Chiang Rai for the New Year-Day 3

Oh my goodness, I can't believe I never finished writing about my Chiang Rai adventures! Time slipped away I guess. Well, really there isn't much more to say except that on the last day the plan was to go and see the flower festival I'd heard so much about before heading to the airport. We packed our bags, checked out of the hotel and left our belongings with the hotel staff. Then we caught a truck taxi and told the driver to take us to the flower festival. It took a few tries before he understood my Thai. He drove us outside the town and stopped in an area where there were a number of other cars parked. We hopped out, thanked the driver and paid our fare and then wondered where we were supposed to go. There was a path we decided must be headed in the direction we wanted and made our way towards what turned out to be a market. We wandered through the market, making mental note to return for some shopping later, and across a small road. There was a large fenced area so we determined that it must be where we were supposed to find the flower festival and we began to wander around. The amount of flowers was disappointing for a flower festival and I told my friend I didn't think we were in the right place. There were, however, replica traditional homes built around the area we were in which you could stop to meet various hill tribes and see their handicrafts. That was interesting but I was dissappointed in the flower display.

We walked back across the road and found a flower market where all sorts of flowers and trees were being sold. My friend was resigned to thinking that must be the flower festival and I reluctantly gave in. We wandered around enjoying the flowers and then made our way back through the market we had spotted earlier where I purchased a wood carved elephant and watched a man carving a very ornate clay statue. His works were displayed around and were quite impressive.

It became time to head back to the hotel to gather our belongings and then to the airport. We walked back down the same path we had taken upon arrival and again caught a truck taxi. We drove several meters down the road and there it was...the flower festival in all it's blooming glory! There were THOUSANDS of beautiful flowers and lots of people wandering up and down the paths enjoying them...and we had missed out on the whole thing!!!! What could I do but laugh to myself and make a mental note that when things don't feel right...ask.