My favorite city in Thailand (so far)

Oh My. Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai.... I had a magical and fantastic experience in this bustling city in north Thailand.  I had originally planned on staying here for just three days, but ended up staying for ten!  It is the perfect mixture of a small city surrounded by nature and northern Thai hill-tribes. 

I schmoozed my way into staying at, "Julie's Guest House" - which is clearly "the" place to stay in Chiang Mai.  (Those who have been here can attest to this since we all keep bumping into one another throughout all of SE Asia).   It is certainly a great place to meet fellow travelers.  In fact, you'd have to make a strong effort to NOT meet anyone here.

  You'd be classified as an official "recluse loner" if you don't meet anyone while staying here.  There are multiple lounge areas to lay in a hammock, read on an outdoor pillow-bed, or eat at a coummunity table.  Oh, and the rooms only cost $3/night.  The place works on the honor system too.  There is an open bar that you just take what you want and write down what you owe! 

Julie's has a long list of things to do while in Chiang Mai, so I tried a few......

I took a cooking class!  15 of us started at the morning market where our master chef named, "Yaow" taught us about local produce and spices.  Then, we went to the cooking school and learned how to make (and eat) six different plates.

  I made everything I've been eating for the past few weeks: Pad Thai, Papaya Salad, Spring Rolls, Panang Curry (Coconut), Sweet 'n Sour Vegetables and.... Fried Bananas!  Yum. It was such a great experience.  And, our teacher was hilarious.  She was really funny, entertaining and friendly.  After "class," she took me around town showing me all the great restaurants, bars and local markets.  One minute I'm making spring rolls in a class, and the next I was flying on the back-seat of Yaow's moped!   I had a Thai friend showing me around Chiang Mai. 

Nature was calling me so I left the town for a few days.  I went on a 3-day/2-night mini-trek into the hills outside of Chiang Mai (you can read about that in my next blog entry!)!   In brief, twelve of us rode elephants up a mountainside until it was too steep for them to continue.

  Then, we walked for 5 hours (almost straight up - like stairs).  It was beautiful and peaceful.  We stayed in a local hill-tribe village where three local hilltribe villagers cooked us all dinner and had 12 mosquito-net-covered beds in a mountain-side bamboo hut.  We sat on the deck looking at the sky from dusk until the deep darkness of the night surrounded us.  The locals smoked opium while the tourists shared iPods.  Stories were told. Games were played.  I made friends from all over the world.

The next two Trek days were filled with lazy meandering along the river, swimming in waterfalls, taking photos, river rafting and even bamboo rafting.  Bamboo must be one of nature's most useful gifts to South East Asians.

  It seems as though everything is built from bamboo: boats, baskets, buildings, and even bridges!!  It felt good to be in nature again.  The last time I felt this way was when I slept under the stars in the sand dunes of north India on my camel safari.  I like this feeling!

Back in Chiang Mai, Thai Boxing is a huge sport.  So, I went to a fight night.  Thai Boxing is a mixture of boxing, wrestling and karate - where you can punch, kick and tackle your opponent.  It is one-part ceremonial and one-part entertainment.  No wonder America's UFC (Ultimate Fighting) is so popular in Thailand.  The Thai boxing event started with 9-year old boys that weigh 42lbs.  It is crazy to watch these little boys go at it.

  The older fighters kicked some serious ass.

Chiang Mai had the BEST markets and shopping of any city on my trip so far.  And, the prices were so reasonable that I often didn't even need to bargain.  How can you bargain with a local hill-tribe woman about paying less than $4 for a beautiful hand-carved wooden vase?  I've learned every negotiating trick in the book so ask me and I'll tell you how.  The package I sent home must have weighed 7 kg.  Oops.  You can't negotiate with the Postal Service.