We boarded our overnight train with no idealistic expectations. We figured the trip would be pretty painful- long, uncomfortable, and with very little sleep. But to our surprise, we found the train pretty enjoyable! Obviously, I only slept for a few hours (the combination of being jet lagged and in motion was not a great one for me), but we were able to read our books, watch the scenery, and talk a little. We got to Chiang Mai at about 9 am on the morning of August 30th and headed straight for our hostel to set up. The place was called Julie's Guesthouse, and we immediately loved it. It has a cool common area with pool tables, a restaurant, free wifi and overall great vibes. Seeing the crowd there and getting a sense of Chiang Mai, we knew we were going to really enjoy ourselves there.
We spent the first day in Chiang Mai just walking around, getting oriented with the city and what not. We just so happened to stumble upon a few lovely temples, and eventually ended up at a women's prison where they gave cheap cheap hour long thai massages. It was a sort of support program for women that were soon to be released as a way for them to earn money. And we were well overdue for our first massage! It was a great massage, although I found it a bit painful. Kevin's masseuse had some trouble with him, considering he is a giant here. She needed another 50 pounds to be able to do any real damage, so while I sat there squirming and squeaking, Kevin was basically asleep. But overall, we both enjoyed them, a lot, and they cost $5 each!
That night, Kevin went to his first Muay Thai fight. I decided to skip it and hang around the hostel instead. I wasn't crazy about the idea of going to see a fight, so Kevin went with a German guy Marcus who had been on the train with us and came to Julie's for his Chiang Mai stay. He had a great time at the fight. He was able to get front row seats and watch a bunch of teenagers kick the crap out of each other. Betting/gambling is illegal in Thailand everywhere except at the fights, which brought alot more energy to the crowd. I stayed at the hostel and got a beer, planning on reading my book and hanging out. I ended up meeting some awesome people that night. I had a great night, drinking beers, playing pool, met some really cool people from all over who we ended end up spending a lot of time with in the coming days.
The next day was one of my personal favourite days of the trip so far- our thai cooooooooking class!!! After an excellent recommendation from Newlove, we signed up for 'Sammy's Organic Cooking Class'. Our first stop was a local market, where Sammy explained what types of ingredients are used in most Thai dishes. We got some time to walk around, and Kev went on an awesome photo-spree.
Needless to say, like all the Asian markets we've been to so far, there was a ton to see at the market- it was busy and colourful and there was some ridiculous stuff (see pig head) and some amazing fresh fruits and veggies. From the market, Sammy took us a bit farther out of the city to his farm that he lives on with his wife and young daughter. It was a gorgeous place, and it smelled amazing due to all the herbs and spices he had growing there. We chose which dishes we wanted to make: an appetizer, a soup, a curry, a stirfry, and a dessert! It was HEAVEN- all day. The spices were amazing, everything smelled good, the company was great, and Kev and I really just had such a good time. And as if that wasn't enough, our food was delicious. And I learned how to make spring rolls!!!
The next day was another day full of adventure! The first (of what I'm sure will be many) motorcycle rental! For those of you who have been here, you know that renting motorcycles is about as cheap as taking a taxi somewhere. you pay about 10 bucks (including insurance) for 24 hours of fun. Asian city traffic is like nothing else i've ever seen, its every man for himself out there, it always seems like mass chaos to me. I figured I would err on the side of caution, and I handed the reigns over to Kev on this one and decided to be a passenger and let him drive.
This turned out for the best for a few reasons: 1. I was terrified on the roads, I would have FOR SURE ended up in an accident
2. They drive on the left side of the road here, which wouldn't have helped my terror
3. We would definitely have gotten lost if I wasn't reading a map on Kevin's back while we drove
4. We got to chat and enjoy each other's company while we scooted around :)
We drove out to the temple on the hill. It was up a winding mountain, so Kevin definitely enjoyed zipping around corners, and I was so happy to be in the mountains enjoying the scenery that I barely covered my eyes! We enjoyed the temple on the a hill a lot, it was gorgeous, and there was some really cool history there!
The next day was spent hanging around the hostel with the people there. Kevin was fully involved in the seventh Harry Potter book, so he was barely interacting with me, let alone socializing with strangers. Once he finished the book we set up our trip for the next day to Pai, and headed for the night market where we floated around, but didn't buy anything exciting.
Overall, Chiang Mai was an amazing experience. It started us off on our adventure. It got us out of the city and into the mountains, and it gave us a chance to leave the big work questions back in Bangkok for a few weeks. We had so much fun doing what we do best- exploring and eating great food!
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