24-01-10
It has been all to long since I wrote anything.
Chiang Mai was as great as I expected it to be. Unfortunately I didn’t get to spend enough time there.
The first day I got my bearings. I rode up to the hill top temple with a few others from the hostel. It was a nice sight to see. Countless Buddha figures, golden mosaics, and the like. Beside the regular tourist fare, it would have been a peaceful retreat from the city.
The afternoon was spent walking around the main “downtown” area of Chiang Mai, seeing about 4 or 5 different Wats or Temples, and grabbing a snack. I was trying not to fill up before my evening of cooking and marathon eating at Baan Thai cooking school.
From 4pm till about 9pm I joined 8 other strangers for a cooking class. We started out by going to the market nearby, where we were given the low down on local vegetables, fruits, coconut milk, etc. We made a total of five dishes each. I made papaya salad, stir-fried chicken cashew nut, coconut milk and chicken soup, chiang mai noodle, and mango sticky rice. All very tasty. It was really hard to eat all if it, and I ended up taking some of it back to the hostel with me. I was really surprised how easy all of it was to make, and how quick too.
I spent the later part of the night perusing the night market and buying only two small items, a coin purse and some essential oils/smell goody things.
The second day in Chiang Mai I joined a tour group for a day trek. Although there was little actual trekking involved, I did have a great time. We rode in a truck for about an hour before stopping briefly at a orchid and butterfly farm, then going on to one of the highlights of the trip-elephant riding.
We went to an elephant sanctuary of sorts out in the middle of nowhere. There were several elephants, a few male, female, and one baby elephant. Some were very old, almost 40 years, and other quite young. We were able to take pictures with them, feed them, and then finally ride them. While feeding them, we learned to say “apa” meaning open, and the elephants would open their mouths, and we would then throw in pineapple, banana, etc. They were so adorable, yet so large, strong and intimidating. The baby elephant was only 6 months, and really mischievous.
When it was time to ride the elephants, everyone else was coupled up, so I ended up riding one with the other solo traveler, a man from Switzerland named Andy. We had a good time riding on the elephant. We were very nervous at first, as we were a top the largest male elephant, yet we gradually gained confidence in the beast, and rode it with some ease after a while. We even took turns riding on the neck of the elephant, which was just an amazing experience.
The tour took us all rafting in the afternoon, first white water rafting, then bamboo rafting. Both were fairly exciting, but the white water rafting was much more action packed, despite the small rapids. It was the first time I have ever been rafting, and I really enjoyed it, I think I will have to go again sometime!
The tour ended and I went back to the hostel to join a large barbeque with the other people staying at Spicy Thai . It was a load of fun and I think I played the largest game of King’s Cup ever in my life. Quite exciting. Afterwards we all went out to the bars and clubs of Chiang Mai and painted the town until there was no longer any wet paint in my bucket at about 7am.
The next day I lazed about then went to the Tiger Kingdom outside of Chiang Mai to “play” with the big cats. By “play” I really mean just quietly pet and look at the tigers while my heart raced inside of me at 1000 beats per minute. It was a once in a lifetime sort of a thing-just phenomenal.
That event pretty much sums up the end of my time in Chiang Mai. The next day I headed out to Luang Prabang Laos, where I started feeling really horrible. I checked into a hospital there that afternoon and got a few shots, an IV, and a vague diagnosis. I think it is just some sort of undeveloped country bug making its way through my intestines…its almost gone. Needless to say, hospitals in Laos, not the cleanest, finest places in the world.
I am going to take a chance today and go out to see a waterfall, hopefully my stomach agrees with the decision.
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