Oct 2- Immigration & a change of hotels

Our long-term visas require us to report in to the Immigration office every 90 days. We arrived at the local Chiang Mai office at 0735, and there was already a long line snaking around the entrance. Although office hours were from 0800, we were given ticket number 46, and those folks who had tickets higher than number 55 were instructed to return at 1300. It pays to arrive early to any Immigration office early! When we got back to our hotel we checked out and rolled our bags a few hundred meters down the street to the Chiang Mai Gate Hotel for a change of scenery and rooms. After, we had coffee at Baan Bakery just down the street from the hotel. The owner mixes his own brew of coffee beans that he gets from northern Thailand and bakes all the goodies. It is one of the best coffees we've had, and I arranged to buy a half kilo of beans from him. The rest of the day was essentially spent planning our trip northwards and walking around the old city. In the early evening we walked in the rain to a small bar/restaurant called My Place for spinach panini sandwiches; lots of garlic  on those!