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Published: June 20th 2007
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Chiang Mai, Thailand
This is a typical site all over Thailand - beautiful wats. I took so many close-ups of some of the designs! The flight to Chiang Mai was nice - I couldn't believe how green everything was when I looked out the window during the descent. I met a fun Australian solo traveler and sat with him on the plane. His wife was meeting him in Chiang Mai. They've been to Thailand before, so he gave me lots of info. We also met another Australian, who fought close to the Cu Chi tunnels in Viet Nam (he brought his wife and son with him), so he was interesting to talk to as well.
Northern Thailand is so much different than Bangkok - greener, quieter, really nice. The city itself is quite large, but nowhere as big & noisy as Bangkok.
The area around my hotel has both residential & commercial streets. The commercial streets have these little numbered "lanes" (ex: Soi 1, Soi 2, Soi 3...) running off them, and they're filled with guesthouses, residences, residences with storefronts (massage places, laundry services, etc.). I stayed in a larger guesthouse in a great location, and was able to walk all over and see different neighborhoods. The first thing I did was go to a market for locals - no tourists in
Chiang Mai, Thailand
The market where I was the only tourist! It was a lot of fun. This woman helped me chose a Thai tea. site! I bought a couple of things they'd use everyday, but for me, they were great, and cheap, souvenirs! It was good place to buy local green tea & coffee. On Saturday nights, there's a night market, where many of the villagers show up and sell their goods, and handicrafts. There were so many beautiful things! If you like food festivals, it was the ultimate Thai food festival. I tried some interesting food and drinks - you can see some photos below. There's also the regular large Night Bazaar, but it's mostly 'fake' stuff from the hill tribes, plus luggage and t-shirts, and stuff like that.
On Sunday morning, I went to a temple, or a wat, up on a hill, a little bit out of town. Besides offering some relief from the heat a nice breeze, the temple was beautiful, inside and out, and we saw some Buddhist traditions being carried out. The view over Chiang Mai was wonderful.
On Sunday afternoon, I was on another bus, but this time to the small village of Pai, northwest of Chiang Mai. So many people said I had to go there, so I wanted to check it out. It
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Some beverages sold at the Saturday evening market. I tried some rosella water, and bought a cup of creeping herb drink; it tasted like a really, really good glass of wheat grass. is a beautiful place, very tranquil, a little rustic, and the people are so nice. I walked just about all of the village in one day, so I headed back to Chiang Mai on Monday. If I had more time, maybe I would have stayed longer (a little, I can only take so much of doing nothing!), but there wasn't enough time.
When I returned from Pai, I was able to fit in a Thai cooking class for that night, and I was the only student, so it didn't take the entire 3 1/2 hours! Thai cooking is really simple and quick. I can't wait to try some of the dishes at home! Of course, I couldn't eat any of them, so I gave them to the guys at the hotel, who don't work in the kitchen!
Yesterday, for my last day in Chiang Mai, I toured an area northeast of Chiang Mai, to see some of the hill tribes and go for an elephant trek and bamboo rafting. There was only me and one other guy, also traveling on his own, from England, so we were able to fit a lot in, in one day.
The
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Same drinks, but notice the hollowed out shell ladles. hill tribes have pretty large villages, but of course, they have these designated tourist areas, and in only a couple could we walk around and explore a little. It gave me a chance to "talk" to the people living there, which is always fun. Here in Thailand, they also ask you how old you are too, so I this time I asked them first. It always starts a fun conversation!
After a few tribes, we went elephant riding, which was a blast. This Thai guy sat on the elephants head, and kept him on track, and also killed the enormous horse flys that would bite the elephants' ears. Now the guy was pretty dirty from sitting on an elephant all day, but he'd mush those giant horse flys with his hand, and get blood and guts all over them - really disgusting. I offered him some of my water to clean the goo off, but he declined - and went on to smash a few more. He was a real jungle boy! So, we were on a narrow road/path, and the elephants kept wanting to stop and grab branches of leaves. There was a little stand on the way,
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Here's the creeping herb. at a height for tourists on elephants, to buy bananas to feed to the elephants. Well, of course I wanted to feed our elephant, so we bought some, and another elephant plopped his trunk on my lap for his bananas too! Our elephant's trunk was soon way over his head (it's amazing how far back they can reach!) and we were able to give him bananas. He'd grab one, and be back up for more immediately. They peel the banana with their trunks before putting it in their mouths. We were our way again, but he still ate the whole way.
Then we took a two-hour (sometimes a bit treacherous) hike to a waterfall. It was really slippery, with a lot of mud, unavoidable slushy mud puddles, and huge boulders, plus logs to balance on! When we reached the falls, it was actually misting, so we stayed and cooled off a while. On the way, we passed some huts the overnight trekkers use, and we shot some slingshots with the guy who worked that hut during the tourist hikes. His wife was there, but the husband said she shouldn't shoot any, but it was really fun, so I coaxed
Chiang Mai, Thailand
This is a dessert. The stuff on the left looked like licorice, but had the consistency of a firm pudding. It tasted a little like licorice too. They put some of the black stuff in a glass with crushed ice, and topped it off eith the brown sugar mixture on the right. It was good for a while... her into it - and she was good! She'd definitely had some practice when her husband wasn't around! A little further on, we met up with the husband's sisters, and stayed for a beer and a chat. They were fun, and in their forties too.
Then we were off to go bamboo rafting, but after a monsoon-like rain started, and the fact that the raft sank almost a foot with two of us standing on it, I decided not to go. The guy I was with was put with three other girls, and they all met up with us completely soaking wet. Apparently the bamboo raft never really floated, it was always under water! We visited one more tribe, then went back to town, where I took a much need shower!
This morning, I went for a last walk in the old part of town, which used to be completely walled with a moat surrounding it. Today, the moat is still there, along with some of the wall, and it's major gates. It was really easy to get around Chiang Mai, too, but mostly I walked.
I left for Bangkok today at noon, on an airline called,
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Here's another version of the black stuff. One-Two-Go. it was like buying a train ticket, and almost as cheap as one! I'll update on Bangkok in a couple of days - then I'll see you all at home! I'm really ready to be home again!
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