Life As Canvas

After cooking up Thai delights, Erika and I were excited to get out of town and see some jungle. We met our flirty tour leaders, Jen and Chew, the night before at a group meeting where they started joking around in broken English and making eyes at the females in the group. The next day after a breakfast of eggs, toast, and some strange sticky sausage we piled into the back of a truck and went a-bouncing up into the hills.

Rice fields and banana trees whizzed by as we wound up the left side of the road. We saw some elephants milling about and, with a wince of the brakes, we pulled over to the side and hopped out.

They raised their trunks up to us, ever the banana-hungry beasts, and we happily fed them, trying to avoid the wet end of their enormous nostrils, blowing banana breath up into our faces and curling back into their mouths.

I think we were all a bit giddy when we got to step up onto their backs. Erika and I couldn’t stop laughing at the touristy-ness of it all. These poor elephants do this all day, it’s hard not to have mixed feelings about their simple lives, taking tourists up into the trees and back. But I can’t deny that it was a lot of fun rocking back and forth on the muddy trails and feeding our elephant banana after banana while her baby followed along beside us.

Atop an Elephant

Then it was into the trees, our own feet carrying us up damp trails. Jen and Chew started throwing seeds and things at the girls and showing off by breaking off leaves and blowing bubbles with the sticky stems, falling litchis and giving them to us. I now have a new love for litchis as a mid-trail snack.

Slipping around on a thin layer of mud and leaves I walked through the jungle trees following my guides and a group of 14 other young, adventurous travelers. I retreated into my thoughts as I walked on through the heat and listened to the insects singing above. It felt good to work my muscles, to sweat, to let the jungle absorb the frenzy still in me after exploring Bangkok streets.

Strange sounds surrounded me. Sometimes I heard far-off rock music coming over a staticky radio but the noise, like some sort of ghost never faded, followed me through the trail. Bugs. Ever present and singing, they sound like a number of things from singing pipes in an old building to table saws, rattles, old broken radios, sprinklers. The crickets back home make for a nice subtle soundtrack. These Thai bugs take center stage. When we got to our bamboo hut we ate some – all of us hesitating at first – and then went for seconds. Turns out grasshoppers are kind of salty and good!

crunch

By nightfall we were singing songs around the fire and telling stories. Jen called me a monkey because I have hair on my arms and kept pulling it and giggling. This was some sort of come on, I think. Then Chew said “Do you have a boyfriend? Sometimes it’s good to have two just for fun.” They moved from one girl to the next in the group, trying to wow us with magic tricks and telling us we’re cute. Chew gave his attentions to Erika, ever the blushing beauty, but went home pouting. Such attentive guides!

Jen wows Erika with magic…

…and then with song.

Chew relies on good looks and pouting.

The next few days were full of waterfalls where Jen and Chew showed us the best places to slide down the rocks and pretended to push the girls in the water. We jumped from little cliffs and dried off in the sun, ending each day with a new curry dish and fresh pineapple.

Erika watches our guides goof off.

A perfect place to swim.

After days of orchids and rice patties, elephants and flirts, we regretted leaving the jungle but were happy to have a shower again. The group got together for a last drink and our guides said goodbye with hugs and pouts.

We have another day to spend in the North and then it’s back down to Bangkok to meet cousin Joe and head to the beach.

For Erika’s version, check out her blog through the link on the side of this page —>

After taking a night train with full twin-sized beds, sheets, pillows, blanket and all, Erika and I got off in Chiangmai where we were picked up and whisked off to our guesthouse. It was 8 or so in the morning and, though the train was about the best night sleep I’ve gotten this past week, I was still tired. Tired seems to be a theme running through my life, lately.

Luckily, Chiangmai, in the North of Thailand, is much quieter and more laid back than Bangkok, which we practically felt in the air when we arrived. We got to our room, unpacked, de-trained, and set out to explore the city, full of temples and restaurants, Thai and Western. We ducked into temples of shining golden Buddhas and ate some amazing chicken coconut soup.

Big Shiny Buddha

detail from the outside of a temple

We explored a day market and found an array of wondrous and horrid things to revel in. Fruits I’ve never seen, big bowls of noodles, flower offerings for temples, and barbecued bugs.

Thailand is this colorful place where unusual and delightful flavors and aromas flirt with the senses and the essence of it can be found at the city market. Every day I gravitate towards soothing tropical flower scents, curries, ginger, coconut, and then reel at repulsive odors easing out of abandoned alleyways. Most of it is pleasant, some of it shocks my Western-tuned nose.

We’re staying here with a hotel package we bought back in Bangkok and, with it, we were offered a dinner and dance. “I feel like I’m back in Vegas,” said Erika, when our hotel mentioned it. “There’s always a dinner and a dance in Vegas.” We knew the thing would be overly touristy so we went not reluctantly, but not expecting much. But the food was good and the dances were fun. We gave in to the touristy side of it when we were invited up on stage to dance and went, giggling as we awkwardly copied their moves.

Today we took a cooking class with Meow, our Thai teacher, who showed us through the fruit and vegetable market and described the different ingredients to us. “This is ginger. Makes big boom-boom for men.” We cooked and ate, cooked and ate, cooked and ate all day. I am full of coconut milk and curry and so pleased. Meow liked to tease us and say “Sexy time, sexy time!” whenever someone took a photo and posed, herself.

Master Cook Erika

Flaming Wok!

She showed us how to make curry paste and spring rolls, and many a tasty dish in the wok. I suggest a cooking class to anyone who comes to Thailand and if you happen to come to Chiangmai, take it with Meow! Her school is called the Thai Cookery School, which is easy enough to remember, and the quality of the food was beyond anything I’ve tasted back home.

Tomorrow: Trekking in the jungle, elephants, rafting!

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