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Published: December 27th 2011
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Another Christmas, another country to visit in Asia. This year we choose to visit Thailand for a full week. Our first stop was Chiang Mai. In the two days here we have seen many wonderful things and have learned how to make several Thai food dishes in cooking class. So little time, but so much fun.
We arrived on Saturday afternoon and after getting settled, we asked the concierge for a recommendation for dinner. We had some suggestions from the travel agent but being Christmas Eve they were already booked for the night. We had the concierge make a reservation for Christmas dinner and then we headed out on foot to one of the local recommendations “The Good View”. It is located on the river and did have a wonderful view. We had our first Thai food and it did not disappoint in either taste or heat. Boy, the Thai’s like their peppers. The hottest dish was the fried rice. We ordered it to have something not hot. Oh well, it was good and we washed it down with Margaritas and beer. On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped by the night market and looked at
what they had to sell.
Our first full day in Chiang Mai was very busy. We started out with our guide and driver and went to the Orchid and Butterfly Farm. The flowers were beautiful but, we only saw one butterfly. Guess it is not their season.
Next we went to the highlight of the day, the Mae Sa Elephant Camp. We got there as they were bathing the elephants. They seem to be having fun in the water with the handlers giving them a scrub down. There were some girls with baskets catching the elephant droppings as they came down the river. I guess someone has to do it. They use the droppings for fuel, fertilizer, and to make, I believe, paper. Very interesting. The elephants would flop down right in the river and roll around enjoying the water. Next they made their way up the hill to get ready for the show. They put on a long show with the elephants doing a lot of different activities. They showed how the handles got on and off, the noises they make, some tricks and funny stuff too. They even played soccer and painted
pictures.
An interesting note about the handlers, or Mahouts, is that they are raised with and stay with their elephant for life. What a special bond. The elephants were once used for moving timber in the forest but they are no longer used in this industry. Seeing the elephants was very special for us and another memory we will have forever.
We were then off to lunch. We sat by the pond at another Thai food restaurant. I tried to find the name but did not see it in English. We really like Thai food so we loved the dishes our guide picked for us. We enjoy having some meals picked for us so we try things that we may not have picked out for ourselves. Everything was yummy and we cleaned the plates. So much food but it was too good to leave behind.
In the afternoon we visited several artisan shops. We saw how they make paper umbrellas, Thai silk, Thai cotton and Teak furniture. I know they always dump you off in the gift shops but we like to see how different things are made in the various
places we visit. It is always nice to purchase from these shops knowing you are getting quality items. We did a little shopping and then headed to our last stop.
We traveled to 1056 meters above sea level up a winding road to the Wat Doi Suthep. This required sea bands for motion sickness for Carrie. Too much time in the flat lands of Shanghai for this kind of driving. Anyway, we finally made it and once we climbed 290 steps we were at the monastery. The monastery was built by King Gue-Na in 1383. The center is a big Chedi (spiral pagoda) which contains partial relics of Buddha. We wandered around the temple in our socks as our shoes had to come off. Dang, I wish we wore the black ones. Back down the winding road and a ½ hour to spare before we needed to leave for our Christmas dinner.
We took a taxi to the Baan Suan restaurant. It was also located on the river and was very quiet and peaceful. A lovely place to celebrate our Christmas dinner. Once again Thai food was on the menu.
Christmas at the Elephant Camp
They had a tree and of course an ATM machine. Did I mention we really like Thai food? I guess it is a good thing we do as one day into our vacation and this is our third Thai meal. The nice thing about the cuisine here is that they have a huge variety of dishes. If you like the general spices and heat that go into the food you can eat many meals and not have the same dish twice. After dinner we went to the Sunday Market. Several streets are blocked off each Sunday and vendors bring out their goods to sell. There are local items that you can only buy at this market and the prices are really cheap. We did some shopping and then headed back to the hotel. We needed some sleep before our cooking school the next day.
After breakfast, we were picked up by the Chiang Mai Cookery School van and taken to class. The school is in an open air covered area with lush green grounds. We have had mild temperatures and low humidity in Chiang Mai so being outside was nice. We even saw an iguana in one of the trees. I tried not to think of
this while cooking though. We made five dishes starting with classroom instruction for each and then off to the kitchen to make them one at a time. The format was nice and the food was delicious. I really don’t like fire and the burner we were using for our woks was pretty big. At one point I got the edge of my wok caught on the edge of the burner and saw hot oil heading towards the flame. Thank goodness I have a calm partner in Jason as he took over and kept me from burning the school down. I wonder how that conversation would go with our tour guide. “Sorry we burned down the cookery school. How much will that cost? “ Well, at least we did not have to find out today. We have discovered through this process that I make a great prep chef and Jason is much better at actually using the flame. Good to know.
We were so full from our day of cooking that we went back into town and wandered through the night market before having a late snack at the hotel. Tomorrow we leave for Bangkok but we had
a wonderful time in Chiang Mai.
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