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| New Monk Ceremony |
When planning my trip to Chiang Mai, I was concerned with
how much time I had allotted. I had heard so many people talk about how much
they love Chiang Mai but many people had a hard time putting their finger on
why. I am now a part of that group. Maybe reliving my trip through writing this
post will help me figure out why J
I took an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and had
no idea what to expect before I got on board. The trip was supposed to be 12
hours so with a book, food, and my ability to sleep pretty much anywhere I was
set. I was on the top bunk which literally meant I was laying in bed at 7pm
haha. But when I fell asleep there was no one else in my section of 4 beds,
when I woke up there was an Asian family below me having breakfast. I couldn’t
help but think of 500 Days of Summer “I don’t know how to tell you this, but
there is an Asian family in our bathroom” haha made me laugh. Anyways, somehow
this 12 hour journey had turned into a 16 hour one. The poor worker was so annoyed by me I am sure, but how the heck was I supposed to know when we were there?! I only asked a couple of times but I would have like to ask about 15. Finally, looking and
feeling haggard I arrived in Chiang Mai and somehow had a tuk tuk waiting for
me. I had booked a room at a hostel called Julie’s and apparently they had a
pick up service!
Quick note on Julies: this hostel was AWESOME for meeting
people. It has a great common area with
food/ drink, pool tables, lots of seating etc. The prices are pretty much
unbeatable to stay here. Of course the accommodation is average and there isn’t
any glitz or glam, but it is perfect for a backpackers hostel.
Once I got to Julie’s and was settled in my room, I decided
to explore a bit. Chiang Mai is WAY bigger than I was imagining. I am pretty
sure I was there for 10 days and didn’t see everything. While I was here I met
a group of people which made the trip much better. In Chiang Mai, I went to
massive shopping markets, rented a bicycle, got massages, went to many temples,
took a side adventure to Pai for a few days with a friend I met traveling (more
on Pai later), ate so much food, bought a few books, etc. I’m only going to
elaborate on a couple of things otherwise I might end up writing a novel!
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| On our organic farm tour |
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| Master chef status HA |
First is the cooking class. I have never taken a cooking class before, and was super excited for this. A couple of girls I had met had taken one from the same company (Asia Scenic Cooking) and had only positive things to say, so Claire (who I met in Chiang Mai) decided to sign up. It was a blast! I was slightly concerned because my cooking skills are not always up to par, but our instructor helped and gave very good instructions. When signing up you can take just a regular course at the cooking school, or you can take a tour of an organic farm and cook there. Claire and I had chose to just go to the cooking school, but when we arrived we were the only ones in our class so we got a free upgrade to the farm tour! We made things like fried spring rolls, cashew chicken, massaman curry, fried bananas, and mango with sticky rice. Everything was delicious, and we left very full. My advice would be to go on an empty stomach because you are pretty much going to be eating multiple meals in about a 3 hour time frame. Overall the cooking class was a success, and I would highly recommend it to chefs (and want to be chefs) of all skill levels!
In Chiang Mai there are pretty much temples on every corner,
so I have pictures of many. I had been told that there was a temple I had to go
to but of course I kept putting it off, putting it off because I had seen so
many temples already. On my last day in Chiang Mai I made myself get up early
and go. This was temple Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, which is the most famous and
visited temple in Chiang Mai. To get there I took a tuk tuk to the zoo, where I
was dropped off and then a Song-taew
(basically a pick up truck with seats in the back) waits until it is
full and then you are on your way up the mountain. It is a very windy trip and
there was definitely some people that were not feeling so hot in the truck.
Also I read about how to get there in my lonely planet Thailand book, and they
said that this was the easiest way… but who knows. Be ready to walk up TONS of
stairs (no Anna, not like the one we went to in Laos… thank goodness) it is
totally do able, I am just complaining haha. Also WARNING: do not take pictures
of the really cute kids sitting in traditional Thai garb on the stairs. I did
so on the way up and I learned the hard way. They will come charging at you and
pull on your clothes until you give them money.
I felt so dumb haha, because of course I screamed because they scared
the crap out of me, then I was cracking up because I was by myself and so
flustered. Besides being bullied by these kids and almost rolling down the
stairs, to top it all off I didn’t even get a good picture!
On the walk down the kids were still sitting on the stairs,
many of them crying. I then realized their mom or dad or someone would be
sitting off to the side telling them to get money from people and more
specifically who to target. These poor kids were so hot and tired, and probably
sick of sitting there day after day. All of this resulted in my feeling bad for
taking the picture in the first place, and buying about ten of them something
cold to drink, because that solves everything? Regardless they were very
thankful.
One more random side note! If you are in Thailand In April
make Chiang Mai a must do on your list! In Mid-April is the Songkran Festival
also known as Thai New Year. I was so upset that I had to leave a few days
before it started because the city was already preparing for it. I also had
friends who were there and said it was the highlight of their two months of
traveling. http://travelthumb.com/thailand-holidays/songkran-festival-2013/ Here is a link that will better describe the festival J
