Dogs, dogs and more dogs.

At the base of the temple, is a market. Predominantly set up for temple visitors and tourists it still provides a good feel for Thai markets and lifestyle. Full of food and the obligatory Chinese import souvenirs. That said, it is colourful and well worth a look around. I bought what I thought was 6 postcards for about the price you would pay for one in Australia, only to find when I got home they were little note books. Bonus! You can also see Red Taxis lined up waiting for passengers and donate to the food collection for the temple dogs.

Dog count for the day was high, with my all time record destined to be broken. It seems that the poorer the area the more dogs, and with the temple dogs added to the tally the final score was 110. Beats my previous all time record of 83 dogs in Italy. 30.1.2013

Dog days

I am quietly encouraged by the number of dogs I have seen in Chiang Mai. Today's dog count was 63, pretty high as dog counts go. Seems to me that the gene pool could do with a little expansion though. Most dogs are of the generic black and white scruffy variety. It is evident that they have a pretty tough life. Thankfully few seem to be strays, many seem to belong to someone, laying out I the sunshine in small groups out the front of shops and houses. It was interesting to see that as we got out into the mountains around Mairim en route to Patara Elephant Camp that the type of dog changed. Less cur with a unique look. Dogs I saw seemed to have a streak of Akita in them. They were quite large and distinctive and had quite unusual coats with fur a standard length, like a bear coat Sharpei, and more standardised colours. Solid black, solid cream etc. They were quite good looking animals. 28.1.2013