Our last week in Thailand was a really relaxing one. We spent the entire time in Chiang Mai where Gen and I just took it easy wandering around the several markets both by day and by nights. It is a very easy going town; the tuk tuk drivers aren’t too pushy about offering you a ride, the street vendors are ok with watching you browse through their carts without a word and the tourists are enjoying the slower pace of Chiang Mai. There are tons to do here such as treks to go visit the tribe villages and other short treks taking you across the border (to Laos or Burma) for a day and back. You can also go pet a domesticated tiger. We decided to simply walk the streets and do the less expensive stuff :)
Gen did a cooking class which she loved. She is now able to cook six different Thai dishes. She brought home the left-overs from the cooking class and I inherited it all, it was simply yummy! Together we visited many very beautiful temples but after a while they all start to look the same. We went for a Thai massage and it was fun. It’s nothing like the massages we get at home. The Thai massage is a lot more gentle and a lot of bone cracking! I was impressed how the massage therapist was able to crack every single vertebra in my back and in my neck. But I must say the highlight for me was to have met the staff at the Thai Smart Cooking School where Gen did her class. They were the friendliest bunch of people we met in Chiang Mai. They took us out to the inaugural SMILE PARTY on a beach and it was so much fun. It was a concert on the beach with Thai musicians playing ska, reggae and rock music. We left at 3am but the party went on until 7am. Thanks Oia, Mai & Toby for an unforgettable night.
We met some awesome people at the Little Bird Guesthouse. We learned lots from people at the guesthouse and had great talks with them. We know a few more things about sexual workers in China for example :) Thanks Helena! And Shelly, I hope you make that career change and have tons of fun at it.
We then left Chiang Mai to go spend two nights in Chiang Khong where we were going to cross the border to Laos. The Nam Khong Guesthouse was awesome. We had a beautiful teak floor room and a swimming pool to relax in. The entire place was immaculate. It was so nice there that we felt like we were living the lifestyle of the rich and famous when in fact a room cost a little over $4 :)
Chiang Khong was a quiet little town of 9000 people. Nobody goes there, only the tourists. In fact, I noticed there were only tourists on the bus for the last while until we got to Chiang Khong. But it was cool to be there because 1) we can see the famous Mekong River and 2) Laos on the side of the Mekong.
I hope everyone had enjoyed the Olympic Games. We appreciate getting updates of the Games from some of you, thank you. We were so thrilled to find out when Canada won the hockey game! I can’t wait to watch the Games on the DVD set when I come home, I’m sure I’ll still get the goose bumps even though I already know the outcome. I hope you guys won’t have too much trouble catching up on work or school work now that there are no distractions from the Games.
