Ah, Chiang Mai. You have probably heard about the magnificent and magical place north of Thailand countless times from everyone who has passed through its doors, but I'm still going to tell you again anyway. Chiang Mai is a place nobody should ever miss. From lush Buddhist retreats ad massage schools to beautiful temples, you’d find calmness in Chiang Mai like no place else.
We arrived in Chiang Mai on a humid morning as the sun was rising. A cab took us to the city and to our hostel, The Royal Guesthouse, which was situated somewhere in the back lane. Well, it would have been a nice place if they could put some extra lighting around the reception, which looked really dark and gloomy. We wanted to check in and get our bags out of the way before exploring the city, so we went to the reception to get our keys. Two Thai girls were giggling behind the desk and looked at us as if we just landed from the moon. We showed them our confirmation letter and only then did they get busy; getting the keys, and printing the receipt.
Our room was at the second floor of what looks like an old mansion, and at every equally dark corridor corners there were statues of ancient Hindu/Buddhist figures. I don't know the significance of having them around but they added some creepiness to the already creepy place. Probably the only saving grace was the hostel had a swimming pool, which nobody wanted to use. It looked tempting, though.
We decided we will stay only one night and move elsewhere tomorrow. So after the bags were securely chucked against the wall, off we went to get some breakfast. Chiang Mai was already awake and busy; we went into a 7 Eleven and grabbed some sandwiches and buns and some instant coffee. Then we began walking until we reached Wat Chedi Luang. After the customary tour and some photographs, we passed a small travel agents’ and went to enquire if they have any cooking classes on sale.
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The inside of Wat Chedi
Luang, Chiang Mai |
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The inside of Wat Chedi
Luang, Chiang Mai |
Our guide and chef, Kiki, was one funny guy. He took us to the market along with two Caucasian girls and began shopping for our cooking spree later. He also showed us and name all the fruits and vegetables that will be used for the cooking. Being Asians, it was all too familiar for us; but the Caucasians were intrigued. After about 45 minutes spent at the market, off we went to school.
Once there, Kiki helped us set up all the things we just bought. The school already chopped up all the ingredients we would be using, along with the appropriate measurements. We were given choices of 4 dishes each to cook, so I picked tom yum, pad thai, mango sticky rice and red curry.
We set off to work. First we chopped up some remaining vegetables that Kiki just bought. Then we took the readily chopped stuff and fried them to glory. Then we put in some water, onions, tom yum paste and voila! Tom Yum soup from yours truly! Before long we were already discussing the possibilities of setting up a restaurant.
The session took about 4 hours. We cooked the tom yum and ate it. Then we cooked pad thai and red curry, and ate those as well. Finally we made mango sticky rice and gorged on that too. At the end of the session we were so stuffed and went back to our guesthouse like a bloated elephant.
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That’s Kiki giving a demo
at the market |
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All the ingredients
chopped and packed for our arrival |
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My cooking partner and me,
pounding something for our pad thai |
The Night Bazaar, situated at the far end of Loy Kroh and next to Le Meridien Chiang Mai, is a colorful sight. I loved it. We walked along what appears to be a never ending walkway filled with stalls selling everything from T-shirts to sex toys. We walked into a food court and wanted to try the famous Chiang Mai dish called Khao Soi, a type of egg noodle served with rich curry soup. We found only one shop selling that in the entire food court, and ordered one. It was so heavenly I ended up eating Khao Soi for most of my meals in Chiang Mai.
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Chiang Mai Night Market |
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Chiang Mai Night Market |
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The famous Khao Soi, or
egg noodles in curry soup |
On the way back we stopped for another massage and booked a tour package to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle for the day after. We went back to the guesthouse and fell flat on our backs.
The next morning, we woke up early because we wanted to move house. After checking out we went back to Loy Kroh and checked into a small guesthouse called Centreplace, a HI ( Hostelling International ) affliated hostel. Well at least the rooms we were given were airy and bright. We chucked out bags and off we went to get a songthaew to take us to the Hilltop Temple, Doi Suthep.
Doi Suthep was located
about 35 minutes’ drive from Chiang Mai town centre, and it involves driving
through a windy road. The cool mountain air brushed our faces as we climbed
steadily through the steep mountain road. The songthaew driver agreed to wait
for us until we came back, for which we charged us 300B for the trip.
So up we went, and took
incredible amount of photos of Buddhist monks and Buddha statues. The view from
the lookout point would have been amazing if there was no haze. Light haze
blocked our view. After a bit of halfhearted prayers, we left. We got down the
windy road and was promptly dropped off at where we were picked up, just in
time for lunch.
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Doi Suthep Hilltop Temple |
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Doi Suthep Hilltop Temple |
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All smiles next to Buddha! |
We chose a healthy, green,
environmental friendly café that served only vegetarian options. The price
quoted didn’t seem to match their vegetarian status, though. It was expensive.
We decided to hire bicycles and do the Chiang Mai Walking loop – in the hot sun. Halfway through we gave up, returned the bicycle and
went for ice cream instead.
I also made plans to meet
a friend who was a housemate when I was backpacking New Zealand. Wen, from
Taiwan who is in Chiang Mai to learn massage, will be heading to Brussels in
time for Christmas. We met Wen and went for street dinner at the Chiang Mai
Gate, and reminisced on our times in New Zealand. Then, we went to yet another
Night Market and bought all sorts of things we didn’t need.
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Chiang Mai River and
street food |
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From deep south of New
Zealand to top north of Thailand..that’s Wen Hsiu Hwang from Taiwan. |
After a quick breakfast the
next morning, we were picked up in a van filled with about 8 other foreigners,
all bound for Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle. Our first destination was the
Chiang Rai Hot Springs, which was a little more than a small well filled with
sprouting hot water in the middle of a car park surrounded by souvenir stalls.
We used the washrooms here and grabbed a quick coffee, before we continued our
journey to Wat Rong Khun, or the White Temple, in Chiang Rai.
When we arrived, the place
was already packed. The temple was coated in white, so pure and beautiful it
made my eyes hurt. There’s a brief history about Wat Rong Khun and how no
photographs are allowed inside the main temple. It was the most beautiful religious
architecture I have ever seen, and from the looks on the faces of others, I
could say the same for them too. Then there was the most beautiful toilet in
the world, a magnificent yellow building with rows of toilets. It was really
beautiful we didn’t have the heart to take a piss in them.
We spent about 1.5 hours
in The White Temple, and then we were off to the Golden Triangle, where the
Mekong connects the three countries ; Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. You could
take a slow boat across the river into Laos for some souvenir shopping. We
skipped this and went for some ice cream while waiting for the rest. After they
returned we were taken to a very nice restaurant overlooking the river, and
overlooking the Myanmar part of the riverbank. The buffet was sumptuous and it
was included in the package, so we tucked in heartily and attempted to make
small talk with our fellow van mates half heartedly because everyone was busy
trying to finish their food and take second helpings.
After lunch, we went to
Mae Sai, the northernmost part of Thailand, to the Myanmar border. There was a
huge market here selling souvenirs, tshirts, mugs, stamps and fruit wines. From
this vantage point you could see the Mae Sai Immigration checkpoint and the
bridge connecting Myanmar and Thailand. We spent about an hour here and then
was taken to the Karen Long Neck Village.
Brief history from the
guide was – the Karen tribe are natives of Myanmar who fled
their country and came to Chiang Rai through the mountains. The Government of
Thailand rehabilitated them and gave them villages to stay close to the
mountains and made those villages a tourist spot, apparently. The women of the
Karen tribes are called Long Necks because they wear a brass ring on their
necks ( and sometimes legs ) from a young age to promote long neck and umm…shapely legs. Apparently long necks
and long, shapely legs enhances a woman’s beauty. The Karens’ also make a
living by selling handmade bamboo crafts and hand woven shawls which are
exquisitely done and super cheap. Tourists can support their trade by buying
their wares and contributing to the local economy.
We toured the Karen Log
Neck village for approximately and hour and even tried on the brass ring on our
necks. Man that was some heavy stuff. We bought some handmade souvenirs and
took some photos with them and their lifestyle before calling it a day and
going back to Chiang Mai.
We reached Chiang Mai
around 9pm, and we were dead tired. But in the true spirit of traveling and
seeing that the nightlife in Chiang Mai only just begun, we decided to go have
some Khao Soi, a massage and a beer. We rolled back into the guesthouse feeling
so contented and extremely tired.
The next day we woke up
early to go to a Buddhist temple where prayers were going on. We joined the
monks and nuns and offered prayers and fruits and flowers to Buddha, and then
promptly ran out to get our coffee fix. So much for being religious. As we had
an early flight to catch, we packed up, checked out, flagged down a songthaew
and left to the airport for our flight home.
Chiang Mai is an amazing
place, and I can’t wait to go back!
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