Woks and Treking

Trip Start Dec 29, 2003

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Thailand Chiang Mai, Thailand
Wednesday, December 31, 2003

First thing I did here was to sign up for a 1-day Thai cooking class. Highly recommend it, just make sure you don't eat breakfast beforehand! We made 5 different single serving dishes, stuffing ourselves after each one. Could hardly move after the fifth dish, had to take a 2 hour nap (it's hard work cooking and eating all day!). New years was that night too. Ended up going out with some people from the cooking class and some others i met a few days earlier on the Mekong river. Pretty cool, bar hopped for a while until we ended up at a night bizarre for the countdown. As soon as midnight hit fireworks went off all over the city, you could see them literally bouncing off of high rise buildings! The coolest sight, though, were the hundreds of candles airlifted by balloons into the night sky. At first I thought they were just really bright stars, but soon we saw strings of them floating up, lingering for the longest time and staying bright for nearly an hour, simply beautiful. Ended up meeting some Thai kids after the fireworks and riding around town on the back of their motorbikes. Cold as hell riding up in the mountains, but a great way to end the night.

Spent the next day recovering. Rented a bike and toured the brick lined streets of the "old city," visiting the numerous wats and temples scattered throughout the side streets. I also went to see Lord of the Rings 3 at a real movie theater! It's been so long since I've seen one of those, and never expected Chiang Mae to have one. But in fact, the theater was in a huge mall complex that looked like something you'd find in the states.

cooking class

Anyway, the weirdest part of the movie was having the entire audience spontaneously stand before the movie started. Soon after standing a 2 minute long clip showing pictures of the great Thai King were majestically collaged over the big screen, pretty hilarious (not a laughing matter for the Thai people, for they very much hold him in high respect, we obviously stood too).

Well, ended my northern Thailand experience with a 3 day trek through the mountains and to some hill tribe villages. I kept hearing that it was THE thing to do up here, and after having done one, I'd definitely agree. First off, it's always great getting into the outdoors, working the muscles and building up a sweat, skipping a few showers and sleeping under the stars. To top it off, we got to hike through some killer primary forest and meet some really nice hill tribe people. The latter, however, wasn't always the case. You could tell that they were use to having tourist/trekkers visiting their villages, for as soon as we arrived in some of the village we found women all dressed up in colorful ceremonial garb (that they'd never wear on a normal day) and armed with loads of bracelets and other trinkets to sell. That part really sucked. I hate starting relationships on a consumer/buyer basis. I mean, i just wanted to interact and talk to them like a normal person, not be in a position to buy some worthless necklace just because the woman has "5 children and no husband." Please don't think me as insensitive, I respect these people tremendously, especially because they're actually working for their money rather than begging and looking for free handouts. It's just that it seemed so unnatural, I really wanted to see real life in a mountain village, spend a few days away from all the selling and hawking of the city. Anyway, it was a cool trip nonetheless. Met some really nice and interesting people, including a kid from new Zealand who works on one of those crazy deep sea fishing boats that goes out to sea for nearly 2 months at a time; and an aussie woman living in the United Arab Emirates who competed in and finished the Morocco Eco Challenge.

Sad to leave Chiang Mae, but the white sand beaches and islands of southern Thailand are calling my name! Off to bangkok for a day, then nothing but rest and relaxation!