Chiang Mai #5: Gettin' My Culture On

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I dragged myself out of bed, the only problem with sleeping so well the night before was it took me forever to get to sleep last night. I packed up my stuff and headed out to Thanin market for some breakfast. I went to a different stall and I ordered a red curry omelette. They used the term omelette very loosely, as in reality, it was just red curry, rice, and a fried egg on top, not what I had envisioned in my mind, but it tasted great. I, then, headed back to the hotel to check out and leave my bags in reception. The ladies were so sweet, they told me to get back before eight, so that they could get me a tuk-tuk to take me to the airport.

I then headed into the old city. I enjoyed the walk in and out everyday, even though it was along a busy road. I stopped at a shop that printed nice designs on cotton t-shirts. Of course, being a little fatty, the women's sizes were a bit too tight, so I had to get a man's, they didn't have the design I wanted in the man's, but the t-shirts were a bargain, so I got one any way. I went to Somphet Market first, I had been here n my first day with the cooking class I had done. I hadn't realised where it was, as when I arrived I didn't have a clue how the city was laid out, and I must have walked past the entrance to the market a million times, while I was exploring the city on subsequent days. Just shows, if I'm not looking for something, I won't find it. I picked up the different spices, soup mixes, and curry pastes, that I wanted. I also got a fruit shake from one of the stalls.

I had missed one of the temples that I had wanted to see the other day, and it was located pretty close to Somphet Market, so I headed through the market and ended up on backpacker row. There were loads of cheap guesthouses, cafes, shops, and massage places. It looked like it would be a good place to stay in the old city. I came across Lam Chang temple first. It was a pretty small and quiet temple. I then headed to Wat Chiang Man, which was the first temple in Chiang Mai. Wat Chiang Man was bigger and had some really cool artwork on the walls of the temple.

I headed to the Lanna Folkife Museum. I had seen this museum a few days ago, but it was shut. When I was paying the entrance fee, which was 90 baht, the staff told me, that I could get a ticket for 180 baht, which covered this museum and two others. They had a map showing this museum and the other two. There were really close together, so I bought the ticket for all three museums. Lanna was the kingdom, that ruled this part of present day Thailand in the past. The Lanna way of life is bound to Buddhism. I enjoyed looking around the museum, as it was very informative. I loved seeing the nail extensions that the traditional dancers wear, they look so pretty. I wish I could have seen a traditional performance. The mural paintings were beautiful, some were in different colours, and some were red and gold only.

The next museum I visited was the Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Centre. This museum is situated behind the Three Kings Monument. The building it was housed in was beautiful. It had a courtyard in the centre and as you walked around the museum, you could see it. I wish I was rich and that I could have somewhere like this as a place to live. The museum chronicles the history of Chiang Mai, starting with what the area was like before the city was established, life in the city, and external relations. I enjoyed going around the museum, and I learnt a lot about the city. I liked the scenes that they had of the city in the olden days.

The last museum was the Chiang Mai Historical centre. This museum was pretty small, but good all the same. I think I should have taken a coffee break in between the museums though, as there was so much information to take in, and my brain was a bit full by this point. The Chiang Mai Historicl Centre tells the legends of Chiang Mai, historical information about the founding of Chiang Mai during the Mangrai Dynasty to the Burmese Rule of Chiang Mai to liberation and beyond. A really cool feature of this museum is the archaeological site, which was excavated to discover some ancient walls. These ancient walls are believed to be part of Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was a royal chapel built within the grounds of the royal palace.

I headed along to the plaza type place, where I had had coffee yesterday, as I wanted to try a vegetarian place that I had spotted for lunch. However, when I got there all the tables were taken, I was gutted. Some tables were taken by just one person, and I'm not outgoing enough to ask some random if I can share their table. I continued to walk and wandered up some random street. I came a cross a restaurant that looked nice. It seemed very new, I think it was called Tha Pae Loft. I also think it was attached to a hotel or guesthouse. I ordered Tom Kha Gai, chicken and coconut milk soup, and an iced coffee. The soup was really nice, it was a huge bowl full to the brim, but I think it's a bit of a jip, when you have to pay extra for rice, it really should be included. The coffee was nice, too, but it took ages to arrive.

After lunch, I decided to head for a massage. I headed back to Lila Spa, but it was full, I tried another one of their branches and that was also full. It seems everyone had the same idea as me. Saturday afternoon is peak massage time. I had seen loads of places on backpacker row, by Somphet market, so I headed back there. It should have been a sign, when the first two massages, that were listed on the board outside, the woman said they didn't do. I settled for an oil massage and a facial. I think the only saving grace of this place was that it was cheap. you definitely got what you paid for. The first thing that rankled me was that my feet were black from walking around, yet they weren't washed before the massage started. The masseuse was nice, and I enjoyed the massage, but she started with my black feet, and then continued to massage the rest of my body. I don't understand why they didn't ask me to wash my feet, if they didn't want to do it, as they made people wash their feet before doing the Dr. Fish. The masseuse was nice and asked if I wanted my upper body massaged, which I declined. The facial I had was shit, there's no other way to describe it really. I had to wait ages after the massage, as they had forgotten that I wanted it done. It was meant to last an hour, but it was barely forty minutes including the drying time for the mask, and the woman, who did it was also the owner, so she kept buggering off to greet people and take payments from others. The pad she used to apply stuff to my face with smelt really funky, and when she was massaging my face, she kept dragging her hands up into my hair, coating my roots in greasy cream. I was having an internal freak out, as I hate my hair looking greasy. Especially, as I am getting on the plane and travelling overnight, I would look so rough heading back to Korea.

I headed back to the hotel, I stopped at the roti stall, to grab my last roti of my holiday. I repacked my bag, adding all the stuff I had bought today. My hair looked so greasy and rank, from the evil facial I had had, so I had to do a quick wash of the front in the bathroom. They must have thought I was mad. I ate my roti while I was waiting for my tuk-tuk to turn up. It arrived about ten past eight and whisked me off to the airport. The journey didn't take very long and I was deposited in front of Chiang Mai International Airport. I had got there early, thinking it would be busy. However, there was no one in the check in queue. I checked in and headed to the departure lounge, sad to be leaving Chiang Mai.

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