evdog

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is a relaxed town at the foot of the mountains located approximately 125 km south of the Myanmar border. As the second largest city in Thailand it’s population is only 250K, compared to 8M in Bangkok. The result, predictably, is a much more comfortable feel. Chiang Mai has a storied history as a political, religious and cultural hub dating back to the 13th century, evidenced by the moat and wall that surround the city center, and 300+ wats(temples) dotting the city. You can not cross the street in Chiang Mai without running into either a wat or a 7-11, often next to one another, spiritual renewal followed by a slurpee.

I spent my first two days just wandering around the city checking out the sites and sampling the food. After four or five, one wat sort of blurred into the next. I really enjoyed Wat Chedi Luang, a wat dating back to 1441, also the original home of the jade buddha I happened upon in Bangkok. The Japanese government funded a partial restoration, leaving a few of the original elephants and a toppled peak, seamingly held in place by a couple of guide wires. Plans to rebuild the top of the chedi were stopped when nobody could determine it’s original form, a notion I appreciate. The original crumbled half elephants were preferable to the pristine reproductions.

The food has been excellent, but has been accompanied by a little funky stomach, guess it was only a matter of time. I found a noodle cart just down from the guest house serving up the most amazing pork noodles with a sweet aromatic broth. Where is my straw? Speaking of, one oddity in Thailand, for every food there is a bag. You name it and the food carts will encase it in a 2 mil mylar bag sealed with a rubberband - soup, noodles, chicken satay, sticky rice, but the oddest of all, soft drinks. It’s strange to see kids walking around with a bag full of purple soda dangling from their wrist, requisite straw in mouth.

At the recommendation of a nice English couple I met in a taxi(more like a truck with bench seats), I took a one day cooking class at the Thai Farm, an organic farm 15k outside of town. As most probably know, I view cooking as a means to an end, and the quicker the better. With my trusty George Foreman and an electric steamer, I was always just minutes away from grilled protein and steamed veggies. Truth be told, reality TV recently piqued my interest in cooking. Over the last couple years I’ve turned into a regular Top Chef junky, as cousin Bjorn can attest.

The course was taught in a high peaked roof building open to the surrounding farm. Before donning our aprons(or oversized bib in my case), we toured a traditional Thai market and had a walk around the farm to check out the fresh ingredients. I would have preferred a little more contextual info as we worked through our three pre-lunch dishes, but it was understandable given ten students and any of three dishes going on at any given time. I particularly enjoyed making curry paste, proved to be a ten minute mortar and pestle workout, and my long time favorite Thai dish, Pad Thai. As mentioned before, little did I realize that my almost weekly Pad Thai take-out from Rice and Spice was a far cry from the real deal, not to mention so easy to make.

After a big lunch of our own making we had an hour to explore the farm, or in my case, curl up under a tree and nap. Mental note - ants bite! We cooked a couple more dishes after lunch, sealed them in the ubiquitous plastic bags, and ended the day drinking green tea overlooking the farm. A day spent in rural Thailand and I was ready to trade beaches for compost piles, well, not exactly.

Yesterday I took a half day trip up into the mountains to visit Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, one of the most sacred sites in Thailand. Before arriving at our ultimate destination, I was provided yet another reminder of why I normally avoid tours. The first stop was billed as a visit to a “traditional mountain village”, more like a walk through a t-shirt stand followed by an embarressing stroll through the village’s back alleys. You would have thought we were at the zoo the way the tour guide described the dwellings of the “local mountain people”, as we ackwardly stood in a man’s backyard looking into his one room house. An uncomfortable moment came to an abrupt end when the man shut the door on his crowd of uninvited spectators. Uff da. Wat Doi Suthep itself was quite cool, though I should have skipped the tour group and opted for a taxi, would have been a hot ride up the mountain in the back of a truck, but much more peaceful.

This morning I took a quick 90 minute flight to Koh Samui, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. Weather permitting(it was raining hard when we arrived), I plan to tale it easy on the beach for a few days before catching a boat to one of the neighboring islands. It’s time to go find a used book store…