2/4–Chiang Mai afternoon

We’ve perused all the street food at the Flower Festival and didn’t find anything too compelling.  They’ve changed that format too, and have jammed a lot of the vendors into side alleys and little courtyards, as opposed to having them in the garden area with lots of shaded seating.  We make the executive decision to start heading back to our side of town while trying to find a restaurant in which to eat.  We figure if we can get away from the Festival, we’ll also have a better chance of getting an Uber without an extra fee. 
Deciding we are a little too far away from the Writer’s Club, we just start heading East on Ratchamanka Road, looking for Mae Pa Sri, a little restaurant we found that appears to have good reviews.  Easy to check on the run.  Having virtually unlimited data is sweet.  We find it right where the map shows, about a third of the way through town, on a wide open patio type area with nice cool breezes blowing through.  The menu is varied and reasonable, with inexpensive Thai dishes galore.  I opt for my old standby, stir fried chicken with cashews and Ed orders a clear broth with pork.  It’s a great meal, and a welcome respite from our trek all through the festival.

We hang out for a while, sipping our beer, and then I decide to be bad and have the fried banana spring roll.  Oh, my.  So bad, but so good.  Crispy, crunch on the outside, sweet and a little gooey on the inside.  We’ve decided to get a small deep fryer when we get home, and you can be sure I’ll be experimenting with this recipe.

We’ve rested enough that we decide to walk the rest of the way home, stopping at Mad Dog for another beer to hydrate us on the rest of our trek.  Before we get there we pass yet another mural…it really is Penang…

…and after our hydration, we stop on the bridge over the moat for a photo opp.

Back at home, we hang out in the A/C and relax before venturing out for dinner.