Full day in Chiang Mai

Today was a blast. We started with a trip to a beautiful temple in the mountains called Wat Doi Sutep. It is over 600 years old and is a very popular place to visit before the new year for Thai people. We received a blessing from a Buddhist Monk and walked around the amazing 3 story gold covered stupa 3 times to affirm our prayers for the coming year. This afternoon we went to a nice restaurant for lunch and then visited an umbrella factory where we had personal items like back packs, iPods, and t-shirts hand painted by the artists there. They paint the most beautiful murals of elephants, dragons and scenery. Tonight we are going to a traditional Thai restaurant for dinner but it won't be a late night because we are leaving the hotel at 5:45 in the morning to go give alms to some local Buddhist Monks. This is called giving merit and is a very auspicious thing to do on New Years Eve. In exchange for a little rice and other food items, the Monks chant and give you a blessing. We also release small finches from wicker baskets that you can purchase from street vendors and this also is a very auspicious thing to do on this day. It will be a fun day tomorrow.