Thursday, November 30, 2006
In Chiang Mai and Loving Every Moment of It!
Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been having an amazing time in Chiang Mai, Thailand's second largest city in the North of the country.
I arrived from Ayutthaya on the overnight train which was an adventure in itself. I travelled in a first-class sleeping berth. I had my own single bunk, closed off by a curtain, on the ground floor, with another bunk above me. I was in a car about 15 bunks long. It was quite cosy and I slept moderately well, given that the train was old and quite rickety. It was gorgeous to wake up at dawn and see how the landscape had changed to feature more hills.
Now, I did a very foolish thing. On the advice of some backpackers I met in Ayutthaya, I cancelled my hotel reservation in Chiang Mai, thinking I could show up at a much cheaper guest house and hang out in the local backpacker scene. When I arrived, I chartered a tuk tuk and started going to the most popular guesthouses to find a room. All were full. At this point, I started to kick myself about cancelling my hotel reservation. Turns out that Chiang Mai's international flower festival is on which draws thousands of visitors. Hence, my difficulty in finding a room. I even went back to the hotel I originally booked and begged for my reservation back. The reservations manager said that this was possible but I would have to pay twice as much as the original price and I couldn't get all of the days I wanted. Bummer. There was a happy ending. I ended up finding a room at the even nicer Chiang Mai Plaza Hotel which is located in a great area.
GUARDIAN ANGEL #3: Somboon
I also met Guardian Angel #3, Somboon, a Thai man from Chiang Mai whom I was introduced to via email by my friends in Amsterdam, Ieneke and Andries Suidman. They met Somboon through an art dealer friend of theirs from Rotterdam years ago. Somboon was a Buddhist priest for 10 years and is the sweetest person you could ever meet. He left the priesthood 15 years ago and now has two tailor shops in Chiang Mai. He has been so kind as to drive me all around Chiang Mai to different sites and to help me book tours, etc. He's also been a source of knowledge about Buddhism and Thai culture in general.
About NOT touching Buddhist monks. Somboon says that Buddhist novices (monks in training) and monks are forbidden to touch women (except their mothers). This is why Wisut told me not to touch them. However, it is forgiveable as long as there was no intent to do so or you didn't know this was forbidden. Somboon also confirmed that Thais do not like fact that so many foreign men come to Thailand for sex and to marry local Thai women but they tolerate it.
Chiang Mai Sites
I wandered through Chiang Mai's popular weekend market where you can buy handicrafts from local hilltribes (the politically-correct term is 'mountain people'.) I was tempted to try the fried grasshoppers and maggots with chili and basil but couldn't work up the courage.
I absolutely love Thai food but occasionally, I want to eat something else with a different flavour. One day, I ate at a lovely Italian restaurant near my hotel. The chef actually served me supper and he told me that he had an Italian restaurant on the Leidseplein for 12 years before getting completely fed up and moving to Thailand. He said that he paid 60% income tax and then 20% for staff wages. The factor that made him leave Holland was the labour laws and the unreliability of staff. Today, he owns Chiang Mai's top Italian restaurant with efficient staff and a nice lifestyle. His restaurant is across the street from Chiang Mai's most exclusive boutique hotel, the Chedi.
The One and Only Chedi Hotel
I'm not one to rave about hotels but I am going to describe the Chedi. I had seen the hotel's Web site while planning my trip and wanted to stay there, except that it cost about EURO 400 per night which is out of my price range. But I had to visit it. The outside is pretty non-descript (kind of like a windowless fortress) but the minute you walk through the front door, you are in an oasis of zen calm and tastefulness. Designed by a Japanese architect, the hotel is exquisite with an open-air, minimalist concept. The colour scheme is largely white marble with dark wood floors, with some tan and red thrown in, and with a lot of Indian artwork. There are lots of pools with candles floating in them and the most beautiful Japanese floral arrangements. Upstairs is a lovely terrace with a sunken floor where people can drink cocktails ( I ordered the Chedi martini which is a lovely, dry concoction with lemongrass and kaffir lime) and gaze over the Ping River. Downstairs, the restaurant sits on a wooden terrace overlooking the river where at night, Chinese lanterns hang from trees. The eating area has special machines to kill mosquitos and each table also features mosquito repellent. The hotel rooms themselves are simple, clean and natural and each has a lovely private balcony. I completely lost my mind and begged to book a hotel room for a night. Alas, this hotel was also fully-booked. Next time!
Somboon was sweet enough to drive me to the part of Chiang Mai which features all of the handicraft factories. The most interesting was a silk factory which shows how the famous Thai silk is made, worms and all. Later, he took me to Chedi Luang, a very old Buddhist temple where tourists can speak in English to young Buddhist monks to learn about Buddhism. This was so interesting. I spent about two hours talking to two novices and one monk. They all attend the Buddhist University in Chiang Mai. They love to practise their English. One of the monks even spoke some Dutch and announced that he wants to visit Holland. When I asked him what he liked best about Holland, he answered Ruud van Nistelrooy and tulips. (Lots of Dutch visit Chiang Mai.)
Trekking Near Chiang Mai
I ended up going on a two-day, one night trek through the mountains to spend some time with a mountain people called the Karen. Now I have to admit, I am not a back-to-nature person. I do enjoy camping but with the proper accoutrements (warm tent, proper mattress, pillow, wind-proof tent, etc.) So I don't know what possessed me to sign up for this trek although after the fact, I must say that I enjoyed it very much and would recommend doing it. A trek consists of some hiking, going through some forest on an elephant, and doing some bamboo rafting, all supervised by Thai guides who speak English and who come from the hilltribes you visit. You show up at a village and spend time there sitting around with the mountain people (who don't speak English) and observing how they live on a day-to-day basis. Very simple but very interesting.
I was in a group of 11 people. We crammed into a pick up truck and drove to a place where we first did some trekking on elephants. Elephants look big and clumsy but they are in fact very graceful. Elephant skin is very thick and hairy. Each elephant was driven by a young Thai and myself and an Austrian woman, Andrea, sat behind him in a "type" of seat. Our elephant, Chokia, was quite gentle but preoccupied with eating and stopped many times to rip leaves off of trees and to eat long grass. I was shocked to discover that the trail included some very hilly areas with some serious vertical climbing. Chokia handled everything with great skill but I was terrified at times, convinced I'd fall off or that she'd lose her step. But everything was fine and I have the photo to prove it!
Next, we did some serious trekking for about three hours through the mountains and stopped to swim in a waterfall area. I was surprised at how demanding the trekking was. We had to cross rivers, streams and deep ravines on bamboo walkways and at one point, we had to hike uphill for 30 minutes which was exhausting! We spent the night in the village of the white Karen mountain people with a lovely family headed by "Mr. Rambo". The shower was an outdoor pipe with cold water. The toilet was a crude hut with a hole in the floor. Sleeping quarters was a wooden hut on stilts with a roof of dried leaves where we all slept side by side. We each were provided with a thin sleeping bag and woolen blanket (no pillow). The wooden floor was full of holes which freaked me out since there are tonnes of snakes around.
We all sat around the cooking area of the hut where Mr. Rambo lives with his wife and young son, Declatchu. His other two children attend a boarding school in another village and only come home on the weekends. Thai law stipulates that every child must attend school until the sixth grade. We had a simple dinner together. It's amazing how good food can taste when you're exhausted. I even drank a beer even though I don't like it. The group played some drinking games which were hilarious. (I didn't join in since they were drinking beer and I was fighting a cold.)
That night was a low point for me. The temperature drops precipitously in the mountains. I had on all of my clothes and I was still freezing, with an aching back and hips. I kept dozing off and waking up. At about 5 a.m., the roosters began so I got up and sat around the fire with Mr. Rambo and his wife until the others woke up and stumbled groggy-eyed and exhausted out of the hut. I don't think anyone slept well. After a very spartan breakfast, we did some more trekking which was quite enjoyable. On the way, I met a Canadian woman named Laura who lives 20 minutes away from my Mom in Waterloo, Ontario.
Later, we went rafting on bamboo rafts which was great fun. Andy and Tim (two British guys), Andrea (an Austrian) and I sat on one raft. The rafters simply string 10 long pieces of bamboo together at three points. The Thai rafter stood at the front, navigating with a long bamboo pole. Tim sat behind him. Andrea and I sat in the middle and Andy stood at the back, navigating with another long bamboo pole. By the time we sat down, we were sitting in water since the raft sank a bit. The bamboo floats because it is hollow in the middle. We rafted down a river and went through various rapids which was great fun. The highlight of the trip was when the Thai driver miscalculated a turn and the raft pitched on its left side. Andrea got thrown off into the stream. Luckily it wasn't deep but the water was a bit rough. I hung on for dear life but loved every minute of it. If you ever get the chance to go on a trek, I highly-recommend it. It is a wonderful way to see the mountains of Thailand and to learn more about mountain culture. It's like travelling back one hundred years.
Trek Recovery
After the trek, I checked back into the Chiang Mai Plaza Hotel and was I ever glad to see its magnificent lobby again. They upgraded me to a nicer room where I soaked in the huge bathtub, ordered room service and a bottle of red wine, watched "A View to a Kill", and collapsed into a coma-like sleep until this morning.
This morning, Somboon picked me up and took me to a place where I booked a Thai cooking course. Then, we went to a famous Thai massage centre where I treated my aching bones to a two-hour Thai and oil massage. Heaven!
I arrived from Ayutthaya on the overnight train which was an adventure in itself. I travelled in a first-class sleeping berth. I had my own single bunk, closed off by a curtain, on the ground floor, with another bunk above me. I was in a car about 15 bunks long. It was quite cosy and I slept moderately well, given that the train was old and quite rickety. It was gorgeous to wake up at dawn and see how the landscape had changed to feature more hills.
Now, I did a very foolish thing. On the advice of some backpackers I met in Ayutthaya, I cancelled my hotel reservation in Chiang Mai, thinking I could show up at a much cheaper guest house and hang out in the local backpacker scene. When I arrived, I chartered a tuk tuk and started going to the most popular guesthouses to find a room. All were full. At this point, I started to kick myself about cancelling my hotel reservation. Turns out that Chiang Mai's international flower festival is on which draws thousands of visitors. Hence, my difficulty in finding a room. I even went back to the hotel I originally booked and begged for my reservation back. The reservations manager said that this was possible but I would have to pay twice as much as the original price and I couldn't get all of the days I wanted. Bummer. There was a happy ending. I ended up finding a room at the even nicer Chiang Mai Plaza Hotel which is located in a great area.
GUARDIAN ANGEL #3: Somboon
I also met Guardian Angel #3, Somboon, a Thai man from Chiang Mai whom I was introduced to via email by my friends in Amsterdam, Ieneke and Andries Suidman. They met Somboon through an art dealer friend of theirs from Rotterdam years ago. Somboon was a Buddhist priest for 10 years and is the sweetest person you could ever meet. He left the priesthood 15 years ago and now has two tailor shops in Chiang Mai. He has been so kind as to drive me all around Chiang Mai to different sites and to help me book tours, etc. He's also been a source of knowledge about Buddhism and Thai culture in general.
About NOT touching Buddhist monks. Somboon says that Buddhist novices (monks in training) and monks are forbidden to touch women (except their mothers). This is why Wisut told me not to touch them. However, it is forgiveable as long as there was no intent to do so or you didn't know this was forbidden. Somboon also confirmed that Thais do not like fact that so many foreign men come to Thailand for sex and to marry local Thai women but they tolerate it.
Chiang Mai Sites
I wandered through Chiang Mai's popular weekend market where you can buy handicrafts from local hilltribes (the politically-correct term is 'mountain people'.) I was tempted to try the fried grasshoppers and maggots with chili and basil but couldn't work up the courage.
I absolutely love Thai food but occasionally, I want to eat something else with a different flavour. One day, I ate at a lovely Italian restaurant near my hotel. The chef actually served me supper and he told me that he had an Italian restaurant on the Leidseplein for 12 years before getting completely fed up and moving to Thailand. He said that he paid 60% income tax and then 20% for staff wages. The factor that made him leave Holland was the labour laws and the unreliability of staff. Today, he owns Chiang Mai's top Italian restaurant with efficient staff and a nice lifestyle. His restaurant is across the street from Chiang Mai's most exclusive boutique hotel, the Chedi.
The One and Only Chedi Hotel
I'm not one to rave about hotels but I am going to describe the Chedi. I had seen the hotel's Web site while planning my trip and wanted to stay there, except that it cost about EURO 400 per night which is out of my price range. But I had to visit it. The outside is pretty non-descript (kind of like a windowless fortress) but the minute you walk through the front door, you are in an oasis of zen calm and tastefulness. Designed by a Japanese architect, the hotel is exquisite with an open-air, minimalist concept. The colour scheme is largely white marble with dark wood floors, with some tan and red thrown in, and with a lot of Indian artwork. There are lots of pools with candles floating in them and the most beautiful Japanese floral arrangements. Upstairs is a lovely terrace with a sunken floor where people can drink cocktails ( I ordered the Chedi martini which is a lovely, dry concoction with lemongrass and kaffir lime) and gaze over the Ping River. Downstairs, the restaurant sits on a wooden terrace overlooking the river where at night, Chinese lanterns hang from trees. The eating area has special machines to kill mosquitos and each table also features mosquito repellent. The hotel rooms themselves are simple, clean and natural and each has a lovely private balcony. I completely lost my mind and begged to book a hotel room for a night. Alas, this hotel was also fully-booked. Next time!
Somboon was sweet enough to drive me to the part of Chiang Mai which features all of the handicraft factories. The most interesting was a silk factory which shows how the famous Thai silk is made, worms and all. Later, he took me to Chedi Luang, a very old Buddhist temple where tourists can speak in English to young Buddhist monks to learn about Buddhism. This was so interesting. I spent about two hours talking to two novices and one monk. They all attend the Buddhist University in Chiang Mai. They love to practise their English. One of the monks even spoke some Dutch and announced that he wants to visit Holland. When I asked him what he liked best about Holland, he answered Ruud van Nistelrooy and tulips. (Lots of Dutch visit Chiang Mai.)
Trekking Near Chiang Mai
I ended up going on a two-day, one night trek through the mountains to spend some time with a mountain people called the Karen. Now I have to admit, I am not a back-to-nature person. I do enjoy camping but with the proper accoutrements (warm tent, proper mattress, pillow, wind-proof tent, etc.) So I don't know what possessed me to sign up for this trek although after the fact, I must say that I enjoyed it very much and would recommend doing it. A trek consists of some hiking, going through some forest on an elephant, and doing some bamboo rafting, all supervised by Thai guides who speak English and who come from the hilltribes you visit. You show up at a village and spend time there sitting around with the mountain people (who don't speak English) and observing how they live on a day-to-day basis. Very simple but very interesting.
I was in a group of 11 people. We crammed into a pick up truck and drove to a place where we first did some trekking on elephants. Elephants look big and clumsy but they are in fact very graceful. Elephant skin is very thick and hairy. Each elephant was driven by a young Thai and myself and an Austrian woman, Andrea, sat behind him in a "type" of seat. Our elephant, Chokia, was quite gentle but preoccupied with eating and stopped many times to rip leaves off of trees and to eat long grass. I was shocked to discover that the trail included some very hilly areas with some serious vertical climbing. Chokia handled everything with great skill but I was terrified at times, convinced I'd fall off or that she'd lose her step. But everything was fine and I have the photo to prove it!
Next, we did some serious trekking for about three hours through the mountains and stopped to swim in a waterfall area. I was surprised at how demanding the trekking was. We had to cross rivers, streams and deep ravines on bamboo walkways and at one point, we had to hike uphill for 30 minutes which was exhausting! We spent the night in the village of the white Karen mountain people with a lovely family headed by "Mr. Rambo". The shower was an outdoor pipe with cold water. The toilet was a crude hut with a hole in the floor. Sleeping quarters was a wooden hut on stilts with a roof of dried leaves where we all slept side by side. We each were provided with a thin sleeping bag and woolen blanket (no pillow). The wooden floor was full of holes which freaked me out since there are tonnes of snakes around.
We all sat around the cooking area of the hut where Mr. Rambo lives with his wife and young son, Declatchu. His other two children attend a boarding school in another village and only come home on the weekends. Thai law stipulates that every child must attend school until the sixth grade. We had a simple dinner together. It's amazing how good food can taste when you're exhausted. I even drank a beer even though I don't like it. The group played some drinking games which were hilarious. (I didn't join in since they were drinking beer and I was fighting a cold.)
That night was a low point for me. The temperature drops precipitously in the mountains. I had on all of my clothes and I was still freezing, with an aching back and hips. I kept dozing off and waking up. At about 5 a.m., the roosters began so I got up and sat around the fire with Mr. Rambo and his wife until the others woke up and stumbled groggy-eyed and exhausted out of the hut. I don't think anyone slept well. After a very spartan breakfast, we did some more trekking which was quite enjoyable. On the way, I met a Canadian woman named Laura who lives 20 minutes away from my Mom in Waterloo, Ontario.
Later, we went rafting on bamboo rafts which was great fun. Andy and Tim (two British guys), Andrea (an Austrian) and I sat on one raft. The rafters simply string 10 long pieces of bamboo together at three points. The Thai rafter stood at the front, navigating with a long bamboo pole. Tim sat behind him. Andrea and I sat in the middle and Andy stood at the back, navigating with another long bamboo pole. By the time we sat down, we were sitting in water since the raft sank a bit. The bamboo floats because it is hollow in the middle. We rafted down a river and went through various rapids which was great fun. The highlight of the trip was when the Thai driver miscalculated a turn and the raft pitched on its left side. Andrea got thrown off into the stream. Luckily it wasn't deep but the water was a bit rough. I hung on for dear life but loved every minute of it. If you ever get the chance to go on a trek, I highly-recommend it. It is a wonderful way to see the mountains of Thailand and to learn more about mountain culture. It's like travelling back one hundred years.
Trek Recovery
After the trek, I checked back into the Chiang Mai Plaza Hotel and was I ever glad to see its magnificent lobby again. They upgraded me to a nicer room where I soaked in the huge bathtub, ordered room service and a bottle of red wine, watched "A View to a Kill", and collapsed into a coma-like sleep until this morning.
This morning, Somboon picked me up and took me to a place where I booked a Thai cooking course. Then, we went to a famous Thai massage centre where I treated my aching bones to a two-hour Thai and oil massage. Heaven!
