We walked to the river then followed it to a bridge and this was the start line. There wasn't much, if any, free places to stand and view the parade. There was a ticket area and VIP seats but of course we didn't qualify for either!
There was dancing and presentations before the procession began. We overheard a top tip so we moved to a better vantage point just before the procession began. Not that it helped much because lots of people just came and stood in front of us, so they could get the best photos. They were oblivious to the fact that they were interrupting the viewing of hundreds of other people!
The floats were amazing, covered in every type and colour of flower you can imagine. People must have spent such a long time creating these masterpieces. There were different organisations taking part from schools to huge corporates like Air Asia. There were bands, flag troops, beauty queens and so much more. The whole procession lasted around 2 hours, though that was a long time to be standing in the sun!
After the last float drove past we needed feeding so headed towards Chinatown. We grabbed a couple of puff pastry snacks before finding a small Chinese restaurant serving delicious ice tea and coffee. We ate there before retiring to our hotel room to delete all of the photos with people's heads and mobile phones in!
Late in the afternoon we weaved our way towards the park where the flower show is taking place. We happened to walk by some interesting temples and a hot soya milk seller which we couldn't resist. Traditional music was playing in the park and all of the floats were parked in the road outside.
We continued to the Saturday Walking Street market where we stumbled upon the silver temple, which was all lit up and very different to others we had seen in Thailand. It was completely silver! The walking street was packed with market stalls selling tourist souvenirs and local handicrafts along with and various food court areas too. It was really busy.
Once we had had enough of the crowds we settled down at a little stall across the road and indulged in spicy chicken curry (khao soi kai). It was glorious! We next made our way back towards the hotel taking a different route and passing more of the main Chiang Mai temples. The streets in Chiang Mai stay busy until late at night. We heard some music by the river so went to investigate.
It was the central stage for the flower show. There was a Thai country / folk band playing 60's style music. We pulled up a couple of chairs and stayed a while. Towards the end we were all asked to stand and support the band with a little dancing. We obliged and copied the ladies on stage with their delicate hand movements.
The band played their last number, we left and arrived back at the hotel with more hot soya milk in our possession but this time it was too hot to drink for the next 30 minutes!
