Charmed by Chiang Mai (part 2)

Friends spoke highly of Chiang Mai, and I took their suggestions…all of them. There appears to be something here for everyone, and I think the only touristy things I resisted in this town were the firing range and the golf course. Here are my highlights:

Thai cooking class:
I cooked and ate my way through a private 5-course feast of my choice my first night in town. We started with a visit to a local market where she explained the staple ingredients and showed what they looked like, as well as the different types of rice. Back at the school, I learned how to make spring rolls, coconut chicken soup, green curry, Pad Thai, and a tropical fruit pancake for dessert. The crazy thing was how easy they were to prepare, once she demonstrated. I didn’t get a proper lunch that day so it was a fantastic end to the day, and armed with a cookbook from the school I look forward to attempting them back home.

Attempting to sing hymns in Thai:
I was lucky that the chapel was in walking distance of my hotel, but even luckier that I’d printed off a map of its location before I left.

The branch met in Thai, but I had translators throughout and in RS they gave me a book with the hymns “romanized” (Thai words but with characters I could read). I’m sure my pronunciation was way off, but it was still fun to try. On a “small world” note, both the branch president and the sister who translated for me served in the DC-North mission! The sister, Charee, kindly invited me over for Sunday dinner with her and her mom before helping me navigate Chiang Mai’s popular Sunday market.

Bike riding
I love bicycle rides and it was the perfect way to get around Chiang Mai to see the festival. Starting off in the Old City, I pedaled where traffic was light and kept telling myself to stay on the left. Left-hand turns? No problem! Right-hand turns…got my heart rate up a little as motorbikes and tuk-tuks whizzed around me while changing lanes. As long as I steadily moved I was OK, but it was still counter-intuitive and a little scary when you go so slowly. I decided to bike up to their university, but somehow missed it. Next thing I knew, I was on “Superhighway 11”, a major road with no place to turn around. Finally, I saw a place to turn left, and ended up at a forest Wat where I was able to collect myself amidst the ancient spires and serenity of the grounds before hitting the road again. I also had the delight of flying a kite with one of the monks who invited me to help him. Biking that night was a little more stressful as we seemed to add an extra lane to the road in some areas, but it was still a fun adventure. I’ve also decided that they wear facemasks here more for diesel fumes than swine flu.

My time in prison
OK, so it was across the street, but they have a minimum-security area with rehabilitation training for female inmates about to be released and one of the skills they teach is Thai massage. You change into loose pants that wrap around and tie like an apron and a blouse before lying down on a cushion. This was my first experience with this type of massage, which felt a little like a one-sided wrestling match at times. I’m pretty sure Devan used some of those techniques on me growing up, but it was hard to tell. It’s a little too intense for me, but the bruises on my legs are mostly gone.

Trying the street food
The food all looks good and smells even better, so after a couple of nights I started to test the waters. Raw produce was off limits, but somehow fried and steamed dishes felt safe—and they were, not to mention fantastic!
One of my favorites looked like a sausage, but was filled with fried rice and pork. Another delight was Roti, a super-thin crepe they’d fill with toppings like bananas and sweetened condensed milk or sweet corn. I opted not to try the fried insects, though.

Playing a Thai Huck Finn
After the festival, I went on a one-day “trek” that was a little bit of everything. We started with an elephant ride where towards the end they let me sit on the neck (their hairs are stiff and poky!). After that, we hiked through a rice paddy to a waterfall. They saved the best for last, though, when we floated down a small river on bamboo rafts. We were allowed to stand, and it was fun balancing on the bamboo poles and watching the scenery go by. The river was quite calm, so our group made it a bit more interesting by keeping our 2 rafts close. Our guides were mischievous, and started the water fights that quickly escalated to tipping the rafts over. The water was only waist-deep so it was easy to climb back on and resume playing. Towards the end, the water was deeper and surrounded by rocks so we stopped for a bit to jump off them into the water before we had to disembark.

Flight of the Gibbon
The moment I saw this in my guidebook, I knew I had to do it because it was the perfect combination of adventure and treehugging nature experience. What was it? A zip line canopy tour! The guide explained that the valley’s residents weren’t tribal, but immigrants who’d come to farm coffee and tea. The company bought the land to protect the forest and improve the livelihood of the residents, and had a few billboards throughout to educate visitors on the importance of protecting the forest. Wish that meant I could count it as work! Our group was surprisingly American with a few Aussies and Brits added to the mix, and we quickly bonded as a group. I was a little scared at first, but quickly got into it and felt totally safe. We flew above, and in some cases in between the trees, resting on platforms high up in ancient trees. Example: our final platform was 45 meters off the ground in an 800-year old banyan tree. We abseiled down from that one, which is when it started to sink in just how high up we’d been. You started to loose that perspective because the canopy obscured the ground, and it was only when you stood still long enough and the wind blew that the trees started to sway. It was such a rush and in such a beautiful place that I think it’s reason enough for forest conservation. Now if we could only figure out how to make that a regular mode of transportation…


TCC
Or at least that’s what I call it, since it reminded me of a Thai version of the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center). I knew it was unfeasible to have an authentic experience with the hill tribes while staying in the city, but I wanted to see some folk dancing while here and this didn’t disappoint. We began seated on the floor and were treated to a Thai fest and musical performance. After dinner, we reclined on pillows to digest and watched Lanna dancing that looked like something straight out of “The King and I”.
When it came time for audience participation, I was probably the only one who volunteered themself and had fun trying to pick up some new moves. For the second half, they transferred us to a rustic amphitheater where they showcased as many tribes as they could squeeze into a brief time period—many dances lasted about a minute, but they also looked very similar so it was more about displaying their fashions. And like the PCC, the climatic dances involved knives. The Lanna portion had a guy dance with 12 knives that he crossed over each other to pick them all up. The tribal knife dance involved flaming swords, culminating in him standing on one leg with flaming knives in each hand, behind his elevated knee, and being held in his mouth. This was an excellent way to cap off my stay in Chiang Mai.

Relaxing in my hotel room
With all that running around and so many fun things to do, I still genuinely loved chilling in my hotel room. A friend suggested a mid-range boutique hotel that overlooked the northern moat and a Wat and I’m so glad she did. It was more expensive than the youth hostels I usually frequent and I’d planned to downgrade after the first few nights, but it turns out I’m a sucker for a waffle-weave robe and slippers. Plus, they were indispensable when it came to booking all my activities and were so eager to help in numerous small ways.

So there you have it. I’m a little heavier from all the food and my wallet is considerably lighter, but it was worth every Baht!