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The Bus to Thailand
Our 8 hour bus to Huai Xai (and the border to Thailand) set off around 8am. Now very used to bus-ing it about Laos, we were not surprised when everyone was piled off the bus half way and told to walk up the muddy hill while the bus was towed by a heavy goods vehicle... but other than that the journey went as smooth as possible on an unfinished road.
Once at the border we spent our remaining Kip (Laos currency) on snacks and hopped into a rickety boat with other travellers for the 2 minute crossing. Immigration went swimmingly, the guards seemingly accepting that we would be going to Hong Kong in 2 weeks even though we didn't have flight tickets to prove it yet.
With a sigh of relief we practically ran into the first '7Eleven' we spotted; after 2 weeks without capitalist chains we were like moths to a flame, and we spent more time than necessary in the air-conditioned shop before our bus to Chiang Rai. On arrival into the city we were shell shocked by its size and shops. A small city by Thai standards, it was bigger than any
town in Laos and jam packed with brand name shops and a tourist oriented night bazaar. It was such a luxury, but the feeling soon wore off as we drove past concrete high-rise buildings and we began to appreiciate Laos for its unspoilt beauty.
Chiang Rai
After breakfast we headed out to the local book exchange shop and left with 5 books and heaps of knowledge from the German owner. With renewed vigour we began the plans for an independant motobike trip to the local hill tribes and Golden Triangle area the next day. Our aching muscles cried out for a massage and we gave in. Unfortunately Saz's masseuse did her more harm than good, and she left feeling more stressed than when she went in.
Dinner at the night market with Thai dancing 'entertainment', followed by a few drinks and a game of Jenga at Teepee Bar.
Motobike trip to the Golden Triangle First to a Karen 'long neck' hill tribe village. Thinking back to the remote hill tribes of Laos we bought some fruit as a gift to the village, but when we arrived we were disapointed to find it more like a
human zoo. Four different hill tribes were 'displayed' in mock village set ups... all in their traditional dress and acting out traditional activities such as weaving, playing music, or dancing. It was a sad state of affairs and they obviously weren't enthused about their 'jobs'; but the fruit went down well, and we did meet 'long necked' Karen hill tribe women.
The 'long neck' look is created by brass rings that are placed around selected girl's necks from the age of five. The first set consist of 8 1cm diametre rings, then every subsequent 3 years another 3 rings would be added. This continues until the women reaches the age of 25 or gets married. The rings are now a fashion statement (and kept very clean by the proud women), but they are originally thought to have been introduced to safeguard the young women from being attacked by Tigers. Contrary to popular thought the neck is not stretched by this process, but the weight of the rings (around 125g each) slowly compress the collarbone of the wearer thus making their neck appear longer. The wearer can still move their neck but the muscles are often weakened from lack of
use, and so it is considered dangerous for them to be removed. Strange hey!
From the hill tribes we drove north to the famous 'Golden Triangle', where the joining of the rivers marks the border of China, Myanmar, and Thailand. To the Thai's this is now a highly religious place (hence the very large golden Buddha statue and ornate/tacky 'boat' construction), which belies its historical importance as the major route for smuggling opium. We visited 'The Hall of Opium' for some insight... did you know that opium is not made from the Poppy seeds, but from the sap of the poppy flower bud? We didn't!
Next to the Myanmar (formally known as Burma) border, where we took the obligatory photos and wandered around the market. Just before parking our motobike, the car in front breaked suddenly and we smashed into the back of it in cartoon comedy fashion... luckily no one/thing was hurt and the owners look suitably scared that they had damaged 2 'farang' ('foreigners' in Thai). From the border we headed back south towards Chiang Rai, stopping en route to check out Tham Luang, a large cave and river system. Back at the hostel we collapsed
weary and slightly sunburnt after our fantastic day trip.
Akha Hill Guest House Whilst talking with the book shop owner 2 days earlier, we had learnt of a guest house in the hills outside Chiang Rai which was connected with and run by an Akha Hill Tribe. Glad to be getting away from the money hungry tour companies we rang to book ourselves a place, and around lunchtime the next day caught a taxi to their sister hostel on the edge of town. From there we and 3 others were taken 23 miles out of Chiang Rai, up some seriously bumpy roads, to the Akha village and the hill top guest house. Contrary to what we had imagined, the hostel was seen as separated from the village and so we were not encouraged to immerse ourselves within the culture; the villagers generally coming around only to sell us handicrafts or offer up massage services. One long term stay traveller amongst us had been helping out in the local school, and another planting rubber trees; but such involvement had to be seeked out and was not offered freely.
We spent our time there reading on the veranda of
our simple bungalow (which offered a superb view down the valley), walking to some hot springs with a Japanese traveller, Jin, and visiting the tremendous waterfall to cool off. Although there was little else to do (especially at night) the break from constant travelling did us good, not to mention the exercise, and the cooler hill top temperatures came as welcome relief after the hot and sticky humidity of the city.
Blair to Brown and The White Temple Back in Chaing Rai we spent our last morning watching the news of Gordon Brown's takeover on BBC World News... finding Prime Minister's Question Time enjoyable for the first time.
Despite the rainstorm we ventured out in the afternoon to visit the White Temple, a new Buddhist temple which is still under construction. Unlike any other temple we have seen, this contemporary masterpiece was not only very white, but also had a few distinctly novel ideas. The front of the temple was accessed via footbridge over a sea of hands seemingly reaching up from Hell, and once inside the intricate murals of serene Buddha and enlightenment images on one wall was juxaposted with a wall covered in sci-fi futuristic images
of aliens flying on rockets and negative images of our time/near future including petrol and pollution, along with the less obvious additions from commericalism, like Converse trainers, and even Neo (from The Matrix). It looked more like a amazingly detailed comic book than the wall of a temple, and were so disappointed that photography was not allowed.
Chiang Mai
A 4 hour bus ride from Chiang Rai brought us to to bigger city of Chiang Mai, famous on the travellers circuit for cooking and massage courses. After checking into a hostel within the crumbling walls of the old city we spent our first evening at the popular night bazaar.
Doi Suthep Motobike tour After enquiring and then booking a 3 day Thai Massage course to start the following day, we hired a motobike to explore the hill-top temple of Doi Suthep. Our little bike trundled its way up the very steep and windy road, eventually reaching its destination after an hour. We then spent a few hours walking the square walled structure of the temple, taking in the hill-top view and watching the devotees walk 3 times round the large golden Chedi with roses and
lotus flower offerings. Working as both a temple and monastary in one, it was great to hear the sound of monks chanting from enclosed buildings and watch monks tie 'lucky' white string around the wrist of those seeking blessings. The multitude of bells seemed very important, from the row of large brass bells that Buddhists would strike as they walked along in prayer, to the many small donated bells with prayer and wish inscriptions hung all along the roof of the inner wall. On leaving, Saz bought a small bell memento just as the heavens opened for the beginning of an hour long rainstorm.
We waited the storm out in a covered stairwell, and as it lifted we made a dash for the motobike. Driving back down the steep tarmac'd road was a dangerous mission as the rain had left it slippy. Dave drove very slow and steady, but even that would not stop us when we hit a blind bend with a sudden dip... The bike tipped from under us and we landed on our sides, sliding along the wet road. Luckily Dave had anticipated the fall and the bike slid away from us; apart from the shock
we were left with only a few scrapes and bruises. People rushed to our aid in removing the bike from the road while we hobbled to the hard shoulder, but then we were left to make our own way gingerly down the rest of the hill once we had got our nerve back.
Muay Thai - Kick Boxing That night was spent at a Muay Thai competition for youth and adolesent fighters. The first fight was between two 10 year olds (and not very exciting), but round by round the age of the fighters increased and so did the action. It was normal for one or both of the fighters to leave the ring with bloody or bruised faces, and one fighter was knocked out cold from a punch to the bridge of the nose; but although it sounds like a blood bath, the fighting was actually well ordered and respectful. The fighters first performed a preparation ritual within the ring which included a prayer in each of the four corners. Then once the fight had finished it was customary for the fighters to address and take a drink of water from the opposition's coach; some going as
far as to kowtow them.
Thanachai Thai Massage Course Day One started with an introduction to Thai Massage and warm-up excerises. We then got given our course booklets with pictures of each step and space for notes. The course would include leg, arm, back, head and face massage techniques; resulting in a 90 minute massage when put together. Thai massage is 50%!r(MISSING)elaxing and 50%!t(MISSING)reatment... which means that you are in bliss for half of it, and pain for the other half! Known as 'passive yoga' the masseurs must be strong to pull/push the customer's body into each position.
Day one concentrated on leg massages, and by 3pm we were mentally exhausted... the longest time of continual concentration we'd had in 7 months. Rested our aching head with a thought free evening watching 'The Island' at a local bar.
Day Two didn't happen as planned. Saz had been up all night feeling sick and consequently neither of us had had much sleep. Come the morning Dave took Saz to the hospital and after being seen by a doctor she was sent home to rest with a cocktail of stomach relaxing medicine (never actaully learnt the nature
of her illness as the doctor didn't speak much English). Not long after return to the hostel Dave was sick and we called the day a write off. It must have been something we ate!
Day Two take twowas much better. Rest and little food had starved off the illness, but we were both left feeling very weak. Thanachai taught us arm and back massage techniques, and then we visited the night bazaar for dinner and souvenier shopping.
Day Three concluded our course with sitting, head, and facial massage techniques. Having taken so much in neither of us are sure that we retained it all, but we're going to practise and hopefully be great by the time we get home. We have definately learnt a lot, and now know the difference between a good Thai massage and a purely painful one!
Thai Cooking Course Wanting to learn more about Thai food we booked ourselves onto a 1 day cooking course with 'The Best Thai Cooking School' (nothing but the best for us). 'Perm', our chef, picked us up and along with four others took us first to the local market. Here he gave us invaluable
information on fruit and veg including the differences between pineapples and how to check for a good onion. Did you know that a good egg sinks when placed in water, is smaller (because the smaller the egg, the younger/healthier the chicken), and does not make a noise when you shake it? Neither did we! Forever the comedian Perm kept cracking jokes that only he found funny, which of course set Saz off... she was the only one that laughed at his jokes all day. One such example was Do you know why some tofu is white and other is yellow?... blank looks from all...because they colour it! ha ha ha.
From the market we were taken to his home and cooking school in a leafy suburb outside Chiang Mai. Such a beautiful setting for a cooking course, in his purpose built outdoor kitchen surrounded by fruit, vegetable, and herb plants. With our own stove and utensils we started cooking, sometimes as a group and other times cooking a dish we had selected from the list. By the end of the day we two had cooked 11 different dishes between us including Pad Thai, Tom Yam Soup, Green Curry, Red Curry, Mango & Sticky Rice, and Spring Rolls. Perm showed us the best way to chop and add ingredients to the frying pan, how to show off with flame frying, and the 'professional' way to taste food... you taste it, close your eyes, look as though you are in heaven and say in a cool and steady voice"Unbelieveable...".
We were encouraged to try from each others dishes as we cooked them, and then at 2pm we sat down to lunch... needless to say we couldn't eat a thing and most people took their masterpieces away with them for dinner. Finally Perm showed us how to carve fruit and vegetables into plate decorations such as flowers and animals; its harder than it looks! We were then presented with our certificates and complimentary cook book, before being taken back to Chiang Mai for our bus to Bangkok.
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Rach
non-member comment
Awesome
Oi, Tudo Bem guys?!! Just sat here in laughing my head off at that stupid joke by the chef dude- I so know I wouldve been giggling all day too Sazzle!! hehe. Really happy I can get these blogs to display out here now- even watched the rafting vids. All looks absolutely divine. I wont be forgetting you both know how to make uber-tasty dishes and can give me FREE massages. Woohoooooooooo!! Another volunteer here- Jeh, wants to know how you display your snaps so cool on here. His blog is pretty poop in comparison to yours guys! ha. Big Brazilian love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx