Chiang Mai
Trip Start
May 29, 2008
1
48
102
Trip End
Dec 19, 2008
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Friday, August 29, 2008
Our hotel was right in the heart of the main attraction which was the Kalare Night Market. We took a Tuk Tuk aka rickshaw to get to our hotel in style with all of our luggage on top of us. By this time, I was getting addicted to daily 7-11 trips to get the Oishi Green Iced Tea which was available everywhere and I was a big fan. Luckily for us there was a 7-11 a block away from us in pretty much every direction. You can never get enough 7-11 in Thailand.
After settling in we had to map out our assault on the city. Literally, every single day was action packed in this city and we didn't even get to do everything there was to experience.
Our first night we had dinner at the Chedi which was a boutique, chic hotel right on the river
Thai Massage Kinetics
. Not having a sense of distance we decided to take a Tuk Tuk taxi to the Chedi. We negotiated price with the Tuk Tuk and thought we were getting a decent deal until he drove around the block for a couple hundred feet and dropped us off. We could've skipped to the place faster. At least, we knew our hotel was centrally located to pretty much everything Chiang Mai had to offer. Score! The Chedi was a fantastic hotel as it had a minimalist elegance throughout and a really cool ambience. We had an overpriced meal that was pretty good and were going to leave but saw this cozy little corner of the second floor bar that we had to lounge at for after-dinner drinks. It was a really romantic setting. Unfortunately, the pictures don't really represent how nice it was but they give you an idea. Afterwards, we made our way to the Kalare Night Bazaar this time by foot. We didn't really do any shopping but just soaked in the atmosphere. There were tons of food vendors selling pad thai for about a buck and other fantastic food not exceeding $2. The market wasn't as impressive as Bangkok's because it had more of a Westernized, sanitary feel to it and they didn't sell squirrels like the Bangkok market did. Yeah, anything that's too clean isn't authentic - it was made for tourists. They had some neat Thai dancing that was put on every night for free. The next day we decided to visit Doi Suthep by mophead aka Thai Harley-Davidson's
Got flowers?
. We looked pretty hardcore riding up the hills putt-putting along with Rachel's hot pink hog and my fashionable helmet. I think we're ready for Sturgis after that experience - I wonder how long it takes to get to South Dakota from Thailand - Kleiers may know. Anyways, our brilliant plan of riding up the mountain to Doi Suthep instead of paying a ridiculous amount to a guided car driver was foiled when it started raining....no....pouring is a more appropriate word for it. We were stranded for a while but had a chance to stare down the cars whizzing past us and look really hardcore next to our boss hogs! Doi Suthep was a pretty interesting temple and Buddhist sanctuary. We had to walk over 300 steps to the top and I've been pretty good at killing two birds with one stone by fitting in workouts into our sightseeing so I had to run to the top. I think everyone thought I was a little off sprinting up to the top and really weird when I started jumping around, fists clenched above my head like Rocky at the top of the stairs. That victory was short-lived as a guard interrupted and asked for my ticket. The temple was neat as we had to take off our shoes to enter - Rachel always thought somebody would steal our shoes when we had to do it. The street value of stinky, sweaty, old, used, and ripped shoes must be pretty high in Thailand. She finally was able to let go and we entered the temple where it was filled with primarily buddhas and other idols to worship. There was a monk sanctuary attached, so we went to check it out
Tempura Flowers
. Rachel was interested in learning more about what they believe. They don't eat solid foods after 12 and they don't eat meat - that dashed our hopes of joining the monkhood before even putting on a sash and robe. When we left, we had to stop to purchase 2 items from vendors near the temple: coconut water out of a fresh coconut and hot dog filled waffle. Nothing like combining an authentic Thai beverage like coconut water with a hot dog filled waffle. The highlight of this stop definitely had to be the unending massages for $4 an hour. We definitely took advantage getting at least one a day and sometimes twice a day. We did the whole gamut too going from oil to authentic Thai massages to foot to hour-long facial massages. The lap of luxury for $4 a pop. By far, our favorite had to be the hot stone massage where they cover your body in hot, round stones that really enhance the experience. We splurged on this one as we paid $15 per hour for one of the best, if not the best, massages we've ever received. The place was called Loi Kroh Massage if anyone's hanging out in Chiang Mai anytime soon. It's just east of Des Moines in case anyone's wondering.
We also had a chance to go enjoy a Thai cooking class for a day. Rachel and I purposely chose this one because they taught us how to make those useless but amazing garnishes
Flower Soup
. We felt bad after doing them because whenever we see them on our plates it's an afterthought, but it takes so much time and skill to create them. So the next time you have a cool garnish on your plate - take some time to admire it. A chef gave it some TLC. After that, we made some of the most fantastic Thai food. We made spring/egg rolls, sweet and sour pork soup, chicken fried in plantains, and a dish I fell in love with - Green curry with chicken, coconut milk, basil, kaffir leaves, and more goodness. A couple of the students dug into the refrigerator to have some beers and we assumed they were offered for free - they charged us at the end. After all was said and done, we were equipped to be master Thai cooks - all we would need are microwaveable versions of our instructor's food. Later on that night we went to a couple of nightspots that we read about. First stop was to a Thai boxing ring that interchanged between muay thai boxing and cross-dressing men aka ladyboys. We thought we'd get some muay thai boxing but found that there was no boxing that night - just ladyboy fun. We waited patiently for the ladyboy performance by killing time with pool and ConnectFour - yeah, they had ConnectFour! We were the only ones in the joint there to watch. Finally, the action started and it was hilarious. We didn't know if it was ok to laugh, but we did it anyway. I really couldn't tell if they wanted to be taken seriously as lipsyncers but they were no Milli-Vanilli, although you could make an argument that Milli-Vanilli looked similar to the Thai ladyboys
Spicy Flower Salad
. At any rate, it was good fun and we even got a picture with one. Next, we went across the street to THC Rooftop Bar. This was an alternative reggae bar with a killer rooftop bar. It wasn't anything fancy but a cool concept. We liked it a lot as you have to take your shoes off to go into the bar and everybody sits on the ground which is made of bamboo mats overlooking central Chiang Mai. The drinks were well-priced at $2 a piece. Getting down was pretty difficult as you have to walk down from stairs at the top of the bar barefoot and the way they mix drinks it makes it a challenge to keep your footing after a few.
The Riverside bar was also a really cool hangout with tourists and locals alike. It was right on the river, hence the name, and had some of the best food in town. The décor was cool and the bar atmosphere was cozy and lively. They had this really good cover band that sang American songs pretty dang accurately. I was stumped in the beginning as I thought it was a DJ mixing these songs but it wasn't until we got to the bottom of the bar that we saw the band. All Thai singers that were killer good. I especially liked the time they sang "Play That Funky Music White Boy". Only fitting for an all-Thai band.
The next day, we headed out to a village in the hills to mix with the locals "Long Neck Karens" they called them
Leaf Eating Tree Hugger!
. They were women that, due to local custom, had put rings around their necks. It probably just helped them to eavesdrop into other conversations at restaurants for gossiping. Actually, they say that they were originally placed on women by their husbands so that if they were unfaithful, the husbands could cut off the rings and the neck could not support itself. This would break their neck immediately! Makes a scarlet letter not sound so bad. The whole village was absolutely beautiful with vibrant colors, very peaceful, mountainous background, and rice paddy plantations all surrounding it. Rachel fell in love with this quaint village. Oh yeah, and we tried our hand (or should I say neck) at putting on the rings. They look pretty good on us, don't you think?Back to Chaing Mai. By this time, I had become addicted to the green tea almond blizzards at Dairy Queen. Sounds weird, but they're so refreshing. We also had a chance to stop by this cool little tea house called Tianzi which was a nice little retreat from the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai. We tried this super-potent tea and had some other macrobiotic foods - we don't know what macrobiotic means but it sounded cool and figured it must be good for us if it sounds scientific.
Our last stop definitely was our best in Chiang Mai and probably the coolest cultural experience we had thus far
Thai Dancing
. We took a trip to Sai Mok Flower House outside of the city and, in the most, unassuming of places, but it was a marvelous place. We had heard of this place as an off-the-radar blip on the tour magazine (they didn't even have room to put it on the map but said it was a great place to visit). The restaurant was a flower restaurant - yup, edible flowers galore in different dishes. We had to go. We tried patronizing the place 3 days in a row but they were not open and it wasn't until we gave the restaurant a call and had to talk to the owner to allow us to come. They were actually closed for about 6 months, as the owner was traveling, but she was back for a short while to host guests for a party. She told us we could come and join in on the party. Thai hospitality at its best! We promptly arrived at the time they told us to come to find an eclectic scene in the middle of a beautiful garden with music and diverse foods. They had phenomenal pina coladas and small stations of unique food. We were welcomed with open arms by the owners. They had set aside a special table for us to serve dishes they only prepared for us. We had a chance to mingle with their friends that were from everywhere from England to Hawaii. They had some cool art & music friends as well. One of the guys was well-renowned and known as the Thai John Denver. Another performed a painting to live music. We also got to see some young Thai schoolgirls perform traditional Thai dancing. We had a chance to visit with a real cool guy from Hawaii - one of the owners' friends - and he really warmed us up to everyone which made us feel comfortable
The Chedi
. The owner also was real cool. I saved the best experience for last which was the food. Imagine the most exotic meal you could ever eat and then that coming to life. The flower dinner exceeded our expectations, as we originally just thought it would be cool to say we had an edible flower dinner. You'd expect it to taste pretty much like fresh grass - not this stuff. They included orchids, star flowers, large petaled flowers, you name it in our dishes and created a fantastic dinner bouquet. They made us flower tempura, flower soup which we loved, and the last was flower salad which was to die for. We were absolutely amazed not only at the presentation and uniqueness of the food but at how good tasting it was. This concept I think would take off in the States.
It was really surreal how astonishing the whole event was. We were really taken aback and it is, by far, the best cultural experience we've had on this trip. We loved it and will cherish the experience. It was at this moment that realization sets in and you have to step back and just relish in the fact that you're in Thailand and can't get another experience like this anywhere in the world. Those moments are fantastic because you get so caught up when you're traveling on itineraries and the next thing you need to get to, but it was great to purely enjoy the moment. We wondered what our parents, Mar and Erick were doing at that exact moment on the other side of the world. No, we weren't on acid or ecstasy to get that type of feeling - purely heroine for us. That was a joke for the people that don't know us.
