Chiang Mai

May 31 - June 3, 2004

There were several options for the train ticket to Chiang Mai. I finally went with a sleeper (it was a 14 hr train overnight journey - and although I had been lucky on the Amtrak ride from Chicago to Albuquerque and gotten two seats to myself, I wasn't sure if I would be as lucky this time, or what the seats would be like) and took the non-airconditioned option. On the hot and sticky night that the train left from Hua Lum Phong station in Bangkok, the non-a/c part suddenly seemed like a bad idea. But once the train started, the cooler night air made it quite comfortable. The non-a/c sleeper coaches in Thai Railways are at first sight as grubby as their Indian counterparts (paint peeling, grime on windows, slightly smelly loos etc), but the saving graces are curtains, super clean sheets and pillows, and rotating fans that make sure that the coach stays cool. Also, unlike the two-four arrangement of seats on either side of the aisle in Indian trains, the seats here were two-two (the two seats become the bottom berth). The funny metal contraption is the luggage rack and ladder for the top berth - and it's placed in the wide(r) aisle.


The next (31st) morning was when I was really glad I had picked the non-a/c compartment. The train wound it's way through the lush green mountains of Northen Thailand, and it was great fun leaning out (no bars on the windows as in Indian trains) to feel the cool wind and to see the train curving around the sharp turns.




Had breakfast in the dining car. Boring stuff - eggs and toast - but served in style by these guys:


The train was only an hour late and got in at 1pm instead of 12, and I bought lunch from a lady selling pad-thai (excellent stuff even though it wasn't hot) at one of the stations:


The Chiang Mai station was full of agents for the various guest houses and I went with the first one who said he would take me there for free after I saw that it was in the same neighborhood as the one where I had initially planned to stay (but did not have a booking) - so I would have the option of walking across if I didn't like it. The GH was fine when I got there, and I was very amused by this sign behind the door:

But after the mosquitoes the first night, and an incredibly bitchy owner who was most unhelpful about simple things like helping unlock the room, I decided to move the next morning. Had scouted out this other place the night before called the Thana Guest house which was perfect for 150B/night - clean sheets, attached bathroom with a hot shower and very friendly and helpful staff. Though I was a bit taken aback by these two posters in my room:

Found out later that the Thana GH is a favorite with Israelis, and their menu even has a section for Israeli food. Also learnt that the reason it became popular with them (take this story with a pinch of salt) was because Thana organizes 4x4 Jeep jungle tours and all the Israeli tourists loved macho stuff like that because they had all had compulsory military service.

Walked around Chiang Mai a lot these last few days, and although it is like any big town in India in many ways (chaotic traffic, congested local markets, a few high rise buildings) it's also very laid back and friendly and surprisingly pretty in parts. The Doi Suthep mountain overlooks the city from the West and the Mae Ping river is a big brown river on the East:


The heart of the old city (established in 1296) is a square (a mile on each side) with ramparts and gates and a shallow moat (that now has fountains) that runs all around the square:






People smile and greet you even if you're just strolling along the street and the food is terrific. Northern Thai cooking is very different from what you normally see in Thai restaurants the world over. That's more central Thai with lots of coconut milk whereas the food here has thinner and spicier curries with lots of vegetables. Had already decided to take a Thai cooking course but was not sure how to choose between the dozens on offer. Finally called A Lot of Thai because their brochure seemed the simplest and the most well designed :-) and Yui, the owner, sounded very friendly, so I signed up for a one-day course.

Yui and her husband Khwan came to pick me up outside the Wat Mahawan temple the next morning (instead of picking me up at the guest house - because the GH normally charges a commission if one books it through them). We then picked up the only other student for the day, who turned out to be an Indian guy (Nishant) on his way back to the US after 2 years of working in west africa as a peace corps volunteer. We hit it off very well (he wasn't in the least 'altruistickier than though' and we had a lot of interests in common).

Anyway, Yui turned out to be this very friendly and chatty thai lady with fluent english and a great sense of humor. With just two students, we got a lot of cooking and a lot of talking done. Started with a pad thai and had that as the first course. A lot of the bigger cooking schools in this place cook 4 dishes at a time and then sit down to lunch. Here we would make something and then eat it while it was hot.



The cooking 'school' is in their covered driveway.

Followed that up with a clear and spicy soup. Yui taught us only veggie things because both of us preferred veggie stuff. She was also happy to do that because her mom is a vegetarian at heart and would get to eat the dishes she made. Then we had corn and carrot fritters (much like pakodas, but the batter was wheat flour and eggs) to finish the morning session. The coolest part of the day was when she took us to a local market to see all the ready to eat foods at the stalls and the fresh fruits and veggies and meats.


Mangoes and sticky rice (one of the best dishes I've ever had) and rice cakes etc.


Fried crickets. No, I couldn't psych myself up enough to try one.


Furry balls = Rambutans, Cone shaped things = Rose Apples, Purple balls with green tops = Mangosteens, brown things at bottom right = Long Kong, Big Pink fruit to right of pole = Drangon fruit. Had only seen Rambutans in Singapore before this.

Forgot to take a picture at the stalling selling chicken blood solidified in cakes. Yui knew all her regular sellers and chatted with them while pointing out stuff to us and answering the hundreds of questions that we both had (is black sticky rice black to begin with? what is that fruit? what are glass noodles made of? answers: yes. longkong. moong beans - bet you didnt know that one). Saw more varieties of mushrooms than i thought possible:

'Mouse ear' mushrooms


Angel mushrooms


Mushroom seller with opened straw mushrooms, closed straw mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, and some truffle like mushroom.


Sipping iced coffee outside the market - they serve it in these plastic bags (ugh) but they tie it up in a nifty way with a rubber band so it not only prevents it from spilling out but gives you a loop to hang the bag from a finger while you sip. The lime green car was a 1970 Volkswagen and had "A Lot of Thai" painted on the side.

When we got back in the afternoon we did a panaeng curry with eggplants and two different kinds of mushroms, a sweet and sour chilli tofu dish, and topped it all off with dessert - bananas in coconut milk. Incidentally - Thai  people generally buy the curry pastes for green, red, panaeng, mussaman etc fresh at the markets and don't make them at home. Learning to cook all of these dishes was totally great. She would demo the dish and then we would each go to our tables (each with a stove and a full set of utensils) and copy it under her supervision. Not sure if I will ever get it right on my own, but the cook book that she provided will definitely help.

Yui used to work for a bigger cooking school in Chiang Mai but gave it up to start her own one at her home once she had a kid. She was working on a brochure that she gave the ideas for and her husband designed - it included a map with her favorite haunts for cheap and good food in Chiang Mai (from when she was a student at the university). Nishant and I both helped with some of the english grammar questions she had for the map, and we both got photocopies of the map that were very helpful over the next few days. In all, this was easily the best 650 baht (~Rs650/$15) i ever spent :-)

That evening was the famous Visakha Puja procession (a full moon event) - commemorating the day that the Buddha was born, gained enlightenment, and died (how convenient). Nishant (the guy I met at the cooking class earlier in the day) and I met up in the evening around 830 pm and decided we would head out and see the procession up to Wat Phra Doi Suthep - a famous temple on top of the mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. When we got to the base of the mountain by a shared red taxi/bus (toyota pick up trucks with a roof over the back and space for 10 to sit easily), there were thousands of people walking up the 14 km road. Till then I hadn't even suspected that Chiang Mai had that many people! We hadn't brought food or water, and weren't sure what would happen if it rained - which it had earlier in the evening) so we hadn't planned on going up, but once we saw the number of people walking up without carrying anything special, we figured it would be pretty well organized. And it was. Every km or so (sometimes less) there were groups of food stalls and monks chanting.

I didn't carry my camera because I thought it might rain, and now I wish I had. We caught up with the official procession with monks and dancers which is supposed to reach early in the morning - and it was quite the sight - dancers in traditional Thai clothes carrying these elaborate lamps, people playing these huge drums and gongs, and two groups pushing cannons! The procession was really slow so we walked past (as did most people). We started around 930pm and it was about 1am when we got to the top. Was a very fun climb. Tiring, of course, but we ate and drank lots and chatted all the way up (I would have never done this alone).The whole climb was very peaceful - not a mad rush as in some Indian festivals :-)

The scene at the top was quite amazing too - the approach to the temple was beatifully lit by these elaborate hanging lanterns and tall banners lined the road. Another 500 stair climb got us to the top of the temple - which was superb - everyone was walking around a golden chedi (spire that houses buddha's relics) with lotuses and incense sticks, so we did too. Chiang Mai twinkled under the full moon and looked HUGE from on top of the mountain - and I guess I hadn't realized it was so big because I had only been hanging around the touristy areas.

Finally came down after ringing as many bells as I could :-). Both of us decided that our knees couldn't take the shocks of walking downhill, so we took a taxi that was so crowded that we had to sit on top of the roof on the luggage rack. Chatted with a couple of thai college students all teh way down... At 230am - I was surprised that Chiang Mai was still wide awake - several night food stalls and mini marts were open (even in the parts of the city where there was no procession related activity) - it was definitely a bigger/ more happening place than I had previously thought.

Set out to explore some of the non-food markets the next afternoon. The Wat Buphbaram had Ashoka's lions outside it:


And this sign cracked me up (the perfect way to lure a nerdy tourist - no, I didn't go for it):


The Warorot market was a large indoor market, and the top two floors were VERY boring (about two hundred small shops all selling clothes - much like Treasure Island in Kolkata, but not a/c). I've always wondered if anyone really buys all those clothes.


Warorot is connected to Ton Yamlai market by a footbridge above this street:

Ton Lamyai was partly food (a splash from a bucket of live eels hit me as I was walking past) but also had a huge flower section (3 dozen roses for 50 B/Rs50/$1) and some hardware shops.


Huge bags of dried mushrooms.


Fruit sellers use pretty bedcovers as protection from the afternoon sun.


Had never seen mannequins sculpted with a maniacal laugh before.

Spent Friday and Saturday (June 4 and 5) (pictures here) with Eric, a somewhat eccentric but very nice old Australian man who teaches young Thai kids to play Cricket at a Govt school in a neighboring town (search for Sawasdee Cricket or Chiang Mai cricket on Google).

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