Chiang Mai
I am obsessed with these ball lights, first encountered in Chiang Mai.
I have since bought THREE sets.
I have been admonished for being so far behind in my writing; So much has happened over the last few weeks that Ive wanted time to chill and absorb everything, think about what I wanted to write.
Chiang Mai was fantastic. I really liked it; it’s so much more approachable than Bangkok which is completely in-your-face. I stayed five nights at the Libra Guesthouse in the Old City (the construction I mentioned earlier ended up not being an issue), which worked out perfectly. It was a 10 minute walk to the Sunday Walking Market, the main tourist centre, and multiple restaurants, cafes and bars.
While primarily a guesthouse, the also arrange treks, tours and activities — something I took complete advantage of. Over the few days I was there, I took a cooking class, went ziplining through the jungle, and even spent a day learning about elephants at a mahout training course.
Fresh Thai ingredients @ Asia Scenic
The cooking course was first. There are about 20 different cooking schools in Chiang Mai, and I went with Asia Scenic after reading all of the positive reviews on Trip Advisor and other travel sites online. I did the full day course (which cost 700THB), which included a walk through their organic garden and a market tour. Then we learned how to make our choice of seven dishes. I picked Papaya Salad, Pad Thai, Green Curry Paste & Green Curry, Tom Yum soup, Sticky Rice with Mango and a vegetable stirfry. All were incredibly simple and totally tasty, I was shocked at how easy it all was! They gave us a cookbook that contained all recipes (even the ones we didn’t choose) to take home; already I am planning a serious shopping trip to Chinatown when I get home to stock up my pantry!
You see this expression? This is how I felt for ohhh an hour and a half. Insanity.
The second thing I did was perhaps the most foolhardy: ziplining through the jungle with Jungle Flight. While I was in Ayutthaya I met a Dutch girl, Laura, on the train platform. We were both headed for Chiang Mai, so we exchanged phone numbers and planned to hang out while there. We realized that we had a number of things in common, one being that we were both scared to do adventure-y stuff, and that maybe we could be scared together. So, off we went at 630 one morning. Let me say first, that this was completely crazy. While the course was perfectly safe, we were trusting our lives to a bunch of hyperactive strangers at oh-my-buddha-o’clock in the morning.
Laura and me, the epitome of Jungle Chic!
Laura had little problem stepping off of the platforms (there were 22!), but I was terrified and asked that one of the guides go tandem with me for the first several goes. I felt that they considered this a bit ridiculous, and that I was being overly-scared. However I’ve come to learn that I have serious trust issues (in this case: trust in the equipment, in the guides, in myself) and that it was a Really Big Deal for me to do this even in tandem. I found the guides to be a little pushy (I literally had to ask one fellow to stop pressing on my back), and that they didnt take my very real fear seriously.
That said, the experience was very interesting. I admit, I spent a good amount of time with my eyes clenched shut, but I did manage to relax a wee bit towards the end and open them (although I never, ever looked down — we were 40m in the air!) and look up at the beautiful scenery around us.
Merkabah, my 4-tonne friend
The final activity I did was spend a day at Patara Elephant Farm. While I was in Ayutthaya I had seen several elephants carrying tourists around in massive benches on their backs. When not in service, they were tightly chained to a railing. It was very hard to see and I felt just terrible for the animals. Id always known that when I came to Chiang Mai I would go see the elephants, but I had planned to go to the Elephant Nature Park, and not Patara. What changed my mind? Well, after much investigating online, I found that Patara was insanely high regarded and that they treated their elephants impeccably. They focused on elephant conservation and breeding, running a very successful programme that has increased the elephant population in Thailand. Plus, instead of going and having a nominal introduction to the animals, at Patara you were given the opportunity to be a mahout for a day (although they kept saying “owner”, which really didnt work right in my mind).
Thirty seconds before a full-fledged freak out
After learning how to care for your elephant, the plan was to then ride said animal for 40 minutes to a nearby waterfall. Unfortunately, after climbing onto the neck of my girl, I was so freaked out by how tall she was (she was the largest elephant at the farm) and how uncertainly I was perched on top of her (we were riding bareback). Minutes away from bursting into tears, I had them get me off of her, as it was just too much for me. Getting out of my comfort zone? Done WAY too much that week. Feeling like a complete loser, I then walked behind the elephants to the waterfall (which was pretty much empty as it was the height of the dry season).
An amazing lunch was served before returning back to the farm. I was given another chance to ride a much smaller elephant named Kwan. I managed to stay on top of her for about 10 minutes before the whole thing just got to me and I instead elected to walk back. By this point I was ok with my decision, and while I still felt kind of lame, I felt that I had pushed myself as far as I was going to go.
Instead of riding an elephant back to the farm, I got to walk though rice paddies instead (which made me very happy).
So, after spending 5 action packed days in Chiang Mai, I was ready to sit back, chill, and do not a whole lot of anything. Enter Pai, my happy place.
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