June 4,

I awoke with still having sore knees especially the left one… humph! We got around around and hopped on Baloo, going to the middle of Old Chiang Mai. We stopped at a couple of temples on the way, but they were still closed. Arriving at the center of town we saw the three kings statue in a square, but nothing was in English and Google Lens could not translate the placard. I had read that these kings conferred together to determine upon building of the new capitol here, obviously it was a go.

From here we went to to a temple that was open right beside the square. It was a very nice wood gilded one. After we finished we went on Baloo in search of a food stall that was recommended by a food vlogger we follow. We found it. The stall is right on the side of a busy road. So we parked with the others on the shoulder and ordered our takeaway – buying four pork sticks and a very large chicken stick. Now we loaded back up and went back to our condo. We set about to our morning routine: Javas and breakfast, having the chicken chopped up in rice, with some walnut bread. After eating my knees felt some better, a little, not sure if it is a gout flare-up or just arthritis. We watched some YouTube and had a small siesta.

We went back out around noon to get some gentle steps in at the mall we frequent. I found a new pair of shorts, and I had my Chiefs toe nail polish finally removed. As we were lapping around Jeff saw a sign for a Thailand Travel Mart. So when we finished, we jumped on Baloo to check it out. It was located at the Royal Park Rajapruek. When we arrived we were shown where to park by a parking detail of security. We found the pavilion and entered. It ended up being a businessman's event, but we got a free little snack of several small bites of food from Thailand. That was very good! We realized this was a business to business event so we backed out and left. The park would have been nice to walk around – but since we’d already been at the mall, and my crazy knees – we opted to just head back. We did stop at the Lotus. Here I found a second pair of shorts – this one being an elephant print! We also found a Thai made Herbal Wine! Shocker… but we did not get it. The Lakeville Wine label read it was made from ‘black rhizomes and wild honey’. Finally, shopping done we were heading back, but our luck ran out and we got wet from some rain. It was the most I had experienced, but not too bad.

For supper we had the pork skewers chopped up in a pasta with mushroom Alfredo, accompanied by some red wine.

     June 5,

Up and about. I am still “plagued” with some soreness in my knees despite Ibuprofen, so will try some gout meds. We had our Javas then breakfast of Muesli, splitting an apple and yogurt. Then we did our last load of clothes here and cleaned our CPAP's.

We set out for the Chiang Mai Clinic, getting a new series of Hep B Vaccination, since we show no antibodies anymore. But first we did stop at a Pharmacy for the gout med. At the clinic, we were surprised how non-busy it was. We had to see a doctor first… not sure why. Jeff said it was for more money, he’s probably right. Anyway, we received the vaccine and will return here in one month for the second of three injections. Once done, we left and set out for lunch.

We drove Baloo to the Khao-So-i place we attempted to go to before. We arrived and were “greeted and seated”. We had two Khao-soi: one with Chicken & Braised Pork as a soup, and one with Braised Beef Shank & Chuck Eye as a dry, stir-fried dish. Both were super great, and possibly the best Khao Soi we’ve had! Yeah!! It cost us 566.50 THB, which was $17.43. when we finished we went to the other mall that we have gone to. It had been awhile since we’d been there. I had forgotten how much more upscale it was. We some steps in and went to an exchange THB for some USD for when we go to Laos for their visa. (They charge more to use the Thai Baht, but not US or Laos currency.) Once we finished, we went back to our place due to looking more like rain.

We hung out, I blogged as Jeff read, and started getting stuff sorted. We leave Chiang Mai tomorrow, but will be in a rental car that we pick up tomorrow. We plan to toodle around the north-west part of Thailand.