Advertisement
Published: February 19th 2008
Chiang Mai
I can't believe I made these wonderful spring rolls!Morning rolled around on Jan. 2nd, and we headed off to the bus station to hopefully meet up with our new friends and head north to Chiang Mai. It was very easy and straight forward, that is, until we found out the brutal news that every single bus to Chiang Mai was already full. Again, 'Happy New Year' was to blame, as it was the day after New Years and everyone was returning home after their holidays.
The only possibility of getting to Chiang Mai that day was if we were to buy a ticket, get on the bus, and stand in the aisle for the whole six hour ride! It sounded pretty bad, but it was also better than staying in Sukhothai for another evening, since the buses were likely to be full the next day and we all wanted to get moving.
So we went for it; the four of us filed onto the bus last, and we weren't the only ones standing either. After the first hour, we ended up getting one seat, so the four of us took turns, rotating every fifteen minutes or so to sit down. An hour later, another seat became available,
Chiang Mai
Produce section at a Chiang Mai market and we managed to grab it too.
It wasn't so bad, with playing musical chairs and having friends to laugh with about the situation, the bus ride actually flew by. That is, until the last hour, when we pulled into the last town before Chiang Mai. There was a huge crowd of people and they all wanted on the bus. In the end, the bus was packed solid; every seat was full and some were even holding two. And there were 30, yes 30 additional people standing in the aisle of the bus (no exaggeration, we counted)!
It was really good to get off the bus after a long, strange ride. Even better was the fact that we were all in a place that many travellers say is one of their most memorable. The great northern city of Chiang Mai! We all piled into a red, bench-seated 'Songthaew', basically a covered pick-up truck turned mini-bus, and were dropped off near the hotels of our choice to find some accommodation. We ended up at different hotels in the same area, but made plans to meet for dinner once we had all settled in.
Our place was quite nice.
Chiang Mai
Pretty painting on the door of our hotel room There were lots of wooden Thai style carvings, a small rock garden, hand painted doors, carved wooden furniture, and a swimming pool. Sadly, no one was using it, since Chiang Mai was quite a bit cooler than in the South. However, our room did have the usual erratic electric shower that went freezing cold, then stopped as soon as our neighbours turned their shower on. The view was decent though, beautiful hilly jungle in the distance, with a few small shops where locals gathered and chatted while smoking cigarettes as cars casually drove by.
Chiang Mai had the buzz of Bangkok, but on a way mellower level. The traffic had the usual congested, smoggy feel on the main roads, but a more relaxed, slower pace on the maze of cobblestone alleys of the side streets. On those streets, it was a good idea to be wary of motorbikes, which would fly fast out of nowhere, whipping by pedestrians without a worry in the world.
The city is made for the late night partiers and the early to bed, early to rise crowd as well. Later on our first night, we met with Emilie and Heiner for dinner, then
Chiang Mai
Fresh chicken for sale went to explore the Night Bazaar, a huge area, mostly for tourists, filled with clothing, jewelry, CDs, carvings, purses, lanterns, fans...and the list goes on forever. An amazing place just to wander around and take in all the action.
There were many other places to shop, like the huge markets that took up blocks and blocks of Chiang Mai. They were filled with locals, all shopping for cloth (including beautiful silks), spices, food, and all sorts of other consumer goods. There were also tons of more expensive, but better quality handicraft and silver shops lined along the streets everywhere, but especially Ratchadamnoen Road. A place for all budgets.
After spending our next day shopping, exploring the streets and admiring the wats of Chiang Mai, we met Emilie and Heiner again for dinner. We ended up going to a bar/restaurant called 'The Cozy Corner', for a bite and a drink. The food was surprisingly good and we had a bit of a laugh there. The place was full of older men and younger Thai girls, and we looked a little out of place. Suddenly, our waitress, along with a few others, came out of a back room in costume.
Chiang Mai
Guy making coconut cream They all got up on the 'stage' (the bar) and did a 'traditional dance'. Well, we thought it was a traditional dance, until we saw a real traditional dancer later on. It was more of a 'wiggle and giggle' dance, still entertaining, and the girls were beautiful, but it was mainly to gain the attention of the single male patrons of the bar.
Later, we made our way to the Night Bazaar, where we watched in amazement as our friend Emilie, the master haggler, did the talking while we just sat back and enjoyed the show. Thanks to her master techniques and friendly nature, Christine saved quite a bit on some very pretty skirts.
Wandering the streets near the bazaar, we spotted elephants roaming along with their mahouts, or trainers riding them cross-legged. It was very strange to look around while crossing the street, and spot an elephant coming up the lane. Throws you off the traffic a bit. The trainers would offer to sell you bananas or sugar cane to feed their always hungry elephants.
We decided to take a Thai cooking course for the day, not that Andy needed help and Christine needed too much!
Chiang Mai
Get your pigs heads here! All kidding aside, it would be great just to learn some local recipes. We first piled into a bench lined truck in front of our hotel, then headed off to the local food market for the first part of our class. A guide led us around while explaining about the different types of rice, spices, sauces and other ingredients used in Thai cooking. We saw how coconut is processed to create coconut cream, how chilies are dried and how different pastes are used.
The market was filled with every imaginable (and some undescribable) fruits and veg, as well as a large section where whole skinned chickens had their feet up, saluting the air and large pigs heads grinned up as we walked past. Buckets were filled with live fish, thrashing and splashing around. Vendors called out their goods, and people shopped for their dinners.
Back to the truck, for a half hour drive to the organic farm where our cooking class was held. We were given a tour of the property, which was just incredible. The farm was filled with growing plants of sweet basil and cilantro, papaya and banana trees, lemongrass, and also had a big ginger
Chiang Mai
Dude, where's my hat? cat lazing around like it owned the place (which every farm needs, of course). We were all given huge straw Thai farmer hats to wear as we explored the farm on the outskirts of Chiang Mai.
Then on to the cooking. Throughout the day we were taught to make classic Thai dishes such as Pad Thai, Tom Yam soup, green and red curries, spring rolls, coconut chicken and mango with sweet and sticky rice. At one point, the teacher looked over into Andy's wok and said 'Hey, how come your Pad Thai looks better than mine?'. We didn't tell her that Andy cooks for a living.
The food we made was really delicious! After completing each meal, we all shared and ate them, but after eating so much food we probably gained ten pounds or so. There was a lot of groaning and holding of stomachs as we loaded into the back of the vehicle at the end of the cooking class to return to our guesthouse.
Later, we met again with our travel buddies, Emilie and Heiner. They told us a funny story about our guest house complaining to them that we had booked a cooking
class, but not with their travel agency. Apparently they were pretty unimpressed and kept giving us nasty looks for the rest of the time that we were there, which luckily was only one more day.
We really liked Chiang Mai and enjoyed the great company of our two new buddies. We went for a delicious dinner for the last time, as we were heading off the next morning to the Thai border and they were to fly south in a few days. We said our goodbyes to Emilie and Heiner, and told them that we hope to meet in the future, as we plan on visiting France in the spring.
Early the next morning, we were on our way. First, our trip started out with a minibus ride stuffed full of other travellers. It lasted around six hours or so, too long in our opinion. The driver was the usual speed demon who seemed like he wanted to scare everyone, and possibly give them motion sickness as well. One poor lady had to sit with her head almost hanging out the window as we sped past other vehicles, swerving from one lane to the other.
After six
Chiang Mai
Andy in his natural habitat hours, and two drivers (they switched half way, and luckily, the second one was much better), we arrived at our goal, the town of Chiang Khong. We checked into a guesthouse on the edge of the Mekong river, at the border of Thailand and Laos. There we spent the night, then woke early to an amazing sunrise over the river. The Thai side was still and quiet, while across the river, the roosters in Laos were making sure that everyone for miles around was wide awake. We quickly packed up our gear, then were driven a very short distance to the Thailand border crossing on the side of the river. Time to cross the water into Laos.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.107s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0786s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jen
non-member comment
Goddam!!
You're making me very hungry with all this food talk!! Yum! As always, am loving the pics and the stories :) xo