Chiang Mai

Coming from India, I was expecting the worst when we booked our second-class sleeper train to Chiang Mai. However, we boarded (with 2 minutes to spare) and got to our luxurious seats with a spacious bed, cushion, curtains, bed sheets, and pillow. We even had an eccentric butler that made our beds and helped us with our luggage, etc. I felt like I was in heaven considering my last train in India had a 3x5 plastic bed (if you could call it that) and just stopped running half way through the trip. We hadn’t spent 5 minutes on the train when a young guy from Liverpool comes up to us asking if we would like to join him and some of his friends for some beers in the restaurant car (which turns into a night club on the weekends with the help of disco ball and flashing lasers). He ends up lingering for 45 minutes while we talk about where we’ve been and where we’re going. While it was Saturday night, we both partied last night and were kinda looking forward to having a relaxing night train up north. Heather passed out immediately of course while I relaxed and did my usual night train routine. I was pleasantly surprised about how well I slept. Kudos Thailand. Kudos.

Gearing up for Chiang Mai on the train

We arrived in Chiang Mai at about 10am and told a songtaew (a red pickup truck that is the primary public transportation in the north) to take us to the gate of the old city. In my experience, it’s always best to show up without a reservation and scout the different places to stay and possibly haggle your price. We looked at a few guesthouses and they’re ok, but when we arrive at Kavil, we knew we had to stay here. Kavil guesthouse is recommended by lonely planet but we didn’t realize this until after checking in and sharing a fan room for 250 baht a night… or about 4 dollars each. Pretty sweet if you ask me. It’s a family run operation and they are the cutest thing you can imagine. They are the epitome of a genuine welcoming Thai family and hey have a little Chihuahua that is the most adorable thing on the planet. Highly recommended.

Showering is the only thing on our mind once we relieve our shoulders from the 50lbs backpacks we’re lugging around on our hides. After freshening up, we had the remainder of the day to explore! First, its time to test the northern Thai cuisine so we went across the street to small family restaurant. I get a spicy chicken soup with plenty of lemongrass, ginger and lime leaves. It was ok but nothing special. Luckily my Thai tea saved the day and it was glorious!

Yummy Thai iced tea!

We did a walking tour through the old city, which is surrounded by a moat…. Yes, a moat. Cool huh? We walked to Wat Chedi Luang, which has a temple that was built nearly 800 years ago. After walking around, we see a few monks just lounging on some picnic tables and there’s a sign indicating you can chat with them. This was such a cool experience because we marched over and had an hour-long conversation with a novice monk who was 22 years old. We covered various topics ranging from Buddhism, life as a monk, traveling, languages, and more. It was an enlightening experience since both Heather and I knew nothing about the religion. It’s also a great opportunity for them to practice their English skills…. Though they do need to work on their accent. Every time he said, “great”, it sounded like “clit”. We asked him to repeat himself several times because we were sure he wasn’t intending on saying, “a clit experience”. Ha-ha.

We moved onto a different temple called Wat Phra Singh. It’s famous for their sleeping Buddha and beautiful gardens (and now their deadly mosquitoes!). We saw the sights and it was perfect timing because the Sunday Market was just beginning. The Sunday Market starts at 4pm and takes up the entire Ratchadammoen Road. There are artists, vendors, street food, knickknacks and whatever you want. After Heather and I tried a local organic wine made from longon (a native fruit similar to lychee) we purchased a bottle that we enjoyed a few days later. There were tons of people navigating the intricate pathways of the market, searching for that special deal. We did our fair share of bargaining until we found a couple amazing food stands. There was sushi for 5 baht each piece so we loaded up on that, had some dim sum, pork pastry, and finally a chocolate banana waffle. Not a bad way to wrap up the evening.

Sunday Market madness

My alarm sounded at 7am because we have a full day of adventuring ahead of us. The day before, we booked a tour that included a trip to an orchid farm, a visit to the long necked women, elephants ridding, trekking to a waterfall, and white water rafting. You ask how could you do that all in one day, but its possible and it was no question a highlight of the trip so far.

Before they picked us up in a songteaw, we had a complimentary breakfast at the guesthouse that was f*$#ing out of this world. I also got to try dragon fruit for the first time, which is a fuchsia colored fruit and a cross between a kiwi and mango. We then jump on board with 8 other people and are crammed into the back of this small and super uncomfortable truck. No seatbelts mind you and there’s probably no oxygen either, only noxious gases.

It’s about a 30-minute drive to the orchid farm and its gorgeous. All the long corridors of vibrant flowers are mesmerizing.  We then set off to the Karen village, home to the famous long-necked women. They fled Burma many years ago and have many different tribes in northern Thailand. They have coils of rings around their neck that they start at age 3 and add an extra ring about every year to two years. Eventually their necks become freakishly long. However if they were to remove them, they would actually break their neck because all the neck muscles have atrophied. They originally started to use the rings as protection from tigers after one woman was mauled, but over time it turned into a superficial reason where the longer the neck, the more attractive you are.

I have to say, I am a bit of a hypocrite. I complained about the constant photos some Indian people would take of me yet here I was, taking pictures of the long necked women of Thailand. I felt like I was exploiting them solely because they are different. I was so uncomfortable, and while I don’t know if they felt the same way, they must relentlessly feel awkward about foreigners roaming the streets of their village taking pictures of their strange appearance. For this reason, I am not posting the pictures I took of them.

After about 20 minutes of invading the Karen village, we boarded the songtaew so we could ride some elephants. While I already rode an elephant in Jaipur, this was particularly special because it was in the jungle. Heather and I jumped on top of Mimbay (our elephant) and we marched town a trail to the water. Because we are not the same weight ratio, I found myself leaning hard to port, to balance my side of the platform. Awesome for my self-esteem. But Mimbay didn’t care and he was a good but slow elephant. He took his time, making each step count and sporadically stopping to pull some vines to eat. We didn’t mind because that just meant a longer ride for us!

Lunch was complimentary however it was just rice with some squash and tofu served with a side of pineapple. Not the best meal but I layered my rice with spicy chili sauce and that made a world of difference. I loooooove my spicy food! Oh and I must have eaten 2 pineapples.

There wasn’t much time to linger, because the next thing on our itinerary was trekking. This is the stuff I like to do…. And my trekking repertoire in the Himalayas was spectacular. We started off in the plains and made our way up between 2 mountains where we followed a stream. It was absolutely gorgeous and because it was monsoon season, there was plenty of water and consequently, there was no saving our shoes. They got soaked immediately as we hopped from rock to rock, or in Heather’s case, fall from rock to rock. At the summit of our hike, we reached a magnificent waterfall with plenty of people jumping in the pool of water to clear off all the salt and sweat. The water was cool, but not cold. It felt just right and we spent about a half hour letting the water hit our backs and taking it all in. Paradise.

When we returned to the truck, it was only a 5-minute truck ride to get to the white water rafting spot. Other groups joined and there were about 20 of us, all put into boats of 4-5 people. There was an introductory portion where they explained how to hold your paddle, certain commands to obey, and what to do if you fall off. Heather and I both have rafted before but it had been at least 10 years so it was a nice refresher course. However, it’s hard to understand broken Thai English.

We were the first group to get into the boats and head down the river. Our boat master or steerer was a crazy man. He kept saying there was a 100 meter waterfall just ahead and to be careful of the anacondas and the crocodiles in the water. Of course with his thick Thai accent, he repeatedly said cok –a-di, cok-a-di! Furthermore, once we got into smooth water, he must have pushed me over the edge about 6 times. Every time I managed to get back on the raft (which is not an easy task mind you) he pushed me back in. I was the only one he did this to. Not cool man, not cool.

We honestly had the most fabulous day. We made friends with all of our other trekkers and exchanged emails so we could swap pictures. One Turkish couple is living in Singapore that we might get together with once we reach there in a month. I am not a big “guided tour” fan but it was money well spent because we got to do a majority of the things on our list done in one day. We had the time of our lives.

Needless to say, once we finally got back to Kavil guesthouse, we were exhausted, dirty, and STARVING! We immediately showered and headed out to a healthy dinner. I got the vegetable soup and a traditional northern Thai papaya salad. It totally hit the spot and we were happy campers. When our heads hit the pillow that evening, we were out like a light.

All we wanted to do after our full day of adventuring was sleep in. we arose from the dead and desperately needed to do laundry. It took some time, though it hadn’t even been a week since I last did laundry. I then promised the folks I would call them (I've officially been on the road a month now!) so I suppose I could take time to give them a ring. We spoke for about 20 minutes about my experience in Thailand so far, how it compared to India, and where we are headed next. My blog was discussed and how they love reading it (hope yall are enjoying it too! It is fun to capture all my experiences and share them with you).  It was great connecting with the real world but I'm not finished with my crusade. I have about 2 months to go and I never want to leave…. sorry mom and dad… but it’s the truth.

Heather and I decide to live the life in Chiang Mai for the day as a local. We got some lunch at a Thai café before walking towards the Ping River. We took our time with everything. No rush. There are numerous tour shops, bookshops, Thai massage parlors, cafes, bars, etc. This city is truly amazing. We parked ourselves at the Riverside café for a jug of beer. Our seats were right on the water (which flooded the bottom level because of the monsoon rain). Beers, laughs, stories, and pure ecstasy followed, all the while watching the storm come in from the west with the small long tailed boats zip up and down the river.

Though it was just starting to drizzle, we made our way to Chiang Mai’s famous night bazaar. It’s a huge area filled with the same thing you see in every bazaar. It was cool but its nothing we haven’t seen before. I managed to buy a new bathing suit for the islands in a few days but that was about it. The rain was starting to really come down now but we didn’t care. We walked back to the old city where we had a nice romantic dinner at an Italian restaurant. We shared a salad and a pizza, something I haven’t had in a looooong time. All I've eaten in the past month is straight Indian or Thai food. I'm not complaining but it was delightful to finally get something other then curry, rice, or naan in my stomach.            

Our last full day in Chiang Mai was something special. We woke up early to take a half-day course at a Thai cooking school, which just so happened to be located across the street from our guesthouse. We arrived at Baan Thai Cookery School at 9:30 where there were 5 other people in our class. Two girls were from Chico, California, a couple from Ireland, and an older man from Argentina. We all got to know each other while we walked to the market to get acquainted with Thai produce, rice, and tofu. They have so many different ingredients here but a lot of them I've seen in the supermarkets at home, you just never know what they are. Americans rarely venture past the broccoli, zucchini, and carrots. I am now familiar with lemongrass, Thai basil, chili lime leaves, pea eggplant, and Thai ginger. All things I've never seen before but are frequently used in cooking here.

Getting ready to cook some good ole Thai food!

The spring rolls are ready for frying!

Baan Thai gave us certain things for us to carry back to the school in our baskets. I got the eggs and ginger. When we got back, we started our cookery lessons. From each category (appetizers, main course, curry, and soup) we got to choose 1 of which we’d like to make. I love to cook but I am completely unfamiliar with the wok but with some practice, I got the hang of it I started out with prawns in curry sauce. It turned out amazing… just the right consistency and spice for me. Heather made pad Thai and we swapped taste tests from each. Next was onto the appetizers. I made spring rolls and heather made fish cakes. Both were super good but also greasy… I've never been a big fan of the deep fryer. The third course was chicken in coconut milk, which was good, but I’d definitely leave out some of the ingredients…. I’m not a fan of lemongrass. By this time, we are all feeling a bit full (for Christ’s sake, we’ve had 3 courses already!). But we have one meal left and we both chose the red panang curry with pork. This has to be my favorite and I cannot wait to test it when I get home! Dad, I know your salivating, but just wait, ok?

Clearly, we were in a serious food coma. We returned to our accommodations to chill but that of course turned into a nap. I woke up to a nightmare in a panic. I literally felt like I was being shaken up from a coma. I have never been in such a deep sleep in my life and could have slept for the next 2 days if I wanted to. But we managed to get up because we needed to purchase our train tickets back to Bangkok and then onto Koh Phangan for tomorrow. We got a tuk tuk to the train station and bought our tickets for tomorrow evening at 6pm. Then we bought our bus/ferry tickets from Bangkok to Koh Phangan from a private store. It was nice to know that we were all set to go to the islands for the full moon party!

We returned to the guesthouse once again but I needed to get this food baby out of my system so I decided to do a sunset run. I ran around the moat that encompasses the old city of Chiang Mai. It took me about 45 minutes but it felt amazing, even in the heat and humidity.

For our final night in the city, we decided to go to a muy Thai boxing match. To start  we shared our local bottle of vino in the downstairs lounge area of our guesthouse where we met a few other travelers and chatted it up with them for a while. The show was at 9pm so we sipped our last drops of longon wine and headed around the block to the stadium. We told Nikita, Amanda, Nola, and Marcus (the from Thai cooking class earlier) about the fight that night but we were very surprised that they took us up on our offer. We saw them as we walked in and joined them in the 2nd row of “cheap seats”.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with muy Thai boxing, it’s a very unique but ancient tradition in the Thai culture. Its boxing that has 5 rounds and you are allowed to use your hands, elbows, legs, knees, and feet to stike your opponent. All of us noobs got a Chang to gulp down as the matches were just beginning. There were 7 fights which culminated with the professionals in the 6^th and 7^th. The first fight was between 2 young men that must have been no older then 14 years old. We all definitely felt awkward as they beat each other up for money in the stadium full of shouting coaches, scantily dressed women, beer, smoke, and tourists. Something is not right about this situation…. The second fight was a girl fight where one was clearly the winner and knocked the other girl out in the 3^rd round. That was after her titty popped out cause she was an idiot and forgot to wear a sports bra to the match.

The fights got better as the beers kept arriving and the night went on. I even got the courage to ask the band (who was playing this ridiculous music consisting of chimes, an odd trumpet, and drums). They basically made noise in no particular rhythm for the duration of the night. I asked the guy playing the chimes if I could take his place for one round. Not to brag, but I think he was kinda jealous when he realized how good I was. I got my first 6 rounds right as I called out who I thought would win. Of course, I put a 100 baht bet on the 7^th round but lost when my guy got knocked out cold in the 2^nd round. Dammit…. At least its only 3 bucks.

Heather was feeling weary eyed so we walked her back to the room so she could pass out. I however was still up to check out the nightlife with Nola and Marcus. There was a cool bar around the corner, which we made a nice home for the next few hours…. Or until they kicked us out. We started off with some more Chang but that suddenly changed when they ordered a cocktail for me. I wasn’t about to refuse a drink even though I knew that mixing wine, beer and vodka never turns out well. Regardless, we gossip about various different topics before returning to their hotel so we could take a dip in the pool. That didn’t last long though cause they kicked us out for being too noisy. Rude. So we called it a night but not before exchanging info and hopefully Heather and I will get an opportunity to meet up with them later near the islands.

As you may have guessed, the next morning was a rough one for me. I was sooooooo hungover! And we have to shower, pack, and get ready for our sleeper train back to Bangkok that night. I did not pick a good day to be hot mess from too much booze. It was a slow process, and I could tell Heather was trying to be very patient with me. I finally got my shi!t together so we could go eat. We went to a local restaurant but I didn’t have much of an appetite. However, we did mange to see a college football game between Purdue and Middle Tennessee. I have no idea how they got it, or how old it was, but it was nice to see a little taste of back home. 

Because we wanted to keep it mellow and not get too sweaty for our train ride, we determined it was a perfect opportunity to get a Thai foot massage. It was especially good timing after my 4 mile run last night… my feet were super sore. We found the perfect spot and spent 150 baht… or about 5 dollars for an hours massage. We both were in heaven as we watched the ladies work their magic for the next 60 minutes. We didn’t have much time before we had to leave so we got some water, snacks, and our luggage and set off for the railway station.

Chiang Mai was a beautiful city and is definitely a gem in northern Thailand. If I had more time, I would have loved to have seen more of the countryside and even take a bus into Laos. But I suppose that will have to wait for another trip. So far, Thailand has been everything I thought it would be, and more. I’m off to a good start and now Heather and I are moving south to the famous tropical island beaches. Be jealous. Be very jealous.