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Published: November 28th 2012
After traveling for almost 3 weeks with just the two of us, we were excited to see some familiar faces (halfway around the world). It just so happened that our good friends, Amy and Brad, were traveling Thailand around the same timeframe as us. So we coordinated to meet in Chiang Mai.
The first pleasant surprise when we arrived, is that we didn't have any problems getting from Chiang Mai airport to our hotel. We hired a ride in one of those red truck taxis where you just hop in the back and sit on one of the two benches in the truck bed. Its sort of like a community taxi. The only drawback is that you sometimes have to wait until the driver recruits more riders. Regardless, it was a bit cheaper, and we weren't in any rush. The driver brought us directly to the front doorstep of our hotel, U Chiang Mai. This hotel is quite fancy, it was our one splurge of the trip. It had a really nice bed, tv, a/c, granite floors, a fancy bathroom with a shower and a bath, and a balcony that overlooked the pool. Also, when we checked in, we each
got to pick out the scent of soap and shampoo that we wanted to use during our stay. Its a far cry from sleeping in a remote village in the hills of Laos.
So initially I thought our plan for meeting up with Amy and Brad was that we would just meet at our hotel at a certain time. But instead, they dropped off a prepaid cellphone at our hotel, with Amy's prepaid cellphone number added in the contacts list. So all we had to do was search for her name, and call them. It was a cheap nokia brick phone (like the ones from the 90's), but it did the trick. It was the first time i had made a call in 3 weeks, it felt good.
After i called, they took a tuktuk ride from their hotel to ours. It was Sunday night, and our hotel just happened to be right on the street where the "Sunday Walking Market" is. I'm not sure how different this market is than all of the other markets we've been to in Southeast Asia, other than the fact that they did not allow you to drink beer within the confines
of the market. Booooo!!! I guess the only other difference was that this market was extremely popular which meant super crowded. We wandered around for quite awhile, but me mostly spent time purchasing random food items from the food stands. Khao Soy, Pad Thai, Spring Rolls, Thai Jerky, Chicken Roti, and seasoned spiral potato chips on a stick (a la MN state fair?). Eventually the super packed crowds were too much to bare, so we decided to sneek off to the side and head into a restaurant for a round of beers and some conversation. We tried Chang, Tiger, and Singha. We've realized that Southeast Asia is great for drinking beers, if the only style you like is lager.
When the crowds lightened up a bit, we walked down the streets again. Only this time we were in the search of a good foot massage place. There were a plethora of options to choose from. We found one that did massages for only 200 baht/hour (~ $6-7 US). Both Amy and Brad must have been tired from their travels, as they both nodded off during their massages.
The next morning, Amy (whom i refer to as the "walking
coupon"), booked a half day cooking class at Chiang Mai Thai cookery school for only $30 per person. I guess the going rate is somewhere around $50, but since she works in the travel industry she often gets lower rates. This course was an absolute blast, even for a person like me who doesn't cook very often (if at all, if you ask Sara). The school picks you up in a van right from your hotel at 9:30am, and brings you to a local market. Here they show you what ingredients to buy for the dishes we will be preparing in the class. Our instructor showed us the local vegetables, fruits, and meats of Thailand. While at the market, the teacher picked me to go pose for a picture with the butcher, who without me knowing, hands me a severed pig's head. It was pretty gross, but I held it by the ears and posed for the crowd.
After the market, we headed to the cooking school. We learned how to make a total of 4 courses. For each course, we would start in the demo room, where the teacher (who was a real comedian) would demonstrate how to
prepare each dish. Then after each demo we would go to our respective cooking stations and try to mimic what we had just learned. It was just like being on your own cooking show. We did a lot of slicing, dicing, simmering, frying, and oh yeah EATING! Each dish that we prepared, we got to eat as well. And our group of four was able to cook right next to each other, so it was really fun. A couple times Sara and Brad added too much spice to their recipes. Brad was almost crying one time because it was so hot. It was hilarious. After the course was over (3pm), we were stuffed. So we went back to our hotels to get ready for the night.
On the way to the Brad and Amy's hotel I decided to stop and check out a place that makes custom-made suits, Vieng Ping Collection (recommended by our hotel). I just had to do it. It was still pricey, but for a suit of this caliber, made from scratch, would easily cost 3-4 times as much money in the states. And it would have taken weeks to make. Instead, i get it made
in 24 hours. Awesome.
Anyways, we made it to Brad and Amy's hotel, the ShangRi La. And I thought our hotel was fancy. It was child's play compared to where they were staying. Thru her connections, Amy got their room comped, and also upgraded to the penthouse suite on the 12th floor. This room was huge, with a kitchenette, a living room, a huge bedroom, 2 bathrooms, and 3 massive windows with a view. Their hotel was also within walking distance of the Night Bazaar. Which is another giant market. After haggling and purchasing a few things from the market, we stopped in for a 3 Liter tower of Tiger Beer, which becomes important later. This bar we were at (O'malleys) just happened to be playing the Giants vs. Packers game. Sara was in heaven, except for the fact that the Packers lost 38-10.
From the bar, we planning to wander to the river, but instead Brad had the idea of going into a Karaoke bar (apparently this is huge in SE Asia) to sing a song. When we walked in, we realized we had the place to ourselves. Due to the liquid courage we had just imbibed,
our inhibitions were tossed to the side. So we had the bartenders continuously queueing up all the English songs they could find. We sang some real gems such as:
• The theme song to Pocahontas
• Baby, Baby by Justin Bieber
• Heal the World by MJ
• Fireworks by Katy Perry
• The theme song to Aladdin
• Gangham Style (accompanied by a dance), in which even some locals joined to for the dancing portion.
It was pretty hilarious because we are all pretty bad singers, but since we were in Chiang Mai. Anything goes.
The next day, our friends left for Phucket (no its not pronounced how you'd like it to), so Sara and me were on our own again. We used this opportunity to do some normal tourist-y things. We went to Mae Sa elephant camp, where we saw elephants play soccer, shoot hoops, paint pictures and other non-normal elephant activities. It was entertaining enough. But we mainly went so we could go on an elephant ride through the jungle. After that we went a place called Tiger Kingdom. Its über-touristy, but where else can you literally get in a cage with a giant tiger. That was
a lot cooler than I had anticipated. When you are literally inches from them, you realize how powerful of an animal they really are. They could rip you to shreds in the blink of an eye. I was proud of Sara for doing that. I thought she would wimp out.
That night we went to the night bazaar again, because there was a festival called Loi Kratong going on the river. And it was a Thai custom to light off these paper lanterns and send them into the night sky. It is supposed to give you good luck. It was a lot more difficult than it looked, luckily one of the locals saw me struggling and helped me out with my first lantern. By my third attempt, I had it down pat. I lit the lantern, waited for it tho fill up with hot air, and then waited for a gust of wind in order to send it up up and away. Sara said she made a wish for each lantern we sent off. I think the myth of it giving you good luck must be true, because immediately after, I played a carnival game where you try to
knock over three tin cans with one throw. I got it on my first try. So I guess I'm bringing a stuffed Angry Bird pillow back to the states with me. I'm now wondering if one of Sara's wishes for me to win that game. There's got to be better ways to use those wishes, but I guess she's got two left.
Our trip is nearing the end, which is sad. But we have one more stop on our itinerary, Singapore. We know nothing about it, we only selected it because it allowed us to book our tickets using frequent flier miles. So we'll have to wing it, and report back.
-Nick
Video Links: Elephants playing soccer (Mae Sa Elephant Camp):
Brian
non-member comment
TIGER!!!!!
That is awesome you got to chill with a tiger! I am also jealous you got to watch elephants play soccer and basketball. Looks like you guys got to do and see so many awesome things, its been a blast reading your blog!