I have to be honest. When I was planning this trip, I did not intend to visit Thailand...or Asia at all for that matter. It just didn't appeal to me. I kept thinking of people who block the walkways and drive like maniacs. I originally had a layover in Bangkok, but after asking my travel guy if it was worth the visit, I decided to add it to the list. "Trust me," he said, "you are going to want to stay longer." And he was right. So, after leaving Perth at midnight, I arrived in Thailand. I decided to skip protest-land (Bangkok) and head straight up to Chiang Mai.
The city is in the North of Thailand - surrounded by mountains and farm land. I caught a cheap taxi to my hostel (Nam Jai House - excellent place), set down my belongings, changed into "temple appropriate" clothing, and headed out to explore. Within minutes of leaving my hostel, I was at the first of many temples: Wat Chedi Luang. My first impression: Wowza! This specific temple was built in 1401 (crazy!), with a Chedi that was expanded to 86 meters high in 1454. In 1545, an earthquake brought down the top of the Chedi and it remained in ruins until 1991.
Over the next several days, I would continue to visit the many temples around Chiang Mai - taking my shoes off as I entered, and even kneeling down in front of Buddha. Each one was different, but equally as interesting.
I watched monks draw sketches of temples:
And worship:
And play on their phones (I didn't really expect this kind of problem from these students, but kids will be kids!!)...
Then I came here, and decided to take you on your own little mini tour.
You walk through the gates and are greated by me:
You walk to the main entrance:
After taking off your shoes, you walk through the doorway, stepping in with your right foot over the threshold:
You check out the ceiling:
You turn to head back out:
You are back oustide (step out with your left foot):
You can put your shoes back on now!
Most nights, I visited the local food stands for dinner. I had mango sticky rice for dinner at least 4 times in the week and a half I was there. Apparently it's suppose to be dessert.
My first couple of nights were quite lonely! The owners were great and extremely entertaining, but I was basically the only person in the entire hostel. I was so excited when another guest arrived, I quickly (and awkwardly) invited him to go sight seeing with me (he hadn't even put his bags down yet). He declined. He also rejected a later invitation for dinner. I think I was getting creepy at that point. (Don't worry, he eventually gave in...we even met up a few weeks later in Railay). Later that night another guest had arrived and the hostel owner, Phorn, took us all out to a lady boy bar. That's right - they are officially called "lady boys" here...and (lady)boy were some of them hot!
The next day, I went with a hostel mate to get my first (of 3) Thai massage. It was...interesting (and not in a happy ending kind of way). They position you in all sorts of weird, compromising ways. It's really not relaxing until it's over....but it's about $5 for an hour. Can't beat that! (Sorry, no pictures.)
And at night, a group of 4 of us went to dinner and a thai boxing match (an American, a Dutch, a German, and a Chinese..sounds like the start of a good joke). The dinner left something to be desired (literally...they never brought my food out). With everyone's plates brought out one by one, I was left with an empty stomach and high hopes. We asked another waiter (you normally don't see the same one twice), who assured me it was coming...and then another waitress who retook my order....and then FINALLY they brought the food. The wrong food. So I left and had mango sticky rice instead. The Thai boxing was pretty entertaining! It started disturbingly with a pair that looked like they were no more than 13, and finished with a knock out match between legitimate boxers. There was also some blindfolded boxing in there...3 boxers and the ref (who kept getting hit). It was quite hilarious!
There was a Night Bazaar - a nightly market where you can buy incredibly cheap things.
...and also a Saturday Night Market, which was so crowded that actually viewing anything other than the backside of the person in front of you was next to impossible. So we managed to score a few beers (despite alcohol not being sold due to elections) and went back to the hostel to play cards.
And then there was the food...LOTS of food. It was so good and SO cheap. I spent an average of $3 on dinner each night (except when I had mango sticky rice...that was $1.50).
I liked the food so much that I took a cooking class at DA's Organic Farm Hut Thai Cooking School. We started at a local market to get fresh ingredients before heading to a small farm where we used an outdoor kitchen. I cooked four dishes: yellow cury, chicken in coconut milk soup, stir fried chicken with cashew nuts, and (of course) mango sticky rice. And then I ate it all...well, as much as I could. It was amazing!! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera...and I'm still waiting for one of the other students to send me some pictures that will hopefully come.
On one of my final days, I went to the mothership of temples in Chiang Mai: Wat Phrathap Doi Suthep. It's a short but very windy ride out of town, up a mountain. It was built in 1383 and is one of Northern Thailand's most sacred temples. The legend says that the site was chosen by a white elephant who climbed to the spot, trumpeted, circled counterclockwise three times, then knelt down and immediately died (apparently this is a good sign). We had to climb about 300 stairs to get to the top and it was incredibly crowded....but still a wonderful site. This chedi is the most sacred area of the temple:
On the way back down the mountain, we decided to stop off at a lovely little waterfall. There was a vendor selling fried bugs. One of the guys got a "sampler platter" with a lovely array of crickets, worms, water bugs, etc. I cringed as they ate each one...but eventually I gave in and tried a little worm. It tasted like fried air..........but pieces were stuck in my teeth (ewwwww!!)
I loved Chiang Mai! The drivers were still maniacs (actually, in a good way), but the temples were gorgeous, and the people were extremely friendly. I stayed longer than expected (waiting for Chinese New Year, which was far less exciting than I had hoped), but enjoyed every day.
Next stop: elephant land.
~Jac
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