I arrived in Phrae today after a four-hour bus ride from Chiang Mai. In the morning I had called to arrange a home stay in the old city with a woman named Priwan, who herself picked me up at the bus station.

Her home consisted of a few large teak buildings surrounded by a garden. The house had six guest rooms, and (conveniently for me) she prepared only vegetarian food in her kitchen. A short time after arriving I was seated in the garden having some stir fried noodles and vegetables along with a cold herbal tea.

There were a number of other guests staying there, including couples from Germany and France, a Spanish woman who arrived on a motorbike, and a trio of young Italian women.

In addition to running the guest house Priwan also worked as an English tutor, and in the afternoon there were a few school age children sitting at her study table.

In the early evening I walked around the small town, finding the remains of an old moat in the middle of which there was a dancing fountain. Later on in my wanderings I encountered a local street fair, where I bought some sweets from a vendor and watched a music and dance performance.