Advertisement
Published: March 9th 2009
Fish Anyone?
Live fish at the local market for you to chooseMe again!
Well, I made it up to Chiang Mai without much trouble and found a place to stay at the Libra Guesthouse, which has been my home the last few days. My flight arrived just as the sun set and it was a glorious red ball that slowly slipped behind the mountains. Unfortunately, the colouring is due to the intense air pollution this time of year because of bamboo forest burning. It is even worse than Bangkok, if you can believe. But it hasn't taken away from my trip thus far.
I roamed the small city the evening I arrived and got myself aquainted with the area. The next day I signed up for a Thai cooking course and happily stuffed myself all day! It was interesting to visit the market and learn about the exotic fruits and veges and then use them in our meals. I have a cookbook so I'll give some of the recipes a go at home on those days I yearn for Thailand...That evening I met with Sue and Carolyn and their friends for some (more) food and live entertainment on the river. We finished the night with quite the fire show as
Making Curry Paste
At the cooking school, we ground fresh peppers and herbs to make panang curry paste two servers made us Irish coffee. Yum!
Saturday I left bright and early for a two day one night trek into the jungle arranged from my guesthouse and it was definately an adventure! 11 of us piled into the back of a truck to one of the National Parks (sorry, the name escapes me now) and our first stop was at a beautiful waterfall. We drove some more and had lunch and then visited a natural hotsprings and it was hot! Then we got to the park and began our hike up and down the hills to a few hill tribe villages and spent the night deep in the jungle. Our guide was entertaining and informative and occationally broke into song. We had a campfire and one of the elephant mahouts serenaded me with broken english love songs...not something on the itinerary!
The following day, we watched the elephants being bathed in the river as we ate breakfast and then enjoyed a ride along the river. Elephants are such beautiful and calm creatures. Along the way, we came across water buffalo, mountain sheep-like animals and stunning scenery. After the elephants we took our turn to navigate the river
Deep Fried Banana and Ice Cream!
My dessert choice at Baan Thai Cooking School, delish :) on bamboo rafts made that morning. The rapids were slight so it was mainly an easy ride, though our guide did manage to fall off as his pole got stuck in the rock. His first time this year, he exclaimed!
So its been a few days of excitement and now I'm winding down a bit and taking in the city. I checked out the famous Sunday Night Market last night and browsed the stalls enjoying meat on a stick and mango and sticky rice. The weather here is not as humid as down south but still as hot. There is much tourist activity and the locals are as friendly as ever. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for home and familar faces for the first time as I prepare for my next transition to India. The adventure shall continue!
Take care until the next time!
Love Laura
xoxoxo
Advertisement
Tot: 0.084s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0456s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
denise
non-member comment
thanks for taking me along on this great adventure! these places seem so exotic and primitive, what a fabulous thing to experience! keep it coming and be safe. love, Denise