Pass the Drugs

There was a slight delay boarding the mini bus back to Chiang Mai. We had both already medicated ourselves during breakfast but soon after getting on the bus our driver was on the phone. Then he was on a video call while taking apart the glove compartment. Pointing the camera towards the wires for someone on the other end to see, he was apparently trying to suss out what he needed to do to fix whatever the problem was. Andre said it was the air conditioning. It turned into a half hour episode of a bad drama, watching him decide for certain which wires to cut, and eventually getting mildly shocked as he twisted them together. After he appeared satisfied with his handy work he put everything back together and we were on our way. Unfortunately I was alert for most of the ride. Not only did this guy speed and tailgate, he also loved to tap the gas and the break indiscriminately. The sign on the back of the seats indicated they didn’t want people puking in their van but the message their driving sent said otherwise.

Finding a Home

We knew the general area we wanted to stay in from our initial overnight visit so we basically just walked around from place to place and checked out our options. We stumbled upon a place down a small lane way. It was cheap as chips and had everything we needed. The place also had two furry residents. One tiny little kitten and a sweet mute Shih Tzu. They both had extensive wardrobes and were dressed in different outfits each day.

Our new place was quite close to our first accommodation and the shop where we got our fish foot “massages”. Neither of us had done the fish thing before so the night prior to leaving for Pai we decided to try it out. I would not call it a massage. Andre got in first. I thought I was recording him. I discovered later on that I did not get his reaction on tape, which was very disappointing. He pretty much lost the plot when his feet first went in and I actually didn’t think he’d make it the entire 15 minutes and questioned whether I really wanted to participate in this activity. He eventually calmed down and convinced me it was fine. He caught my reaction on tape. It is not nearly as loud or dramatic as his was. The feeling is hard to describe. I wouldn’t say it tickles but it’s definitely not relaxing.

 

 

Chaing Mai Vibes

I was extremely happy to be back in Chiang Mai. There was just so much to take in. So many tiny lane ways, street art, temples and pagodas. Compared to Pai I felt that Chaing Mai had a more authentic feel. Pai was beautiful but it reminded me a bit of Banff where everything is targeted toward the tourists. We stayed right in the Old City and while there were plenty of people who are more than happy to sell their wares to tourists, it still had a very local vibe.

The food was fantastic and there was no shortage of options for vegetarian meals. We frequented a spot called Blue Diamond for breakfast. It had a lovely garden area to eat in with a Koy pond. There was also a resident cat who was always on the hunt. 

My favorite memory from Blue Diamond was listening to a young guy at a nearby table who had just arrived in Thailand. He was asking how to say certain words and phrases. Another customer was trying to explain to him that at the end of statements or questions you add on either “kráp” if you’re a man or “ká” if you’re a woman. So you would say khàawp-khun kráp (cup coon cup) if you are a man and khàawp-khun ká (cup coon cah) if you are a woman. You could see the moment he clearly understood that he had been using ká and identifying himself as a woman. I’m sure the Thai people had found this amusing as he clearly was not a lady boy!

If you want to shop for ingredients the local markets sell everything you could possibly imagine. One day we were looking for shop to pick up some toiletries and ended up walking through an amazing market. The amount of fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood, meat, and spices was astounding. Take a look at the size of those durian!

The old walls surrounding this area are still fairly intact and the surrounding moat is really cool. Trump would love it, but he’d probably want to throw some predators in there. Chiang Mai is a large city but each area had its own character. You could spend weeks exploring this place.

Spirit Houses

Along with temples and pagodas, the other thing you will see everywhere in Thailand is spirit houses. You will see them outside of most homes and businesses. In very simple terms they are tiny structures built to honor the guardians of the land and to protect those living there. Daily offerings are set out around them which include food, flowers, and drinks (usually red in colour). If you’re interested in learning more you can check out the links below.

All you need to know about Thai spirit houses

The Hauntingly Beautiful Spirit Houses of Thailand

Random Observations

One thing we have noticed in Asia in general are the power lines. They don’t come even remotely close to what would be considered safe in North America. It’s an absolute disarray of tangled wires that sometimes dip down so low that I’ve had to watch my top knot. One day it almost got caught up in some exposed wire and visions of half a head of singed hear flashed before my eyes. You occasionally see guys doing maintenance or using long bamboo poles with hooks on the end to move up low hanging wires. Basically like what you’d see in a retail store to take down clothing hangers from higher racks.

While were were at a camera shop one afternoon getting our photos taken for our Vietnam visa application I was thrilled to see monks shopping for electronics. If you’ve been reading my posts you know about my future coffee table book Monks Are People Too. So far all my photos of monks have been terrible because they have been taken with my super old iPhone from behind bushes or shelves. This one is no exception.

It Started With a Beer

We sat down one afternoon for a quick beer at Be Beez Cafe & Guesthouse. As we looked at the menu a guy across from us mentioned that the food was really good. He was staying upstairs in one of the guestrooms. He had been in Thailand for several months and told us about how he now planned to return each year to spend time in the area. He talked about how he had become disillusioned with life in the Canada and had fallen in love with the way of life in Thailand. He was very open and shared with us that he and his wife had recently separated. They had three grown children. All girls. You could see that it was all very fresh and although he was the one that initiated the split he was obviously struggling with the toll it was taking on his now ex-wife.

He had a lifelong friend who had been coming to Thailand for years and now they were both staying at Be Beez. We must have chatted with Peter for a few hours before Rob showed up and we didn’t end up parting company until about about six hours later. They were both great guys. Rob was a poet and he had both Andre and I read his work aloud, standing up. Peter had the best smile and it was uncanny how much he looked like Dick Van Dyke when he flashed his pearly whites. He was completely charming and refreshingly honest. We had a great evening together and ended up catching up with them again the following night. The next time there were few other characters in the mix though. Nice enough people, but the dynamic was different with this larger group. Still a good night but we really preferred the conversation when it was just the four of us.

Excess Baggage

Our next mode of transport was going to be a plane and we had been keen to get rid of some of the clothing we would no longer require given we were heading toward warmer places. We decided to post some things home. Andre sent about 5kg of clothing back and I probably made up the remaining 2 kilograms. I ended up culling 3 dresses, 4 bottoms, 4 tops, 2 bikinis, and a clutch. I basically sent home things that were either too warm or too fitted to the body to be culturally appropriate. I like to err on the side of modesty and anything that had too much cling I packed up. We had also purchased some loose and light clothing in Cambodia so we needed to drop some weight for the flight. We went though the Thailand Post Office and sent 7kg on the slow boat (3 months) which was very reasonable at sixty-five dollars. 

Cooking School

On our final evening in Chiang Mai we took a cooking class through Siam Garden Cooking School. We love Thai food and thought it would be great if we could learn to make some of our favorite dishes. We got picked up at our accommodation and jumped in a van with others that had signed up. Before we went to the place where we would be cooking we were taken to a local market to get familiar with the basic ingredients used in Thai cooking. I had to laugh when a second van pulled up at the market and upon watching those passengers exit the vehicle one of the younger people from our group remarked that she was glad that there were more people “their age” in the class. This would be interesting.

I would say that most of the people in our class (13 total) were in their early twenties and none of them had a clue how to cook anything. Many of them couldn’t even use a knife properly and a few even struggled to identify ingredients that we had just talked about at the market. Since Andre and I both cook at home and rarely eat out we looked like master chefs by comparison.

We had a great time and learned a variety of dishes. I did a green curry, glass noodle soup, morning glory stir fry, papaya salad and banana spring roll. Andre did a red curry, Pad Thai, noodle soup, spring rolls and sticky rice mango. It was nice because each person could choose what they wanted to learn from different categories and they gave us a recipe book with all the options that were available to choose from. I feel far less intimidated now and I know we will be making some dishes when we return home. So friends, if you’re reading this you may want to book a table early before we fill up.

On the ride home we got chatting some more with a few of the girls and learned that they were from Belgium and had been studying in Hong King. We asked them about the riots and it was interesting to hear their perspective and what they experienced. They said they had never felt unsafe on campus despite being evacuated after tear gas began seeping into their classrooms. They eventually had to be moved off campus and were put up in  hostel. The remainder of their studies were moved to online modules. We have found it really interesting meeting people who have been to areas of “unrest” and hearing first hand accounts that differ so much to what we hear and read through the media.

If I went back to Thailand for any length of time I would love to take a massage course. We love getting Thai massages and I don’t know anyone in Edmonton that does them. I’ll need to look into that. Also I just feel like it’s really good relationship insurance. I need to step up my game and I feel like being able to give a really good massage will dramatically increase my value. Plus, you know, I love him and stuff so it would be nice to torture him with my pointy little elbows.

161 days in…

Now to Vietnam.