Northern Thailand

 

Chiang Mai! Chiang Rai! the Golden Triangle! Oh my!



Part of the old wall and the southern entrance to the city

One advantage of living so close to Krabi and its International Airport is we can pretty much fly anywhere for a very little. We have been trying to take advantage of this when time allows.

To fly to Northern Thailand - Chiang Mai - was only an hour and half. We unfortunately chose to go when the sugar cane fields were being burned before replanting so air quality was not great. I was pretty excited to see the eastern side of the Himalayas' but alas, we only saw outlines of the mountains at best. Tantalizing!

But Chiang Mai - what an incredible place! It is absolutely dripping in culture. If it's temples you want to see you can fill your boots and then some. The city was once considered the capital of Thailand when it was still called Siam. You know "The King and I". The old city is enclosed by an 800 year old moat and much of the walls and gates are still intact. The inside area is exactly one square mile. (how they'd do that!) We stayed just outside the southern gate and one street crossing - (you take your life in your hands here) - away from a very large night food market and a daytime merchant market. Another shopping market was only a short tuk-tuk ride away.

  

Chiang Mai is where I (with friends) took my first cooking lesson from Yui Kwan. Her claim to fame? She has had Gordon Ramsey and Canada's own Michael Smith in her classes cooking and filming. She makes it look so easy and really it is - as long as everything is prepared ahead of time and the food is divided into cooking times. Thai cooking has four elements. Sweet, Sour, Spicy and Salty. How and what you use to achieve that becomes your signature. We spent eight hours in her class, made six delicious dishes and went to a fresh food market for a lesson as well. There are over nine eggplants here! From the purple ones that we recognise to ones the size of small grapes.

Nice and tidy - crazy VW van picked us up.

Green curry with basil - yummy!

 

My Phad Thai dish

There were eight of us together cooking away. A traditional Thai kitchen is outside. Makes sense given how hot the weather is and how hot things get in the kitchen. Dishes are cooked quite quickly - which also makes sense. No point having the cook top on any longer then necessary!





We toured an Elephant Rescue Centre while in Chiang Mai. The elephants there are from all over Thailand. Mostly rescued from some not so caring people. These elephants live down in a beautiful valley and are often free to roam with their mahout. They are not chained but have a rope around their leg in the evening just so they don't wander off into one of the villages and cause mayhem. Our elephant was called May Noi and she was the largest elephant in the compound! We were allowed to ride on her back but bareback only and we had to wear the type of clothes that the mahout's wear.

We needed to use a ramp to get on to her back and that was one prickly back! The mahout stayed with us and the elephants were controlled by voice commands that we were to use. We quickly forgot the terms as soon as the animal started walking as all our concentration was needed to staying on her back. It was a long way down! No ropes for the walk and no sticks for prodding. May Noi liked to choose her own path. We ended up in the same places as everyone else, just a different way of getting there. The guides took our cameras and shot all the photos for us. In addition they had their own photographers and we bought a disk full of photos. Proceeds to the elephant's care as was our fee. We bathed her and fed her. What a grand experience. Must of filled her trunk six times myself with water and Ed also gave her water. We were on her back standing in a pond and she gave us a shower! What a memory.

Room to roam.

Fill 'er up please!

So much bigger than the others!

 I was concerned if I kept filling up her trunk she would spray it back at me! She didn't though.











Bob and Pat Walton are to the right of us. Brent and Michelle are further down the line. There were six elephants in our group. Getting them together for a group shot was tough.





 Another tour we took from Chiang Mai was to Chiang Rai and then into the Golden Triangle. Chiang Rai has the white Temple. It is a relatively new temple but as it is all white and silver it is quite something to behold. The drive up to Chiang Rai also gave us a chance to really look at the county side. So much farming is done in the northern part of Thailand. Rice fields, fruit trees, palm oil, rubber - it's all there. The Golden Triangle Burma, Laos and Thailand was known for the opium smuggled over the borders along the Mekong.

The White Temple of Chiang Rai

Incredible workmanship.

Yes these are all hands stretching up. Kind of creepy.

And we got to ride on the Mekong River! The boat took us over to Laos and of course a market. The men had their shot of cobra whiskey, the women admired the weaving, silk and clothing. We went as close as we could to the Burma border but NO crossing.

Cobra whiskey.

Very smoky here!

Things were a little smoky up this far north. Burning the cane fields for replanting. Don't go in March!





We also visited the Long Neck Tribe. These are the ladies that have brass wrapped around their necks and ankles. It's a myth that it stretches their necks, but it certainly gives that appearance. What it does do though is loosen the muscles and their heads start to rely on the brass to hold it up. Like feet binding in Japan it is to give beauty. To a Westerner it looked tortuous, to the Long Necks it is beauty. Who am I to judge other traditions. Their weaving was simplistic and beautiful!

It was a long day - over twelve hours round trip, but certainly worth it. We plan to go back to Chiang Mai when they are not burning.

Just got to go back and see those mountains!