Bonjour-Mundo!

Chang Mai, Thailand. So far, so good.  

We have been in Chang Mai now for about three days, and it’s been great. It’s definitely a MUCH different vibe then Bangkok, everything is much more relaxed, the air is cleaner, and things just seem to go at a little slower pace…minus the motorbikes, that still speed through town.

We arrived in Chang Mai by train from Bangkok, a 14 hour or so ride, but it hardly seemed like that at all. We each got a nice bed compartment to ourselves, it had AC, and we actually managed to get some decent sleep, much better then busses. (Although not nearly as posh as Qatar Airways, which I forgot to write about in the last post, Check out Em’s blog for more details. (http://bonjour-mundo.blogspot.com )

Anyhow, as we were pulling into the train station, I couldn’t help but think that area reminded me quite a bit of Ecuador, around Tena to be specific for all you MSID folks. Everything is lush and green, ramshackle tin roof houses abound, and the air is heavy with humidity. The sky pours rain at least once a day, but usually just in sporadic downpours, nothing like the constant rain we had in Bangkok. The area surrounding Chang Mai towers with rainforested hills and the clouds seem to just brush the top. A very moody look after a rain.  

In any case, our time here has been filled with exciting times. The first day we got in was probably the most low key of them all. We wandered all over and explored some wats as well as the Sunday Market, awesome stuff, cheap deals. The following day we enrolled ourselves in on official Thai cooking course. So much fun. We went to the Pad Thai Cookery School, just a bit outside the city of Chang Mai. I haven’t eaten so much in quite some time. We got a tour of a local food market, and then they brought us to the kitchen. Our teacher, Noky, was hilarious, such a great sense of humor. She had us all laughing constantly. We got to prepare 5 different dishes, taste exotic thai fruit like the red and spiny rambutan, and enjoy a dessert of fresh mango and sticky rice. Yum! One dish involved creating quite a big flame in the wok (ichiban style) which made for some great pictures. (Soon I hope to be uploaded! But no promises.) They supplied us with a recipie book, so hopefully I can recreate some of the fun at home. Our group at the cooking school was really great to talk to, it was fun to meet some new people from all over (denmark to israel, even one guy from madison!).

The following day was perhaps the most exciting. Our guidebook and hostel had suggested going to see Wat Doi Suthep, a beautiful temple that overlooks the city. However, the best way to get there is by motorbike. This allows you to take your time and stop at the many waterfalls on the way. After lots of coaxing from Alex, we decided to go for it, provided there were helmets provided…not to worry mom. (Emily still not being so sure…) A little nerve racking to learn how to motorbike the first time in Chang Mai traffic, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not too bad. Just a few scary moments. In fact, at the end of the day, I really had a good time zipping about.

Once we got onto the mountain road, we basically had things to ourselves which made driving even easier. We stopped at the falls, really beautiful. Then all the way up to the wat, which was great.  It was gorgeous, and had a patio overlook all of Chang Mai. One of the few days without rain, we had a really clear view of the city and surrounding hillsides. The way down was a little scarier then the way up, but not bad. However once we got back into town, there was a decent amount of traffic and Emily ended up losing Alex and I. Not so good as she was the most unhappy motorbiker of the three. Poor em ended up running into a flower pot on the side of the road and has sworn off motorbikes forever. Hopefully there won’t be a need for them from here on out.

Alex has left today, so, sadly, our adventure team is down to two for the reminder of the time. Boo. 🙁 However, hopefully there will still be many fun times to come. 

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 24th, 2006 at 5:15 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.