Thompson Travelers

Arts and Crafts are big in Chiang Mai. People flock from all over the world to experience this shoppers paradise. In America, where almost everything is made by machines, visiting places where true craftsmen work is an amazing thing to see.  Hand painted parasols is one of their specialties.

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Once assembled and glued, the umbrellas are passed on to skilled artists for the final embellishments. There are no patterns, no tracing, just painting directly onto the parasols.

One can’t leave this city without mention of the amazing Night Market. Between 6PM – midnight, the downtown area is jam packed with vendors for many  blocks in many directions  You name it, they’ve got it.  It is truly a shopping paradise with tons of bargains.

You can buy lots of pants and Tshirts for bargain prices…but a lot of them are elephant themed…but who doesn’t love elephants, especially when they are only three dollars?!  Note to self…next time pack less and buy when you get to Chiang Mai!!

For an amazing last night, we floated sky lanterns, mini air balloons into the night sky, carrying away all the negativity and bad things in our life away from us and into the sky.