Northern Thailand, take 1

I arrived to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand a four days ago, and it probably wins the prize for the hottest place I've been so far. It's the second largest city in Thailand, so it's quite big, but it has a walled/moated inner part of the city, which I've pretty much kept to, so it doesn't seem quite so big.

After my night on the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, I was looking forward to a good night's sleep, but first I had to pass the day... since it was absolutely steamy, I didn't do too much.

Mission #1: find specific Indian restaurant mentioned in Lonely Planet for lunch. Mission failed, but I did find a different restaurant to have Indian food.

Mission #2: explore Chiang Mai. Mission also failed due to sweltering heat. I eventually saw pedicures for less than $3, so I went in and got a pedicure and a foot/leg scrub for a grand total of just over $5. Massages and that sort of thing are so cheap here!

Mission #3: find info on treks and cooking classes in the area. Mission semi-accomplished, as I flipped through the trek book at the place I was staying at.

Mission #4: get a good night's sleep. Failed miserably due to hotel's rock-like beds, poor ventilation in room, sweltering heat, and loud nearby bars.

The next morning, I got up and looked for a new hotel. I spent an extra $1.67 a night to upgrade to a room with better ventilation, softer bed and all-around better feel to the place. Well worth the investment.

I decided to work on accomplishing missions 2, 3 and 4 from the previous day plus add in a visit to the famous night market, and I more or less succeeded! I checked out a couple of temples and then eventually collapsed into an internet cafe with a/c for a while before heading back to my room for a quick nap.

That evening, I headed out to the night bazaar that had been recommended, and I was a bit disappointed. I wasn't expecting a market that was mostly full of things that tourists would buy - I was expecting other random household goods, etc, like the markets of Central America that I'm familiar with. The thing to buy are beautiful - silks (most fake at this market, but nearby you can get the real thing), textiles, wooden carvings, beautiful Buddha paintings, etc etc etc, but I just don't have room in my backpack for anything right now.

At about 10pm, I was nearly falling asleep while walking around, so I caught a tuk tuk and headed back to my hotel for a good night's sleep before my next day's Thai cooking class.

The Thai cooking class was great! There were about 15 of us there, and first the chef took us around a produce market to introduce us to fruits, veggies, and spices we weren't familiar with... and to give us tips about buying eggs, etc. Did you know that the smaller eggs are tastier because they're laid by the younger hens, and they have a better flavor? So, stick to those medium eggs from now on.

After the market tour, we went back to our chef's house to cook - we all had little stations set up with a chopping block, sharp knife, wok, stove, etc. The chef showed us first how to make our dishes, then we'd get our ingredients put out in front of us, and he'd direct us through our dishes. It was great! I made a coconut soup, stir-fried veggies, panang curry with tofu, and pad thai. MMMM.... needless to say, I didn't have dinner than night.

However, I found out during the day that there is a special Sunday night market, and I went to it and found it to be far better than the normal night bazaar, so maybe that's the one that had been recommended to me... I still didn't buy anything, though.

And then, this morning, I got up, signed up for a three-day trek that starts on Thursday (look, I found this link from someone else's blog, detailing their trek and some other stuff.. but check out the trek stuff), and I took off for Pai, where I'm currently at.

Pai is super laidback compared to everywhere else I've been to, and upon arrival, I saw a sign for beginner yoga classes, which piqued my interest. After finding a place to stay (cheapest yet! $3.30/night for my own little hut with a bed... downfall is shared bathroom), I found the yoga place and will be doing 4 hours of yoga tomorrow. Yay! Let's hope I can still walk the next day, when I need to head back to Chiang Mai.

After Chiang Mai and trekking, it's on to Laos. My visa runs out on May 2, so I'll be out of Thailand by then at the absolute latest, probably sooner. Wow, sorry this one's so long! More post-trekking through the hilltribe villages...