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Published: January 7th 2011
Traditional Hmong attire
in the Chiang Rai night marketChristmas in Chiang Mai
From Seoul to Bangkok, Angkor Wat to Halong Bay, and Luang Prabang to the jungles of Laos, it is safe to say that we have had an amazing first half of our journey. Our return to Thailand was met with enthusiasm and eagerness as we began the second half of our great adventure.
Coming down from our high of The Gibbon Experience, we crossed the Mekong River thus crossing from Laos into Thailand. We were pleasantly surprised when we found that our new friends Nate and Caitlin from Tree House 3 were not only on our mini bus to Chiang Rai, but also had plans to stay there for a couple of days. For us, Chaing Rai became a place to reconnect, even though we were only gone for a few nights. The highlights of Chiang Rai were the ever cheap but amazingly delicious street noodle soup (US equivalent of 66 cents), cheap and professional Thai massage, and the extensive and ever entertaining night market. Of course, it is always the people around you that make or break an experience, and we found that it was just as much the Clan from Tree House 3
Thai entertainment
in the night market as the everyday cultural discoveries that made Chiang Rai so enjoyable. It was with hugs and promises of keeping in touch that we saw Nate and Caitlin depart into the sunset late the second day.
For our last day in Chiang Rai, we decided to rent a motor bike to see what was going on outside of town. With confidence and safety, Aaron embarked on the left side of the road for the first time, while Laura, clutching on tightly, navigated to the nearby sights. We made several discoveries in our outing, including stops to the Khunkorn Waterfall and Chaing Rai’s famous White Temple. The waterfall was reached by hiking upstream through a lush forest to a picturesque view where local kids were playing in the pools and mist. The White Temple, although difficult to find was a captivating sight. Rice fields interspersed with rural homes made the unique and artistic beauty of the White Temple even more unexpected. After seeing the Royal Palace in Bangkok and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, we were delighted to find that we could actually be impressed by another temple.
From Chiang Rai we headed to Chiang Mai. Famous for its mountainous location,
eclectic cuisine, and authentic Thai cooking classes and massage schools, we decided that it would be a perfect place to spend an extended amount of time and settle in for Christmas. Although this is not a holiday widely celebrated in Thailand, we figured a week long stay in a place with a multitude of Westerners would give us time to make some friends with whom to celebrate. A second reason we had Chiang Mai on our radar was because prior to launching into our great adventure, it was Laura’s goal to find a massage school with an introductory Thai massage course, and Chiang Mai fortunately had just that.
Sunday afternoon, and the day before class was scheduled to begin, we arrived and went to dine at a local Thai eatery. We were lucky enough to chat it up and thus make friends with an American named Scott who was sitting at the table next to us. Not only has Scott lived in Chiang Mai for almost two years, but he is also a contributor to an online travel website providing tourists to a wealth of knowledge about Thailand, its culture, politics, and Asia in general. That afternoon we shared
lunch and dinner with Scott as well as a visit to a local bar that we never would have found otherwise. We felt lucky to have met someone so accommodating, knowledgeable and fun on our first day in Chiang Mai. We exchanged info and planned to meet up again soon.
Our Christmas week consisted of Laura being engulfed in her 30 hour massage course, while Aaron entertained himself by trip planning, cycling around the old quarter, cruising the hills on a motorbike, and taking a Thai cooking class at an organic farm. The afternoons and evenings were the most routine of our trip, consisting mostly of walking, eating, hanging out with friends, and Aaron being subjected to Laura’s massage practice.
Laura thoroughly enjoyed her introduction to Thai massage, which began each morning with exercises to prepare for the lesson ahead. The school joked that Thai massage is ‘yoga for lazy people’ because in its practice the client is stretched and put into yoga positions. The classes were educational as they consisted of demonstrations and practices of 63 different Thai massage moves throughout the week. With a foundation of massage from the States, these Thai techniques will act as
a compliment in Laura’s future practices. Learning Thai massage from Thai instructors made it more of an authentic learning experience. Aaron was the beneficiary as usual, and can vouch that Laura’s training was worthwhile.
For Aaron, besides becoming part of the neighborhood ‘bike gang’, the highlight of the week was having the chance to take a Thai cooking class. The class took place at an organic farm where the majority of the ingredients were grown. It was interesting to discuss the different plants, spices, and vegetables, as well as have the opportunity to cook a variety of dishes including classic pad thai, cashew chicken stir fry, and green curry. Aaron’s favorite part of the class was learning how to make curry paste from scratch, which he hopes to be able to replicate as delectably in the future. Laura was lucky enough to enjoy some of the leftovers from the dishes he made when he got home. For once, we were a domesticated family!
Christmas was approaching quickly. Seeing that Chiang Mai has a variety of amazing restaurants (and we love to eat), we found ourselves celebrating the holidays nearly every night that week in one remarkable restaurant or
another. Christmas Eve in particular, was celebrated at a burrito restaurant in the company of expat owner, Richard, and his staff. Throughout the night, Richard was buying trinkets from all the local vendors who stopped in, and the restaurant décor was a testament that this was not just in the spirit of the holidays. He also generously invited us to join the staff in a Christmas shot of tequila! From there we met up with Laura’s massage school friends at a Reggae bar to celebrate the course completion and the arrival of Christmas. We danced along to the live band and great music that blended both Ska and Reggae, a style that has become increasingly popular in the Northern Province.
On Christmas day, we rented a motor bike and rode up to Temple Phrathat Doi Suthep up on Chiang Mai’s northwestern mountainside. The ride itself was lovely as it curved along the mountain providing great views of the city below and respite from the lower altitude heat. Once we arrived at Doi Suthep Temple we were able to climb the many steps past the enormous gold Buddha to reach the temple complex and its golden parasols at the top.
The Temple was beautifully lined with giant bronze bells that people ring for good luck. At the top, we had the good fortune of sitting next to some monks while we were getting coffee and enjoying the view. We whispered back and forth whether or not to ask them for a photo, but as we weren’t sure if this was appropriate, we refrained. As we were about to walk away, the monks kindly asked us in perfect English if they could take a picture with us! Did they over hear us? Were they interested in us as well? We may never know why they asked us instead, but were pleased that they did.
Back in town, we met up with Ray and Nok, our friends from Bangkok. They had come up for the weekend and seeing as it was not their first time in Chiang Mai, they of course had many recommendations for things to do. We went to dinner at a restaurant serving a specialty cuisine of the north called ‘khao soi’, which is a soup dish made with crispy egg noodles, meat and other common Thai ingredients. It was delicious! We topped off the night at a
Christmas party with Ray, Nok, Scott and a few of his friends.
On Monday, we packed up and got ready to say good-bye to Chiang Mai. It was the ideal place to settle in and spend Christmas, but we decided it was time to head to the beaches of southern Thailand to bring in the New Year. We hopped on the night train to Bangkok anticipating the two days it would take to reach the beach, but we were excited for the ride. As the train pulled away from Chiang Mai, we settled into our bunks and hoped we would one day return to this charming, eclectic town which we briefly had the opportunity to call ‘home’.
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sharon
non-member comment
Merry Christmas
I continue to love your blog! I too am looking forward to being stretched in various Thai yoga positions and eating home-made curry paste when you come home. Keep the blogs and pictures coming Love Sharon