasted duck in "Nacha" coffee sauce. They grow the Nacha coffee and there is local honey, tea, fruits, herbs, etc. It is very different than being in the city but nice to take a little break while taking in the local mountain landscape. We have hardly seen any people around. We might be the only ones here. Tomorrow we go out with our guide to find old silver, antiques, furniture. we'll see.....
