The weather is good and preparations are in hand for tonight’s New Year celebrations. We take a walk down to the river which runs east of the old town and wander round Warorot Market and across the footbridge to the opposite bank where we stop in one of the old wooden buildings for drink. Another visit to the internet cafe to continue our search for flights – making travel arrangements is a time-consuming business and we must be fast becoming one of the internet cafe’s best customers! We have left it too late, of course, to make any special arrangements to celebrate New Year’s eve such as getting a table on the river with a view of the firework display. So we do what the locals do and head for the festivities in the streets around Tha Pae Gate, just a stone’s throw from the hostel.
We amble through the old town to the gate in the north-east; heading for the river Ping to the east about 15 minutes walk away. On the embankment the area around the Warorot Market is buzzing with activity. Overflowing sawnthaew,s some with people hanging off the back footplate, fill the street whilst empty ones are lined up waiting to pick up passengers. The Market consists of a large indoor area as well as several outdoor stalls. Like so many markets in south-east Asia it is dark, grubby and full of competing, pungent smells. Fish and meat are displayed on open counters and other food stuffs, many unidentifiable, are piled high on rows of stalls. There are toys, clothes, candles and incense to be had here too, Implausibly, in the middle of the market, there is a video karaoke jukebox and a woman is singing the most appalling renditions of Thai pop music to the evident enjoyment of the people around. Further on is an old Chinese temple recently rebuilt and boasting colourful three-dimensional dragons encircling supporting pillars as well as lashings of ornate decoration in typically gaudy Chinese style. This claims to be the oldest temple in Chiang Mai notwithstanding it was rebuilt as recently as 1998!
We stumble upon tonight’s firework display being set up on the river bank and this prompts us to cross the footbridge to investigate possible vantage points on the other side. There are several riverside restaurants and cafes on the far side and we stop for a drink in one of the old teak houses which has a verandah over-looking the river. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, they are fully booked tonight as are the few others with riverside gardens. There are more old houses on this short stretch than we have seen in the whole of the old town where architecture is unremarkable and apart from the wats, of little interest.
We spend some time today in the internet cafe researching our onward travel arrangements. There are no flights between Bangkok and New Zealand until mid February, so we are having to rethink our routing. The best option now seems to be to go overland to Singapore and pick up a flight from there. At £441 per person, the flights from Singapore are cheaper than anything we have been quoted from Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. Coordinating our travel arrangements with the boys’ trip out here will need some careful planning though. We get to the point of booking the Singapore/NZ flights only for the transaction to fail. At which point our enthusiasm flags and New Year celebrations beckon so we decide to try again next year.
The New Year celebrations in Chiang Mai centre round the Tha Pae Gate about two minutes walk from our hostel. The roads around the immediate vicinity and down from the gate to the river have been closed to traffic, and there is a stage on which young Thai women in mini skirts dance and twirl parasols to pop music. Later to be followed by further music acts of dubious quality. There is a handicraft market in full swing and a food court selling a wide selection of Thai snacks and meals. Everywhere people are excitedly launching paper lanterns for good luck and the sky is full of hundreds of lights drifting upwards and into the distance. For the princely sum of 50 Baht (£1) we light our own lantern with the assistance of some onlooking Thais and watch it float upwards and away. The streets resound with the crack of hand-held fireworks letting off a volley of rockets into the night sky. There is little sign of over-indulgence; it is mainly foreigners who appear to be drinking, and the few bars around are hardly crowded. New Year’s arrival is marked by a brief countdown and a modest firework display in town (we didn’t get to see the display down by the river) which draws oohs and aahs from the crowd nonetheless. A enjoyable and memorable, if sober, New Year and, unlike last year in London, no long walk home afterwards!