Disney Land

So today Skyler and I decided to go check out some temples around Chang Mai. They are everywhere. We rented a motor bike and drove to the international buddhism center. It was not what we expected at all. As soon as we arrived we were met by yet another market with people trying to sell you things. Even the monks were trying to sell you things. It was so crowded and people were running around ringing all of the bells. Then we went into and area where you can get blessed by a monk. We sat down with a group of other tourists and while the monk was chanting I look over and the girl next to me is carrying a playboy bunny bag, to get blessed my a buddhist monk. After that we left. It was very beautiful and there was a great view of Chang Mai but we felt like the monks and the religion were just on display for money. It seems that way for a lot of things here. The people are so dependent on tourism for survival. In Chaing Mai the average person will work 12 hour days, 7 days a week with a few weeks off a year and they get paid 200 baht a day (7$). Most of them are working for tourists. A lot of mixed feelings going on. Despite all of that, most people are very friendly and the city is fun. The way they do some things here seems to make more sense then the way we do them. Tomorrow we are leaving for Bangkok again. We are going to meet up with Jessika, yey! and then we will head down to Phuket. I'm excited to move on to something new.