Chiang Mai, Thailand – 10 to 21 March, 2007
The bus ride from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai went well. There are a number of different busses making the journey, all with different amenities and prices. We decided to keep it simple and just catch a tuk-tuk to the station around 9:00 AM and catch the first bus available. When we arrived we had just missed one bus by a few minutes, but a VIP bus was leaving about 15 minutes after we arrived at the terminal. This was the most expensive option, but after finding the next bus would be 1 ½ hours later, the VIP bus it was. We arrived in Chiang Mai just over four hours later.
As usual, we didn’t have a hotel reservation so we picked one that looked OK from the Lonely Planet. After spending the previous few nights in $7 guest houses, we wanted to splurge and move up to a $20 a night room. We caught a tuk-tuk at the bus terminal and gave the driver the address. He then said he could recommend a different place that was better and had a pool for the same price. It was on the way, so we said OK. We arrived at the guesthouse, and the first thing you saw was the pool which looked promising. We asked to see a room, and as soon as we entered the hallway we knew it wouldn’t work. It was dark, old, and not very clean, so we told them no and had the driver take us to our original destination. The Montri Hotel turned out to be one of the highlights or our trip. It is very convenient to everything and just inside the old city wall with a view of the wall and moat, very clean, air conditioned, and free WiFi.
One of the few plans we made before leaving home in December was for J to take a Thai cooking course while in Chiang Mai. It seems every city in every country we visited now has at least one cooking course, and Chiang Mai has several of them. The original and one of the most famous is the Thai Cookery School operated by a renowned chef who has appeared on many international TV cooking shows and has his own book and video series. It just happened the office for the school was just a block away from the hotel, so after settling in the hotel we headed to the office to find out what classes were available. The school is offered as five one day sessions and you can take only one day or all five. Each day consists of a different activity and menu. J decided to do all five days, and opted to do the course at the facilities located at chefs residence outside of town instead of the restaurant and school they operate only a few blocks from the hotel.
After registering for the cooking class, we walked around the old city for a while before returning to the hotel for an early evening and to catch up on some emails, journals, and photos for our site. It was then an early night to rest up for a hectic day of cooking.
The next day, J headed to the cooking school office for the shuttle bus to his first day of lessons. The bus left around 10:00 AM, and about 20 minutes later arrived at the training facilities outside of town. The chef’s home and newer training facilities are located in a gated equestrian community on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. It appears the business is doing very well!
To keep it short, we won’t describe each day’s activities, but each day started with an activity such as an introduction to Thai ingredients, a visit to the local market, buying ingredients at the market, vegetable carving, and making curry paste from scratch with a mortar and pestle. The daily activity was then followed by cooking, and of course eating, five different dishes. J brought home samples of each days fare to D who thoroughly enjoyed them.
While J was off cooking each day, D amused herself in various fashions. On day one she decided to take a map and walk the walled city (J thought it would be safe if she followed the wall, less chances of getting lost). It was quite a long walk of almost 5 kilometers but very interesting. D stopped at a couple of markets and on the way back found a lovely little café close to the hotel for the “best Mango shake” in town. That shake set the standard for the remainder of the trip.
On D’s 2nd day out she found a Buddhist temple advertising a Meditation and Chanting Retreat organized by the Monk’s University which is on the outskirts of the city. D signed up and spent 2 days and one night out at the university. She really enjoyed the experience and now tells J that he is continually breaking at least one of the five Buddhist precepts.
After J completed the course, it was time to head for the elephant experience. D had originally read about a government facility that trained elephants, and you could participate in the process. At the end of a few days, you participated in a show featuring the elephants and their skills. Further investigation while in Chiang Mai found another option called Elephant Nature Park. This option involved a woman who ran a rescue operation for elephants who had been mistreated or injured by their previous owners. They offered week long volunteer programs where you would stay at the park and perform all chores necessary to maintain the elephants and the park. Sort of a working holiday where you paid to work instead of receiving pay for it!
D’s arm was still troubling her, so she decided it may not be a good idea to try and perform manual labor. Instead we opted for a day visit to the park where we could enjoy it without breaking a sweat. We registered on-line, and the next morning was picked up at the hotel by minibus for our ride to the park. While there we were given an explanation of how to behave around the elephants (run faster than everyone else if one comes toward you without the mahout or handler), shown a video of how cruel the training of all elephants in every country is, and then had the opportunity to hand feed the elephants their lunch and later bathe them in the river. All in all it was a very enlightening and entertaining day. As a result of our new found knowledge and experience, we will do all we can to discourage anyone from doing elephant trekking.
After the cooking course and elephant park our primary missions in Chiang Mai were complete, but we were not quite ready to leave. The hotel was so comfortable and convenient, and coupled with the laid back nature of the town we decided to spend another couple of days just chilling out there. During that time we visited the local markets a few times and were able to peruse the Sunday Night Market for a second time.
We also made contact with the Bangkok hospital again to enquire about the continuing pain in D’s arm, and they suggested another visit to confirm the bone had healed properly and there was no tendon or ligament damage which would not show on the original x-rays. That would require an MRI, so we once again booked airline tickets to Bangkok and prepared to leave Chiang Mai.
Next stop Bangkok
