We took a vote in the morning and the kids really wanted to go the umbrella factory first thing. We hired a driver and he took us there plus the silk factory, silver showroom (? it wasn't really where they made the silver, so I'm not sure what else to call it), and then to lunch. This all reminded me very much of Craig's & my trip to Beijing where they took you to all of the government-run tourist/special stores except this was on a much smaller scale.
We thought we were going to be able to paint an umbrella, but apparently they weren't offering that at this particular place. The kids did like learning how they make the umbrellas and paper. They also liked scouring the gift shop for that perfect something to take home as a souvenir. They were equally interested in the silk shop with the worms and cocoons and ladies weaving. They were a bit perturbed, however, when we didn't buy anything at that gift shop! The silver showroom was nothing to write home about (but, I guess I just did, didn't I?). Henry was ready for an early lunch so we had the driver take us to a Thai place on the way back to town. The food was really good and all the flowers & fountains, etc that made up the atmosphere were great. One of the best parts that we weren't expecting though is that Chiang Mai is much cooler than Singapore at this time of year! Not cold at all, but just really perfect weather.
This afternoon we decided to take a tuk-tuk taxi (all five of us piled in!) to a coffee shop we read about in the Straits Times a few weeks ago. The coffee was good but the desserts were better. We walked around that area of town some and then decided to stop at another coffee shop, Impresso, to get the kids some drinks and to rest their weary feet. The coffee there was ridiculously delicious and we'll have to go back another day to have some more. We've been away from the US for seven weeks now and I guess we were all ready for a little bit of food from home so we went to a Mexican restaurant and it was delicious (especially the homemade tortilla chips--something I did when we were in Korea and now I feel compelled to find a source for corn tortillas in Singapore so I can do it again). Satisfied and tired, we hopped into another tuk-tuk and went back to the hotel.
Closer to evening, Anna, Sarah, & I went to the center of town (tuk-tuk again) so we could watch the lanterns and possibly send one of our own into the air. The idea is to write down wishes for the new year on the lanterns (but we didn't think to bring anything to write with!). So, we talked about wishes/goals/dreams for the new year and I also suggested we send away and bad/sad things that happened last year. We bought a lantern and the lady who sold it to us helped us get it going. She said to wait three minutes for it to be ready. Well, it went straight into the water! (She was still with us.) Feeling slightly defeated about that, we watched others for a while then bought a second lantern from another lady. She said to wait five minutes. We had the help of some others lighting lanterns, too, this time and this one took off. All of the lanterns flying through the sky were just amazing. It was by far one of the coolest sights I have ever seen. I couldn't get a really good picture of it though! There were trees and city lights and water fountains in the way it seemed. But, I know that the girls will remember this evening always and I will, too.
We walked through the market area (special for New Year's Eve, I think) and then went back to light one more lantern before going home. This one went off well, too. Finally, Sarah indicated that she was getting tired so we hopped in a tuk-tuk and went back to the hotel. From there, we watched the lanterns from our 19th story window, and then finally went to bed. About an hour after I finally fell asleep, I heard horrible noises outside. The hotel was having a New Year's Eve party and fireworks were right outside our window! I do not know how the kids slept through this, but both Craig & I were awake! We took some pictures for the kids and then finally we were able to sleep, too, after not too long.
This was one of my most favorite New Year's Eves and I told everyone that we should always spend NYE in Chiang Mai. No one disagreed!
