Chiang Mai
Trip Start
Aug 20, 2008
1
14
15
Trip End
Apr 14, 2009
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The place rightly boasts that its Bangkok`s cultural capital and its hard not to disagree. My first day there took me on a happy jaunt around the many many stunning temples that give the town such character, each one is more charming than the next. Most of them are set out in quiet residential areas with lots of green space and a fairly rip roaring hunger for gold leaf. Whether its the dragons that guard the entrances or the sumptuous roofs of the pagodas themselves, its like an elaborate exercise in chocolate bar wrapper origami. You could go blind with enthusiasm for Northern Thailand's architectural heritage. Literally! But for such a bustling city, the temples offer some well needed respite and incense stick tranquility.....even if it`s just watching in wonder at the colourful parade of monks in their orange robes as they serenely walk about (or in one case play a very poorly co-ordinated game of soccer!)
As luck would have it the city was en fète when I arrived, with the Loi Kathrong festival in full swing. This lantern festival is celebrated nationwide but Chiang Mai is one of the best spots to enjoy the colour and spectacle. The first evening I arrived I stood enthralled watching the colourful parade slowly wind its way through one of the main streets that skirts the famous moat in the city centre. It was a magical riot of music, dance, costume and elaborately decorated floats - there was so much colour and joie de vivre, it really was a feast for the eyes. Despite all the fun on the streets, it had been a stressful day (I put it all in the book) so I decided the best thing would be to bring myself on a wander through the evening streets. Lo and behold, a few random turns later and I had discovered Chiang Mai`s very own gay quarter - well three tiny bars anyway. Well when in Rome! As I was belting my way through the vodka, it didn´t take long before one of the locals made an approach and asked whether or not I had "a Thai friend". I diplomatically explained that I had lots of friends, before hurriedly fleeing into the night. That`ll learn me!
After feasting myself on culture, I decided to go back to what I do best i.e feasting on Thai food. So that had to mean spending a day doing a Thai Cookery course. The school was Ban Thai (www.cookinthai.com) and it turned out to be great fun. After choosing our own menus for the day from the set list (I plumbed for Pad Thai, Fish cakes, Sweet n Sour Soup, Penang Currey and Mango & Sticky Rice desert in case you care) we were marched off to the local market to purchase the ingredients and get a crash course in local produce. Compared to the limited fare on offer in most European markets, it was an eye opening experience. Apart from the vast array of spices on offer, we were shown a range of fruit and veg not currently available in Lidl, such as the small Thai garlic cloves with delicate skins that can be cooked without skinning, morning glory (ahem) aka water spinach, dragon fruit, a staggering variety of chillies, okra beans and the tasty purple fruit- mangosteen. No wonder their diet is so incredible!
Back at the kitchen we all got stuck into our various dishes - though it was to become a delicious though filling day as we had to down our food after each meal was finished. If you ever do the course, keep a tape worm handy. Much of the food was pre-prepared so it wasn`t took taxing even for the biggest novice and best of all we got our own menus to bring back home and try out on our friends (this is an official warning!)
Feeling ever so slightly like one of the plump Buddhas inside many of the Temples, the next day I decided to take myself out of the city and do one of the jungle tours. It was all just a bit touristy. First off was a trek through the jungle on elephants from a nearby reserve, which did make you feel like a complete colonial idiot before the breathtaking views began distracting. Off we went, strapped into essentially a wicker basket on top of these lumbering creatures (getting a steady picture was next to impossible) through rivers, along gorges and then down into the lush valley beyond. Ok it was cheesy as hell but great fun! Then not to be outdone, we swapped livestock and were brought back on a cart pulled by oxen. I`m surprised they didn`t make us wear leopard skin togas. Afterwards we were treated to a ´show´ featuring the elephants at the Reserve. Out they poor things were trotted for our photographic gratification and made debase themselves by painting pictures with their trunks, doing the occasional dance and formation routines. Oh and one of them gave a guide a massage. Hmmmm.......all I could sense from look in the eyes of one of the performing elephants was: ¨Please - just kill me now. And make it swift!¨. After that we were brought downstream on a bamboo boat - basically just a series of bamboo logs lashed together and erm that`s it (lifejackets???? my arse..) I have to say despite the searing afternoon heat it was incredibly relaxing as we sallied our way over the currents at about 5Km per hour. Yes those colonial stirrings were back again, but I was too zenned out to notice.
Back on terra firma, there was time for a quick bite to eat and then it was time to get the bus bringing me to the Laos border for the long boat journey to Luang Prabang. The culture could take a break....I was now firmly on the backpacker trail.
