Life As Canvas

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.

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.

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!