Time to Get Spicy

Last stop in Thailand, Chiang Mai. 

Where to begin?! Northern Thailand was a breath of fresh air after all the buckets, beaches, and neon tank tops that come with the south. We had a list of To Do's and couldn't wait to experience some real Thai culture. Before I get into our northern adventures, I'll tell you about our journey there...

Arriving in the Bangkok train station, Andy and I were actually looking forward to the night train we were about to jump on. Neither of us had been on a train before, and after many night buses with "reclining" seats, broken a/c and awful movies playing on a tv from the '80's, a sleeper train sounded perfect.  On we clambered with the many backpackers and locals alike, and made our way to car #2.  
Around 1:00am Andrew woke up, noting that the train was stopped he fell back asleep. Later, at 5:00am we both awoke to an unmoving train. Thinking it was a quick stop, we went back to sleep for another hour. At 6:00am, train was stopped again, this time we assumed we had made it to Chiang Mai! After an hour of confusion and asking around we discovered not only were we not in Chiang Mai, but we were still four hours from Bangkok. In other words, not even halfway to our destination! Around 1:00am, a car on the train ahead of us derailed. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and after being moved to another train, the passengers made it to Chiang Mai with a 6 hour delay. We, on the other hand were not so lucky. After sitting all night, we were finally moved like herds of cattle, onto buses. We then jumped on a completely different train and took the loonnngg way to Chiang Mai. We arrived, sweaty, stinky, and tired after a 12 hour delay. How's that for train first timers?!

We spent our five nights at a hostel called SpicyThai. Located in a quiet residential area, this hostel was a home away from home. The staff were great for organizing hostel outings, and had tons of maps and brochures to guide you to the many activities in Chiang Mai. We reunited with our Dutch friend Maarten that we first met in the Philippines which was really cool. SE Asia is a small world when it comes to backpackers. We also met tons of great people from all over the world, Europe, Israel, Canada! My stomach literally hurt after four days of laughing so hard. It is such a rewarding experience to meet and get to know people while traveling that you otherwise would never see in your life!

Now, on to our To Do list:

1.  Temple visiting and a Monk Chat! Our first full day we grouped together with a few others from our hostel and did our own walking tour of the city and  some of it's beautiful Temples. Part of our tour was to take  a visit to the Women's Prison and stop for lunch at the cafe there. All the work is done by the inmates, and the food was quite good. On a separate day we decided to visit the "Mountain Temple". We prepared for a bit of a trek, but were slightly disappointed when we arrived and realized it was really only about 100 steps up...Oh well. The Temple (Wat Phra That Doi Suthep) itself is beautiful. Ivory Buddahs, Emeral Buddhas, and of course the usual Gold Buddhas. After spending some time walking around, we made the treacherous trek back down (hint of sarcasm there). After all that walking we stopped at our favorite lunch spot, Blue Diamond. This cute little restaurant with garden setting has a menu full of fresh veggies, fabulous Thai food, and delectable sandwiches(the tuna and avocado being our favorite!!). Not to mention, the refreshing iced coffees. 
Along with seeing the Temples, we also stopped for an insightful chat with a Monk. The Monk we sat down with is 22 and has been in the Monastery for  8 years now. We talked about everything from sports(they can watch, but can't play) breaking the rules(sometimes he sings in his room..shh!) women(we can't touch a Monk, or even directly pass anything to them. Monks must avoid any chance of desire or temptation setting in) the afterlife, and life in general for a Monk. It was quite an interesting and honest conversation.  We learnt a lot about the life of a Monk and their rules and beliefs.

2. Tiger Kingdom! We spent the afternoon snuggling up to these beautiful and enormous animals. What a thrill! Niiiceeee kiittttyyyy....

3. Thai cooking class! I was really looking forward to taking a cooking class,and the one we did with Asia Scenic did not disappoint! Our teacher, Mam, was hilarious and so knowledgeable with Thai cooking. She first took us to a local market and explained the differences between noodles, rice, vegetables, and more. We were shown everything we would be cooking with, and where in our home countries we would expect to find it.
After the market tour, we went back to Asia Scenics home to check out their garden. This garden was herb heaven! Lemongrass, basil, coriander. The aromas were tantalizing, the air fresh. 
Next, we strapped on our aprons and yielded our machetes. All that touring and listening had our bellies grumbling, so we got chopping. Our menu for the. evening,
Andrew: Pad Thai, Coconut-Milk Soup w/ Chicken, Red  Curry (the paste and the meal)
Chelsie: Chicken Cashew-Nut, Tom Tum Soup w/ Shrimp, Massaman Curry (paste and meal)
All I can say is we were so FULL we opted out of the cab ride back to the hostel and walked an hour and a half instead. It was so much fun,and we left with numerous tips and recipes to bring home. Be prepared for some real Thai cuisine when we get home friends and family!

4. Muay Thai! We watched 8 year olds, 13 year olds, women, and men beat the crap out of each other, only after finishing a ten minute spiritual dance and series of prayers around the arena. 

5. Scouring the streets of the Sunday Market! As the famous saying in Thailand goes, same same but different. Although, the street food is unbeatable! Sweet corn on the cob, fresh fruit smoothies, pineapple chicken and veggie skewers, and Pad Thai galore. Insert mouth-watering here.

6. A real trek! We spent an awesome and busy day with a group from the hostel, starting with a short ride on some elephants (quite uncomfortable, but it was really neat to be so close to those giant creatures! Also, we were lucky in not getting snotted on like some of the others.) and then a 70 minute hike into some waterfalls where we cooled off with a swim(a short one for me, after being informed by Andrew that he had spotted a snake in the water. No joke) and then hiked back out. Next we fought some wicked rapids while river rafting, and then floated our way back on bamboo rafts. 

SpicyThai also brought us all to a local beach for an afternoon of beers and swimming, and then a HUGE local buffet. Tables were lined with all kinds of raw seafood and meats, and we were given a small grill to cook our food on. There were veggies, rice, noodles, fruits and deserts. More tables contained all kinds of (unknown) Thai dishes. There were local bands playing on stage. It was a great experience, and we may have been the only non-local table. Again, being so full, Andrew and I waved goodbye to the others in the truck and walked back to SpicyThai.

Our last night in Chiang Mai, a bunch of us got together for a night out on the town. Little did we know we would end the night in a gay bar...Oops! All in the name of FUN I suppose, right?!

Chiang Mai was the perfect end to our month in Thailand. With Visas running out, we hopped on a plane to, first Bangkok, and then Denpasar, Bali. That's right, we have thrown another country in the mix...we are now in Indonesia and loving it! Chillin' with  Komodo Dragons, swimming with turtles and Manta Rays, and one HORRENDOUS night bus(didn't we say we were done with night buses?!?) is all to come in our next post! 

We are currently soaking up the sun in the Gili's before a 3 day trek up Mt. Rinjani(the second highest volcano in Indonesia). 

Take care, wherever in the world you may be.

xx A&C