I took an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is allegedly Thailand's second largest city. Its an old city, with a wall and a moat surrounding the oldest part of the city.
This northern part of Thailand is mountainous, and the city is located in a valley. I took a minibus up to a large Buddhist temple, Doi Suthep, on a mountain overlooking the city. It was a national holiday, so many people were also visiting the temple.
From the Doi Suthep temple, there was a very nice view of the city. (It was an overcast day). It doesn't look like such a large city, but it is considered the second largest in Thailand after Bangkok.
This day was a national holiday, the 72nd birthday of the King of Thailand. This main gate to the city's wall was decorated for the celebration. All the plants below were brought in temporarily for the birthday celebration. At 7 pm, several thousand people were here, they sang the Thailand national anthem, each lit a candle which was placed in the plants. Then there were fireworks. - This was nothing compared to Bangkok's celebration, which hosted several hundred thousand people honoring the King.
I took an all day guided tour of the "Golden Triangle" where the countries of Burma, Thailand and Laos share a border. It was very interesting and we visited several hilltribe villages.
