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Published: November 24th 2008
Left Chiang Mai today... the day before y'day we travelled up to a big temple in the hills of Chiang Mai called Wat Phra That Doi Suthep - one of the north's most sacred temples. A loooong flight of steps through the jungle leads up to the temple, and on the way there are lots of little stalls and handicrafts and even an elephant in a little enclosure that you could feed fruit to (skipped that one though, seemed a bit mean). The temple was beautiful, the main statues were made out of solid gold.
That night we travelled out of town a bit to a Thai cooking class. HEAPS of fun! There were nine of us, a mix of English, Scottish, Canadian, Irish and us, the lone Aussies. We got taken to a market first to be taught about the different fresh ingredients needed and then back at the 'school' we donned our aprons and got to make Phad Thai, Red/Green Curry w/ Chicken, Hot & Sour Prawn Soup, Chicken w/ Cashew Nuts, and sweet sticky rice with mango for dessert. Perry was the chef's favourite (he kept coming up to him and whispering extra tips while the rest
Doi Suthep of us struggled along), and he got especially praised for his ability to flip his phad Thai noodles into his egg and make an omelette (the proper way) - probably a skill he picked up from Fabio's? Then the chef looked at mine and said to Perry 'Well, you look at yours and then look at hers ... I don't have to say anything'. To my defense, Perry's was the only one that looked like it was meant to!
Last night we got to watch the releasing of the lanterns in the main strip of Chiang Mai. Lots of people gathered to light their big white lanterns, then released them all together into the air. The sky was dotted with hundreds of pretty lights, it was beautiful to see.
Today we landed in Luang Prabang, Laos. What a difference! We feel like we've left the concrete jungle and entered the real jungle! We flew on a tiny little airplane which landed on a tarmac in the middle of the jungle; a small strip surrounded by huge green mountains and forestry. Luang Prabang is more like a village than a city, it has an incredibly relaxed vibe
to it,
Doi Suthep but then maybe that's just Laos itself! Laos is meant to be the most relaxed place in South East Asia to visit. Noone is in your face, everything seems laid-back and carefree. We landed with no accommodation and so had to wander around town for a fair bit seeing as everything was booked, but we found a cheap place right in the town centre so we're rapt about that. Tonight we had a meander through the night market, and absolutely loved it. The Lao people spread out sheets under canopies and place all their handicrafts infront for people to see and buy as they walk up and down the aisles. The crafts are really something else - the paintings on mulberry paper, the knitted scarves, hand-made jewellery. Everything is hand-made and authentic which is really cool. What a fab night - we strolled along, the air was humid but with a cool breeze, everything had that 'candle lit' feel about it. You can't begin to describe the lovely feel that exists here.
We ate a food market nearby, the most popular seemed the fish and chicken on sticks, so we opted for that (Perry the
fish, me the less scary looking chicken). This was a entire fish (eyes and all) on a banana leaf. Then we downed some fresh pineapple and mango, then some mango cake and chocolate cinnamon scroll for dessert. Gotta love the food here. We've got an elephant riding and kayaking trek booked for the whole of tomorrow, so very excited about that.
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Vicki
non-member comment
Cooking
Wow...looking forward to some Thai food when you guys get home. Nice Pics too. All is well here.