Thailands culture capital
Trip Start
Dec 14, 2007
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68
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Trip End
Mar 16, 2009
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Thursday, April 17, 2008
While Inge-Marie took advantage of the free internet to do some research and book our accommodation in Cambodia and Vietnam I spent almost and entire day on foot exploring the temples and surrounds. It was exhausting walking around the city as April is their hottest month and the humidity is plus 80%. Fortunately there are many food stalls along the way that offer a little protection from the sun and serve cool drinks. I was also lucky enough to stumble across the woman's prison in town who offer really cheap massages as part of their rehabilitation program
Chiang Mai
. Prisoners are taught skills before their release and traditional massage is seen a good way for the woman to make a living. I sat back for almost 40 minutes and had all the pain massaged out of my feet for a measly US$2.5. Afterwards I set-off to the next temple I stumbled across a food stall specialising in mango and sticky rice pudding which was fresh and delicious and left me recharged for a few more temples.On our last day in Chiang Mai Inge-Marie and I decided on two separate activities which would give us a much needed break as we'd been together just about every minute from the start of the trip. Inge-Marie had chosen a Thai cooking class and I chose a road trip up to the boarder of Thailand, Laos & Myanmar to an area called the Golden Triangle.
The Golden Triangle was a piece of no-mans land between the 3 countries that was used to grow opium. It seems now the neighbouring countries have clamped down and the area is now clean of any poppies. Part of the trip was a tour on the Mekong river which is one of the longest in the world to a little river island on the Laos side where cheap whiskey and cigarettes can be bought. Its really just a novelty stop to see and taste the different whiskies on offer that are flavorous with amongst others cobras, geckos, tiger penis
Mae Nam Ping river
. The whiskey was not of a very good quality and I'm sure anything more than a sip wasn't safe for human consumption but I guess having a cobra in a bottle is a nice souvenir. I was just concerned about how many innocent animals were killed only to be stuffed in a bottle as a souvenir. We also got to visit a hill tribe village that was inhabited by nomadic tribe called the Long Necks. The name is obviously derived from the fact the woman wear traditional copper rings around their necks and the more they have the longer their necks stretch. It is said that the more rings the woman wore the more beautiful she become. On top of this a good woman is also identified by having black teeth, the blacker the better. They are able to achieve this by chewing something called a beetle nut and seem very proud to show-off their teeth.
IMH: I thoroughly enjoyed the Thai cooking class. It was very well presented by the Thai team at Baan Thai Cookery School. Upon arrival we were educated on Thai fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, flavourings - such as fish sauce and rice varieties by visiting the local market. I now know that sticky rice is a rice variety which is steamed and not boiled and not merely 'rice cooked to be sticky'. Each person attending the course prepared their own portion of each of the five dishes on schedule for that day
Mobile band
. Before we got cooking, we were able to enjoy many of the local fruits and an amazingly flavoursome Thai welcome snack all bought fresh earlier at the local market. I'm proud to report that we cooked stir fried chicken with cashew nuts, spicy noodle salad and chicken coconut soup, our own Thai red curry paste from scratch (no electrical blenders or food processors), fishcakes and red curry with the curry paste we made. I can't wait to entertain again as Thai food is easy to prepare in 'bulk' as well, by cutting and preparing the ingredients before the guests arrive and then add it all together, cook it quickly and serve. Luckily I also received a great little cook book (even though it's in pigeon English) to jog my memory when I get home.It was wonderful to be able to visit Chiang Mai and the surrounding area and it's a pity that more people don't venture further than Bangkok.
