| Lea's Latest Writing |
| AIDS |
| STDs |
| Mattie Stepanek |
| Highlights Magazine |
| Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah |
| Cell Phones for Soldiers |
| Staying Connected-Tidewater Parent |
| 2004 China Journey |
| 2001 RTW Trip |
| Supported by |
| Hampton Roads - Site of the Week 11/1/00 |
| Lechinois.com |
| Best Viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer |
|
|
[ Up ]
Chiang Mai Journal
(Lea)
Our lesson learned from Chiang Mai - first impressions are not always correct!
Our first impression of Chiang Mai was that it is a touristy city with not much
else to offer. We were wrong. The reason we felt this way is that on the first
day we only visited some of the recommended TOURIST spots. The next and
subsequent days we found Chiang Mai offers much more than tourist shopping - an
interesting culture, an international flavor and a door to exciting activities
in the North.
I now understand why Chiang Mai is considered one of the most livable Asian cities - while it offers all the amenities of Bangkok there is little pollution, much less noise and traffic. The standard of the living seems higher, the mountains offer a gorgeous backdrop to the city, and people seem more relaxed. Once we began exploring Chiang Mai we found an intriguing city full of wats (it has as many as Bangkok but is about 1/7 the population), nifty non tourist markets and noodle shops, many cultural events (Thai and foreign music, dance and theater), and a multitude of international restaurants. I found it funny that one morning we walked the streets of Chiang Mai, to an Irish pub where we ate an English breakfast of scones and tea while watching the Australian Open!
One of the coolest things we did was visit the Chiang Mai University. We toured the campus and found it much like US campuses - lots of students hanging out talking, playing sports, walking to class. While there we visited the Art Museum, which was interesting because it featured prominent Asian artists and students. Additionally we walked through the Fine Arts Department which only featured student exhibits - again pretty nifty because I could see, through their art, their thoughts about their lives and culture.
And of course, Chiang Mai offered us the opportunity to schedule our hill tribe trek, which was fantastic, arrange a visit to Doi Suthep, to see the temple with 300 steps. So, lesson learned, we will try to jump off the guidebooks to ensure we don't miss anything!
(Keith) Lea
has pretty much summed up Chiang Mai; I had the same initial feeling of
disappointment at the extreme tourist nature of the night bazaar. We are
loyal Lonely Planet followers, but they hyped the night bazaar way beyond its
cheesy reality.
One of the best things about Chiang Mai is that it offers lots of good restaurants and it is much easier to navigate than Bangkok. It also offers an extensive selection of international food; we ate Thai, Japanese, French, and Italian. The pizza tasted really good after the hill tribe trek!
Two of my Chiang Mai highlights were 1) the Khan Tok dinner and 2) my Thai cooking lesson. The Khan Tok dinner is actually a combination of several types of traditional dance along with lots of excellent Thai food. Before the event, I was skeptical about the quality; I attended a traditional Luau in Hawaii once . . . it featured the plastic utensils and Styrofoam containers that were used in ancient Hawaii. Luckily our Thai experience was much better. We ate under a star filled night while being entertained by artists (musicians, dancers, chefs) ; each of the performers obviously felt passionately about their discipline and gave us a show to remember. At the conclusion of the show we released Oriental balloons; they are large balloons made out of paper and a fire is built in a container underneath. Once the balloon fills with hot air it and the fire rise into the night air. It looks like floating stars as the balloons drift into the night.
For Christmas this year, Lea enrolled me in a Thai cooking class; I think there might be an ulterior motive, but I didn't care. The class started at one of the local markets; our instructor took us from stall to stall and explained the different foods that were being sold. With each vegetable, she would explain its primary use, a substitute if it is native to Thailand, and then we would smell it. I had been in numerous markets before, but having this personalized introduction gives new insight. We then drove out to the school . . . a beautiful open air kitchen with work stations set-up for each of the students. We cooked (and ate) six dishes: Yellow chicken curry, steamed fish in banana leaves (my favorite), noodles in sweet soy sauce, bananas in coconut milk, prawn salad (north eastern style), and chicken with cashews. The class was outstanding and I only wish I had more time to do the other 5. For a run down of some of the dishes check out my recipes section.
To see more pictures of Chiang Mai check out the Chiang Mai Photos.