Chaing Mai - The North of Thailand

J It was early in the evening when we touched down in the small airport just outside of Chiang Mai. After collecting our bags we took a local Taxi service to our guest house. It was fairly painless, and only cost a few dollars, thanks to the booth setup at the airport. We had found a decent place that was close to both the night market and the old town, plus it had a pool! Once again our friends at HostelWorld.com the famed "Sonny", who ran the show, he had a strange sense of humor, but was always smiling and always there, waiting, poor guy worked at least 12 hrs a day. We had come a day early then our booking, and when we informed him we had booked for 6 days he told us there was a weekly rate. Upon first glance this was a good thing, unfortunately all it did was end up in causing me frustration, more on this later.

Sonny said we would have to pay for the one night, and that he would ask the owner if we could pay the weekly rate, but we would have to wait until the next day. So we paid $800 Baht for the one night, and left it at that. The room was big and included a fridge, T.V., A/C, a decent size bathroom, and to top it off there were computers with internet for free. After getting settled we decided to go for a walk and find the night market.

The tuk-tuk drivers were once again plentiful like in Bangkok, but we decided after all the flying we had done that day a walk was in-order. After staring at our map a few times and the occasional stop at 7-11, we finally found the night market, it was a good 15 minute walk, but of course we didn't take the most direct route that first night. The night market was booth after-booth of stalls selling everything from t-shirts to wooden frogs to new suitcases to store all the crap you might end-up buying. Not that it was all crap, just most of it. Then again to each his/her own. Admittedly we ended up buying quite a few souvenirs while in Chiang Mai, and on the last day, a new bag to put it all in. lol

We walked from one end of the market to the other, stopping along the way to see what sort of goodies might catch our fancy. Michelle was quite worried as I played the barter game a few times, but I knew it was to my advantage to get prices then wait until we were ready to purchase. We bought a few small things here and there, but after an hour of dodging hellos and avoiding eye contact we found ourselves at the epi-centre of the night market. On one side of the street McDonald's, on the other, Hagan Dazs and Starbucks. We had worked up an appetite over the last hour and decided to stop at a restaurant called Dukes.

It was quite obviously (like it's neighbors) owned by foreigners, but we found the prices fair and the food choices tantalizing. I had the rib sampler and a bowl of Chili. Michelle had a warm spinach salad. We throughly enjoyed the meal, both because of the attentive and numerous staff, and because the food came out quickly and tasted delicious. I proclaimed right then and there that we would return.

After our meal we walked through some more of the night market before taking a tuk-tuk back to our guest house. I got my fix of BBC news and Michelle had a shower. One of the little known facts about showers in this part of the world is that they usually aren't defined by a little glass/ceramic enclosure like us Westerners are used to, they usually are just affixed to the wall, the bathroom being fully tiled, and you get water all over the toilet, sink, etc. So make sure you TP is high and dry when your taking a shower in S.E. Asia! lol

The next morning we started our day talking with Sonny, the guy who always seemed to be at reception. He had spoke with his Manager, and they decided to give me two options. I could sign up for the weekly rate, and loose my deposit, or I could keep my deposit and pay the regular fee, even if I stayed a week. Both options seemed pretty unfair. Upon deciding on loosing the deposit I asked him if the weekly rate would include the one night we had already stayed, and he explained it did not and we would have to stay 7 more nights. I was quite frustrated by this point, but we weren't about to leave the guest house in search of another, although looking back maybe we should have.

I decided to walk off my frustration and so Michelle and I did a bit of exploring of the city. Our guest house was smack-dab in the middle of the old town, which was surrounded by a moat! After passing two 7-11's we found a fresh fruit vendor and enjoyed some Pineapple and Cantelope as we walked parallel to the moat for a bit, little remains of the brick wall that also used to surround the old city. It was soon closing on noon and the heat of the day was upon us.

Interestingly tuk-tuks were not our only choice for transportation in Chiang Mai. Bigger and subsequently more safe (because of the extra wheel) songteaws were soon to be our new favorite ride. They basically look like little pickup trucks with two sets of benchs in the back. More people mean lower fares, and generally they were more willing to negotiate prices then the tuk-tuk drivers. So we took a songteaw to the newer part of Chiang Mai and then got out to walk around and see the sights. Our first stop, yep, an internet cafe. We had walked a few blocks but the heat was too much so we needed to chill for a bit. After two hours online, we crossed the street and ate at Mike's, a burger joint. It wasn't stellar, but it was certainly Western food. We continued on our way and walked past the local university, knowing full well we wouldn't fit in we didn't enter onto the premises. We eventually got bored with walking and took another songteaw home, right in time to enjoy rush-hour in Chiang Mai. lol

Back at the guesthouse, we thought we would look into the various tours that M.D. house had to offer. We decided upon an elephant ride and bamboo rafting excursion we would go on the next day. We also signed up for a full 7 more nights in Chaing Mai, and made plans for doing a Thai cooking course with Pad Thai Cookery school, which had been recommended by our friend Marcia. We chose to go to a restaurant called The Riverside Restaraunt and do their river cruise/dinner. However when we got there we found it had been fully booked. We decided we would go another night, but we stayed and had a nice meal on the bank of the ping river.

After dinner we declined a tuk-tuk that wouldn't negotiate price, and decided to start to walk home, after all we couldn't threaten to walk away if we weren't willing to prove it. We found another restaurant that had a wicked live band playing all sorts of Western covers. We stopped and had drinks and listened to them for about an hour, although after the first two songs they switched to Thai music, which was quite refreshing. The place had the cool name "The Good View", although with the band playing no one was interested in the view. It was late by this point and a quick tuk-tuk ride later we were home and in bed for the night.

M The next morning we started the day with a quick run to 7-11 for breakfast which consisted of strawberry yogurt and a bag of peanuts. A short wait later we were picked up by a mini bus along with other tourists, and we headed out for our first adventure trek in Thailand. Our first stop was to ride the elephants. We were posing for a picture with a baby elephant when the elephant put his trunk up Jesse's shirt. A little startled he pushed the trunk away. The baby unhappy with this and the fact that we were not giving him food decided to head bunt Jes right in the chest. lol

Jes was not hurt, but it definitely took him by surprise. We climbed onto a little platform, then sat down on the hard seat on top of the elephants back. The elephants walked in a row down a well beaten path. There were 3 places along the way where we could buy bananas to feed the elephants. It was pretty humorous as the elephant would lift his trunk over his head to where we were sitting and we would put a banana or sugar cane onto the end and he would grab it and devour it in seconds, then after two or three steps he would stop and request more. It was a neat experience as we swayed back and forth with his walking. After hitting the last banana stand we noticed that we were the only people who bought any. We had not only our elephants trunk staring us in the face, but two other elephants joined in as well! In all the commotion of trying to feed 3 elephants while not getting slobbered on by their trunks Jes dropped a whole bag of food!

With in seconds our elephant had eaten it, plastic bag included! An British couple on our tour joked that now we've gone and killed our elephant, although our guide didn't seem worried. After getting down and washing our hands, we were presented with a picture taken of us on the elephant, and the frame we learned was made of old elephant dung. As it was a good picture and didn't' smell, we bought it. Then we were back in the mini bus heading to our next stop. When we arrived we stopped at a hill-tribe village and watched as a woman made clothing from hand. Then we passed around some tobacco that they grow locally, which was wrapped in a leaf. I passed but Jesse took a puff, which was followed by coughing and laughing from the group. It was neat to see their houses made of bamboo and straw and to get a feel for what their life was like, even though we could tell that the village was primarily setup for the bus loads of tourists that visited it weekly.

After the tour of the village we went on a trek for about 1 hour, arriving at a beautiful waterfall. We got changed into our swimsuits and jumped into the pool under the falls. It was awesome. We tried to swim to the base of the falls but the water was so powerful we couldn't make it all the way, we would struggle to get close, then just lift our feet and go flying back with the current. We could have stayed there for hours. It was also a very welcomed way to cool down as it was beginning to get very hot outside. After a short walk we arrived at another village, this time we went inside a ladies home, and learned a bit about what daily life was like, at one point someone in our group pointed out the T.V. which was hidden in a corner. Our tour guide had to laugh and explained that the village has certainly changed over the years, T.V. and electricity being quite commonplace now.

It was now lunch time, and they served us a very tasty meal. Rice with stir fried veggies, a curry dish, and a meat dish. Prepared mild of course, for us wimpy westerners. After our food had settled we were off to do some bamboo rafting. Our bamboo raft had only us and one other guy on it, unlike the bigger rafts that had 4+1 people on them. Our raft driver was a teenager named "Jay" who loved smacking the water with his long bamboo pole and yelling "crocodile"! lol

So being that our raft was small, we had one person sit in the middle on a seat made of bamboo going the opposite direction as the other boards, whoever was sitting got their legs and butt wet as the raft was not watertight. Jay stood at the front of the raft while Jes and I took turns steering the back with a bamboo pole of our own. Jes started while I took a seat. After 10 minutes Jes wanted to sit so it was my turn holding the pole. I found it quite difficult to keep my balance and spent most of the time just trying to remain standing and not falling out of the raft.

Even though Jes and I both took a long time to feel comfortable standing, Jay was the first person to fall into the river! lol The scenery was beautiful, as the river wound through lush mountains, we even passed a few groups of tamed elephants who were playing in the water and getting baths. When the ride was done the guides took the rafts apart and loaded the bamboo logs up onto the back of trucks to be taken away and made into rafts for the next group. Also, at the staging area we hung around after the rafting there were people selling handicrafts and food.
Some of the ladies carry small boxes with bracelets, little wooden frogs, and other junk. Each one has the same type of items, and once you've seen one you've seen them all. As these ladies usually hold the wood frogs and run a wooden stick over them making a frog like noise, we like to affectionately call them frog ladies.

So Jes thought it would be funny to encourage a few of these frog ladies by looking at their bracelets, insisting I buy one of them. Once they saw we were interested they swarmed me, I had 6 of them all showing me bracelets from their boxes at the same time. Not only were they showing me they were actually putting these bracelets on my arms and repeating "very nice, you buy, you buy, very nice". It was unbelievable, Jes even got a picture of them. Oh and yes, in the end I bought 2 bracelets. lol Back on our mini bus we headed back to town. What a great day. We took it easy that night. Went up the street to get Thai food from a vender that was delicious and then back at the guest house we used the internet before heading to bed.

The next day was a day of cooking. We were picked up first thing in the morning, and after picking up others headed to the local market. Our teacher showed us many different types of spices and ingredients we would be cooking with and taught us a bit about them. Then we were left to wonder while he picked up some things according to what we had chosen to make. In total we made 6 dishes which were breakfast, soup/salad, appetizer, a curry, main dish, and dessert. We were both unsure if we would really enjoy a cooking class as it is not really something we are into, but it had come so highly recommended from friends Marcia and Jason, we had to give it a try. In the end, we were really glad we did. We learned many new dishes, the instructors were very funny, we ate a lot of very tasty food, and made some friends with other travelers. At one point we even had 5 foot flames coming out of the wok, which was probably the highlight of the day.

That night we arrived home feeling so stuffed the only thing I wanted to do was nap. So I did! Meanwhile the unthinkable happened, Jes joined Facebook. He instantly became an addict, I was quite excited as he explained he figured it would help deter him from playing WoW if he had other things to do online.

That evening we went out to a restaurant called The Salsa Kitchen for some Mexican snacks and listened to live music playing at the restaurant next door. It was 11:30 by the time we had settled into bed when the phone in our guest house room rang. A little shocked and worried we answered it and it was Sonny from the front desk. He asked us if we were sleeping. I replied no then he said he had someone who wanted to talk to me. The guy on the other end told me he wanted to book a trek. After some confusion we figured out that the guy was going on the same trek we had been on yesterday and Sonny had called us to tell the guy how it was. Needless to say Jes was a little upset. But he refrained from going downstairs in his angry state and went to sleep.

Our fifth day in Chiang Mai. After a slow start in morning we decided that we would both go for a massage. This would be Jesse's first Thai massage. They gave us clothes to change into that were suppose to be more comfortable. They were for me, but they did not have any that were big enough for Jes. He kept his own shirt on and wore a snug pair of their pants. The ladies were so nice talking to us and giving us tea before we started. The massage was ok, but not the best I had had. We ended the massage a bit prematurely as we had spent too much time before starting the massage talking and we were going to be late for a boat ride we had booked. We hurried back and caught a van that took us to the pier for a Long Boat ride down the Ping river.

We were surprised to find it was just us and a lady from China on the boat, we soon learned she spoke very good English. The driver talked about the city as we floated by and we asked him many questions as we felt we had the boat to ourselves. At the far end of the river ride we got off at a farm with a beautiful herb garden. Our driver showed us many unique plants and afterward we had fresh fruit and herbal drinks in the garden.

Then as we returned to the beginning of the boat ride we continued to converse with the lady from China, unfortunately we didn't see her again after that.

Once off the boat we looked at a few temples from the outside. Beside one temple we found a huge skeleton of an elephant, which was on display. It looked like a dinosaur skeleton. After much talking about where to go next we ended up back at Dukes. Jes had said he would return and we did. The food was again fantastic and the service equally great, although we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Then we walked around the night market some more and before heading back to our beds.

J The next day we were off again on another trek. This trek had no elephants and no bamboo rafts, but what it did have was a butterfly farm, a cave, a stop at a long-neck tribe and way too much time in the mini bus/van. We met a fellow Canadian from B.C. named Lisa who we enjoyed talking with the entire day. She had experience as career counselor, and convinced me it would be beneficial to speak with one myself once I got home. Our first stop was just 30 minutes outside Chiang Mai, a lovely Orchid and butterfly farm. Michelle did quite well couping with the flying insects (as she has quite a phobia of them, moths being the worse). After stopping to smell the flowers and grabbing a badly needed coffee we were back on the road.

We arrived at Chiangdao cave, which had some interesting Buddha statues inside of it, it was extensively lit, and we stayed in it about half an hour. The cave split off at one point but our guide joked if we went down that path we probably wouldn't return. I would have enjoyed further caving, and perhaps going through some of the cave that wasn't lit by florescent bulbs, but no one else in our group minded sticking to the schedule so I bit my tounge. Outside the cave we drank from a roasted coconut which was very sweet and the meat easily peeled off the husk.

Before leaving for the next leg of our adventure we shopped at a few stalls selling herbal medications and home remedies. Michelle and I weren't interested in any but Lisa bought a few items including an anti-nausea capsule which we were grateful for as the roads from this point on were winding back and forth, and many were under construction. It was a long hour or so before we arrived at our lunch stop. We weren't sure we would be able to keep food down after the ride we had just experienced.

Luckily the road onward wasn't so bad, and we arrived shortly at the long neck hill tribe.

If we thought that the previous tribal villages had been over-touristed and turned into a circus show, we were surprised to find it got worse. The actual “village” was hidden from sight because of the dozens of booths had been set up, each one selling scarfs and other handicrafts. We wanted to buy some items, to give money to these poor people, but it seemed that some of these scarfs they were selling were just not possibly hand-made. Upon conversing with one of the young long neck women who was making a scarf she seemed to say that they did not make the silk-like scarfs with intricate design, but the more basic ones that seemed to be woven with yarn. We decided to buy a few of the scarfs that we could see they were making, to encourage the skill and tradition. As we walked up and rounded the hill we were shocked at the number of stalls, perhaps close to 30, and more-so at the age of the sellers. Most were young girls, and most of the girls we saw were either from the long neck tribe, or at least decided to wear the rings around their neck anyway, as it was such an interest point to the tourists.

On a person note I thought what we saw that afternoon was quite sad, at one point a five year old girl was putting on makeup, she already had rings around her neck, and as she smacked the white powder to her face she turned to see if it garnered attention. Michelle had a hard time as we were constantly being asked to buy things, and we felt bad for these people as we learned many of them were refuges from either China or Myanmar. Our guide even told us that in the future Thailand may choose to deport them, although I had a hard time believing that statement, being that the camp was such a tourist attraction.

We discussed many of these things as we made the long journey home. We had thoroughly enjoyed talking and getting to know Lisa, unfortunately we didn’t see her again while in Chiang Mai. Perhaps we’ll run into her in Canada though, or during our next adventure overseas.

M Jes had stayed up late playing on internet and thus he did not want to get up the next morning. I decided what better to do than go for a massage, and it ended up being the best massage I had while in Thailand. When I returned Jes was up and we went for some breakfast. We didn't have many plans for the day other than to see a museum, so when a tuk-tuk driver told us he would take us to the museum then drive us around to a few places for shopping for only a little more than a dollar we decided to take it. We had heard that the tuk-tuk drivers will get gas coupons if they take tourists to certain stores, and had highly avoided this, but since we had nothing else to do we went for it. We went to the national museum and enjoyed learning some Thai history for about an hour while our driver waited outside. While inside we learned of another market close by and asked to go see it. Our driver took us there and waited while we looked around and bought a few things. Then it was off to the 3 places he wanted to take us.

The first was selling crafts and hand painted items made of bamboo. Although there were some really nice things, it was way over priced, so we left without buying anything other than the fruit shake from the stand out front. Next was the high pressure sales of a jewelry store. Jes was very close to buying me a blue pearl ring. I had to really put my foot down on that one. The sales guy put all his attention on Jes.. but we escaped without buying anything. Next we went to the high pressure sales of a store selling rugs. We met a guy who was extremely passionate about carpets. We learned how his family hand makes them and how long it takes to make them and how durable they are etc. Really though, we did not buy a carpet in Turkey so were not going to buy one here. It was pretty intense though.

We felt drained after leaving there and told the tuk-tuk driver no more stores. He then took us to sign up for a dinner show, and dropped us off at the guest house. When we went to pay him we realized that he expected 50 baht per hour and not 50 baht for the whole day. We believed it was a honest mistake, and settled for a lesser price. We figured 2 dollars for a driver for the day was too good to be true, and it was.

We then got ready and went to the dinner show. We sat at tables on the floor, but could hang our feet down, obviously made for tourists. We then watched a show of traditional Thai dancing. It was very nice and the food was good, although the service was not great. They seemed to forget our table. When the dancing was done we joined everyone outside to watch them release fire kites into the air. It was beautiful, they would hold it down until the hot air from the flame filled up the kite like a hot air balloon, then let them go over the water. We then took a very squished minivan back and the driver dropped us off a 5 min walk from our hotel. He had dropped other people off right at their hotels. We were obviously upset and decided not tip him, we also planned to phone and complain, but never got around to it. The walk in the dark consisted of stepping past many cockroaches, and I was not happy.

The next day we enjoyed sleeping in, then did some much needed planning and booking for the next leg of our trip. We "discussed" when we should come home while eating breakfast. We did laundry, then walked around in the heat of the day looking for the famous Sunday market. We found a small market, and again bought a few things. Then we headed off to an English church we had found. It was set up by missionaries in the area who wanted a place to worship in English and support each other after doing their Sunday morning services. It was quite big and we enjoyed most of the singing, although it was very long, and there was no AC so it was very hot. After church we sat on a bench over looking the river and "discussed" some more when we should head home. Feeling frustrated as we felt differently about it, we decided to head back to Dukes to relax and have some dinner. Yep our third trip to Dukes. Jes thought he'd get a Dukes shirt to remember the place by. As it was a cheap souvenir I agreed.

On our way home from Dukes we ran into the real Sunday market which was exactly where we had looked earlier but must have not opened until evening. We bought a few items that were quite big. This market was much better than the regular night market. There were buskers playing music all along the way. It was really nice. We headed to bed late that night.

Our last day in Chaing Mai started with a trip to the post office to mail a card home. We found it was very cheap, and then thought why not just mail the heavy items we had purchased home. First though we needed some breakfast.

After we ate we decided to head up to Doi Sutep temple as we were close to the pick up point. The tuk-tuk driver took us up a mountain with many switch backs, I felt so sick. I just hate motion sickness. Once we finally made it to the top we paid for a tram ride to the temple village at the very top, as I felt too sick to do the stairs. We found out later that their really wasn't many stairs at all. Oh well, as Jes likes to say, we don't mind going down, its just the up we're not fond of. We saw some very beautiful golden buildings and statues. After wandering around we headed down the stairs and looked at a few handicrafts that people were selling. Then back in the tuk-tuk it was time to head down the hill. There was an elderly lady who got into the tuk-tuk beside our driver. I think it may have been his mother! Whoever it was I am pretty sure it was because of her that our driver went super slow down the hill. People were passing us left right and center, but I didn't care, at least I did not get sick.

We then stopped by our hotel and got the items to be sent home. Unfortunately it was much too expensive, so we went with "plan B". We headed to the night market and bought another bag! lol
Back to the hotel we packed up and used the internet some more. We would be on a bus at 9pm that evening, heading to Laos.

Goodbye Thailand, it was a ton of fun.