Welcome to Chiang Mai!
We arrived in Chiang Mai Tuesday morning after a 10 hour overnight bus from Bangkok. Though we were told for 650 Baht we would be on a “first class bus” we are quite certain we were on the extreme budget bus. Oh well…we made it safe and sound.
Chiang Mai was drastically different than Bangkok from the beginning. The air smelled clean, the tuk tuk and taxi drivers didn’t harass us and our view was of the mountains and open blue sky rather than building upon building.
We headed off in a taxi to our hotel…and by taxi I mean a red pick-up truck with a covered bed that contained two bench seats. The back was open and there were two rectangular windows cut out of the sides.
Matt immediately lay down and passed out…his feet hanging out the back of the truck.
We arrived at our hotel…the Canyanon Boutique Lodge and Villa…it was quite nice, quiet (set in a gated neighborhood), and clean…despite the ants swarming our room. We got settled before realizing this hotel did not remind us of the one we had researched online, nor was it close to the city center…nor was it the hotel we thought we had booked! We immediately looked online and low and behold we had booked the wrong hotel. After a phone call to booking.com and thanks to the extremely kind and helpful front desk lady Ani, we were able to cancel our reservation free of charge and book the hotel we thought we had booked…the Chaing Thai House, a 10 minute walk from the city center.
We arrived at the “correct” hotel and were very pleased. We checked in, had a delicious breakfast, took a power nap and looked over the myriad of brochures in the lobby for massages, trekking adventures, ATV tours, cooking classes, even Thai Soulmates…almost anything one could want to do they had three or more companies that offered a similar program.
We decided to do a 4+ hour cooking class that afternoon at the Asia Scenic Cooking School. Much to my surprise Matt willingly agreed to participate…he actually seemed a bit excited. We arrived at the cooking course and were introduced to our instructor Bai. She was very sweet, spoke English quite well and was so enthusiastic about Thai cooking. It was clear it was her passion.
There were four other people in the class. Jen and Edo from California and Richard from England with his Thai girlfriend, escort, wife?(…not too sure what their relationship was comprised of...)We all chose a category of a meal that the entire group would make. Matt and I chose appetizer, Jen and Edo chose noodle dish, Richard and his “girlfriend” chose stir fry…and we all were to make a curry as well. Within those four categories each person was able to decide which dish on the menu they would like to learn to make.
After we all decided our menu, we walked into town and went to a Thai market where we purchased all the ingredients to prepare our dishes.
We learned about Thai ingredients, how they are made, and substitutions that we can use to prepare the dishes back home.
Back in the school we had a “surprise.” We sat around the table and two plates were brought before us. Carefully arranged around a small bowl of a cane sugar reduction (similar to honey) were roasted peanuts, toasted coconut, small pieces of lime (with skin), ginger, small green chili’s (very HOT!), chopped shallots, and betel leaves. Suposively this is a very typical dish, Meang Kum, served to royalty and when one invites company to their home. It is almost an honor to be served this. We folded the leaves to create cups, added all the ingredients, spooned the cane sugar over it and ate it all in one bite. YUMMY!
As Bai explained..balance, detail and variety are important to Thai cooking. Thai food is known for it’s balance of the five fundamental taste senses in each dish or the overall meal: hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty, and (optional) bitter..this dish embodies them all!
Now, it was time to put our cooking skills to the test! The first dish we made was the noodle dish. Matt made the Pad Thai (the most difficult dish)...
Matt was amazing in the kitchen…finely chopping all his ingredients, cooking with the wok, remembering the correct order to add his ingredients…he was a natural. I will continue to remind him of this when we cook at home…now I know how capable he is!
We enjoyed our noodles and then made our appetizer. We both really wanted to learn how to make spring rolls! Once again, Matt made his to perfection…one of mine split while I was rolling the dough around the ingredients. Even the Thai girlfriend was impressed by Matt!
(Unfortunately, we had a photographer at the cooking school catching us in action, and were supposed to be able to access our photos on the website, but the camera was stolen and there are no pictures from the day of our class )
Following all our delicious dishes…our bellies full to the brim, we decided to go with Jen and Edo to the Sunday Market, a weekly market where people from all over the region come to sell their goods.
They had so many exquisite things…clothing, wall hangings, paintings, purses, belts…It was so different than the market in Bangkok as everything seemed original and handmade and the vendors took great pride in their work. Once I have a house and some money I would love to return and buy things to decorate my home.
As we were getting ready to go back to our hotel we passed the most ornate gold temple...
...and a student talent show!
The next morning we got up very early to try and book a last minute spot in an adventure trek program. Luckily Chok Chai Tours had room for us and at 8:30am we were picked up for a truly adventure packed day! Along with five other people we headed off to the jungle. Along the way, we stopped at a butterfly and orchid farm. They had sooo many orchids in all different colors!
The next stop was elephant riding. Matt and I hopped on a huge elephant…we named him Nelly…and crossed the river to head into the jungle. The seat we were on was not all that comfortable but the experience was special.
We got to feed Nelly an entire bunch of bananas and ride him without his trainer.
Next time, I would like to ride on his head as the trainer did!
Our next activity was canopy ziplining. We “trekked” up to the first of 19 stations and off we went.
Next time, I would like to ride on his head as the trainer did!Our next activity was canopy ziplining. We “trekked” up to the first of 19 stations and off we went.
They attached us all different ways…sometimes we were sitting going from station to station, other times we were flying like superman, a few times Matt and I got to go together, and others we were attached to a rope and repelled down to a lower platform...it was more like we were dropped!
We went back to the base camp for a buffet lunch before heading off to go swimming in a nearby waterfall. The water was very refreshing (it was a HOT day)and the views were amazing.
We returned to the base camp and “boarded” a bamboo raft. Two men pushed us down the river with long bamboo poles. It was shocking how dirty the water was and how much trash had accumulated in the branches nearby the river’s edge. We all piled back in the van and drove deeper into the jungle down some very rugged terrain.
We arrived at the starting point of our white water rafting adventure. I guess they didn’t think I was strong enough as they stuck me in the front of the raft in the middle of Matt and one of the “captains” with no paddle. Since neither of us had every white water rafted we really enjoyed this experience.
Our final stop was at a “five tribe village.” Basically, a few individuals from each tribe have moved to this village to be close to the city and take advantage of tourism to send money back to their tribe. Not exactly what we were expecting, and although they claim it was the “five tribe village” we only got to see a few Long Neck Karen Tribe…and some of them really were LONG!
We were a bit disappointed by this portion of the program...but quick to remember that none of the tribes are indigenous of Thailand. For a real tribal experience we would need to go to Burma...
Tired, dirty, and smelly we returned to our hotel, grabbed some dinner, and decided that we would leave for the beaches tomorrow. We booked a flight to Phuket, from where we will head off to the islands for some much needed R&R as we truly have been going nonstop since September 6.
I am so excited to read my book, sit on the beach, and practice some of our Thai cooking skills in a beach bungalow!
Stay thirsty my friends,
Lindsey and Matt
We went back to the base camp for a buffet lunch before heading off to go swimming in a nearby waterfall. The water was very refreshing (it was a HOT day)and the views were amazing.
We returned to the base camp and “boarded” a bamboo raft. Two men pushed us down the river with long bamboo poles. It was shocking how dirty the water was and how much trash had accumulated in the branches nearby the river’s edge. We all piled back in the van and drove deeper into the jungle down some very rugged terrain.
We arrived at the starting point of our white water rafting adventure. I guess they didn’t think I was strong enough as they stuck me in the front of the raft in the middle of Matt and one of the “captains” with no paddle. Since neither of us had every white water rafted we really enjoyed this experience.
Our final stop was at a “five tribe village.” Basically, a few individuals from each tribe have moved to this village to be close to the city and take advantage of tourism to send money back to their tribe. Not exactly what we were expecting, and although they claim it was the “five tribe village” we only got to see a few Long Neck Karen Tribe…and some of them really were LONG!
We were a bit disappointed by this portion of the program...but quick to remember that none of the tribes are indigenous of Thailand. For a real tribal experience we would need to go to Burma...
Tired, dirty, and smelly we returned to our hotel, grabbed some dinner, and decided that we would leave for the beaches tomorrow. We booked a flight to Phuket, from where we will head off to the islands for some much needed R&R as we truly have been going nonstop since September 6.
I am so excited to read my book, sit on the beach, and practice some of our Thai cooking skills in a beach bungalow!
Stay thirsty my friends,
Lindsey and Matt
you two can practise your newly acquired thai cooking skills in my kitchen ANYTIME!! xoxo
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