NorthernThailand - Chiang Mai

Bangkok to Chiang Mai by overnight train, Thailand Day 40 (March-10)

Today we take the overnight train to Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand. Our tickets are for the second class car. The car has single seats which face each other on both sides of a center aisle. Two seats convert into a lower bed, and an upper bed lowers from above. The conductor performs the conversion, makes the beds, and installs the curtains. The Thai train is rough around the edges, but everything functions just fine. The service is really good, and they bring dinner and breakfast if you order it.

second class train

KR is not happy that the train starts late

I slept with Baby Ted like a rock

I don’t sleep much because the train rocks too hard to sleep on your side. Also, on the top bunks, the curtains don’t block much of the lights, which they leave on all night. The AC is cranked, and I am wearing a hat, long pants, and fleece under the blanket. Vana sleeps through anything.



Chiang Mai, Thailand Day 41 (March-11)

On arrival, we ride Tuk Tuk to the Banapatu hotel without incident. The hotel has everything, is located in the old town, and they rent bicycles. We prepaid our first night from the Bangkok hotel, and then renegotiate the price for our remaining nights in Chiang Mai.

hotel swimming pool

and a cute fish pond

Chiang Mai is in the north of Thailand, and the weather is similar to Luang Prabang (Laos), and Sapa (Vietnam); dry heat, with cooler nights. Unfortunately, the air quality is also terrible from the burning vegetation in the dry season. Activities are also similar; trekking and hill tribe visits. Chiang Mai is a cultural center, and many people come to Chiang Mai to study Thai language, Thai cooking, and Thai healing massage. The heat is a lot more comfortable than steamy Bangkok.

In the evening we bike to the Night Bazaar (just a night market, you seen one, you seen them all), which is located just outside the old city, flanked by 5-star hotels. We pass a strip of Go-Go bars, and street side foot massages on the way. After parking our bikes, a German Holfbrau house appears almost by magic.

we are so stoked

KR studies the menu intensely

boil pork leg

Satisfaction

On the way back we pass a Canadian tourist and remind her to bike on the left side of the road. Surprisingly, it only takes a few minutes to get use to it.


Chiang Mai, Thailand Day 42 (March-12)

Today, we attend Gap’s Thai Culinary Arts School for a one day Thai cooking class. The class starts with a market tour. We see production of fresh coconut milk, and cream. Also, the guide explains the different vegetables and spices that we use. If you like farmer’s markets, this one will make you cream in your jeans; way more variety of stuff, with prices dropped by a few orders of magnitude.

different kind of eggplant - the small ones are used in the green curry in Thailand, which we never had in the U.S.

lemongrass - essential ingredient in any Thai cooking

Chiang Mai famous fried pork skin (non-fat & fat)

Chiang Mai famous sausage

On the cooking menu is; green curry paste, green curry chicken, cashew nut chicken, fish soufflé in banana leave, steamed whole pumpkin with coconut custard, pat thai noodle, Thai Spring rolls, Tom Yum soup, cumber sauce, fried fish cake. Despite the large menu, we do a good portion of the cooking. We have a large lunch; the afternoon session produces a to-go dinner.

cooking station

spring roll

Tom Yum Soup

fried fish cake

cashew nut chicken

fish soufflé in banana leave

green curry chicken

big family lunch, we meet some great friends in the class

The instructor is funny, and keeps us awake whacking the different ingredients with his bamboo sticks. He doesn’t follow our recipe book, adds secret ingredients, and encourages us to cook to taste. Almost everything seems to have curry paste, palm sugar, fish oil, soy sauce, and oyster sauce in various amounts. The instructor doesn’t use any salt (just soy sauce), except in the curry paste. Cook the garlic until you smell. What do you do when you smell? You take a shower! (Vana: I like his not-follow-the-instruction style. Cooking is art, not science.)

Everything tastes pretty good, except our pat thai noodles are terrible. For some reason, it’s tough to get the mix right. We are surprised, because in the US, pat thai always tastes the same. We leave the cooking school with smiles, a new cookbook, and a certificate of Short Course completion in Thai Cooking.

pat thai

cooking certificates

CLICK HERE to see cooking class pictures.


Chiang Mai, Thailand Day 43 (March-13)

Today we hire a car and take a trip east of town. First we visit the handicrafts village. The village is actually a road of small factories, with attached showrooms; but we still enjoy it. We see workers making bronze, wood lacquering, and jewelry. The small wood lacquer boxes with mother of pearl inlays are the prettiest I ever seen. The jewelry showroom is so massive; we just walk right through.





We stop at a shop run by Indian fellows from Cashmere, India. They give us an amazing display of handmade Indian silk rugs. While one fellow explains a rug’s particulars, another fellow unrolls the rug, with a slap on the floor. We get a kick out of their slick display, and “sir” and “madam” in every sentence. We are amazed by the bright, colorful, and intricate patterns.

Apparently, the designer creates a computer program like script for each rug from a graft. Then, a worker follows the script, and hand ties each knot using a loom looking device. After a year, the rug is revealed, when they give it a hair cut with special scissors. Because the knots are all brushed in the same direction, the rug magically changes color when you rotate it.

Our driver is Mr. Moo. He is a former Muai Thai boxer, retired at the typical age of 25. We asked if he ever get hurt; he says many times. He used to drive a tour bus, but now does private hire. He has a Japanese fellow living with his family free of charge. This fellow long passed his visa, and is supposedly waiting for his friend. We ask if we can stay with him as well, and he says he has an extra room; no problem, and no charge. Mr. Moo doesn’t mind that we don’t buy anything, even though he would get a commission.

Next we visit a cave, which was not very special. We then visit a hot springs park, and take a dip in the 100 deg mineral water; again nothing special, but we enjoy it.

hike up the hill to go to the cave

cave

mineral water pool

KR thoroughly enjoys it

For dinner, we eat in the night market in the night bazaar. Chiang Mai is a great place to get all the clothes you might need for your trip, and great prices. The tropical and trekking shirts, shorts, and pants are cheap and pretty good.

night market

night market

CLICK HERE to see picture from this day.


Chiang Mai, Thailand Day 44 (March-14)

Today, Mr. Moo takes us to the more popular tourist sites around Chiang Mai. Kevin is skeptical about visiting parks with trained animals. They seem to have them all; elephant camp, tiger kingdom, monkey center, and snake show. Vana really wants to see elephants, so after some research we head to one of the legitimate camps.

When we arrive the elephants are in the river taking a bath. They love the water, and get a little scrub on their head from their mahouts.

Downstream, two staff members scoop giant floating elephant poo into baskets. After a bath, the elephants take banana and sugar cane snacks from tourists. Everywhere in the camp, elephants are constantly eating by the branch load. Vana can’t get over how cute and happy the elephants are.

Next, we see an elephant show. Although entertaining for the tourists, I wasn’t wild about elephants playing soccer, throwing darts, and painting pictures of plants. My guess is the display is more an expression of intense (and perhaps unpleasant) training, rather than intelligence (Vana: I disagree with KR on this issue. Nonetheless, we both strongly believe in responsible travel). The logging demonstration was interesting, since many of the elephants used to be in the logging industry.

After the show, we take a 1 hour elephant ride around the camp. The mahout rides on the head, and we ride on a seat mounted on the elephants back. There is a slow rocking action to the ride. The pictures turn out great.

taking a bath

get a little scrub on their head from their mahouts

playing with tourist

he totally enjoys this attention

After a bath, the elephants take banana and sugar cane snacks from tourists

staff members scoop giant floating elephant poo into baskets

show starts - throwing darts

Thai Massage

Drawing painting

playing soccer

I think they are trying to kiss each other, but their nose is in the way. much like how I feel when I try to kiss KR

logging demonstration





KR feeding banana

happy elephant

happy Vana

CLICK HERE to see elephant camp pictures.


Next we head to the Tiger Kingdom for lunch, but we skip it, because the food prices are expensive. Vana takes a few pictures from the restaurant. If you pay, you can hold the tigers and take pictures; which seems cheesy to us.

Tiger Kingdom

CLICK HERE to see Tiger Kingdom pictures.

We eat lunch in the Orchid Farm. Vana loves Orchids! Next door, we take a look in a butterflys arboretum.

Orchid Farm

butterflys arboretum

CLICK HERE to see Orchid farm and Butterfly Arboretum pictures.

Finally, we go to the hill tribe museum, but it is closed on Sunday. Instead, we enjoy a 2 hour Thai massage. This one didn’t seem very painful. Either they didn’t do it right, or we are getting used to it.

I’ve decided that I don’t like traditional Thai massage. While working the back, your head is turned on its side on a pillow, which is very uncomfortable. I much prefer the Asian foot massage in the big comfort chair, where they poke the bottom of your feet until you scream, and then come behind to work the shoulders and head. Reward is achieved through submission.



Note: We believe in Responsible travel. So should you.

Responsible travel is about minimizing your impact and maximizing your connection with people and the environment