Thailand (Part 3)

Well, leaving Bangkok felt good- not because we'd had a bad time or anything, but the city is quite mental and to be there for a longer stint takes its toll eventually... we needed to recuperate.

So, we got us a nice cheap flight to North Thailand and an area called Chaing Mai, which is renowned for traditional Thai relaxation, culture and hospitality. The flight went well (considering it was Friday the 13th) and we got to our booked accommodation to find it was no longer booked and we had been bumped! So, we crossed the road and tried another guesthouse who had a room for nearly a third of the price we were going to pay! So, our new place cost us a wallet-stretching 3 quid a night!

We knew from the guide books we had a lot to do here in Chaing Mai, so, we hit the ground running and booked ourselves onto a couple of jaunts.

The first was to head out into the hills/ jungle and visit some traditional Tribes. Well, kind of traditional, as the ones we went to see had actually been forced out of Burma (Myanamar) and were living here under a kind of refugee status. Anyhoo, we opted to go and see the Long-Necked Karen Tribe and the Big-Ears Tribe. It was brilliant and we got to have a meander around their little village and see them making the most gorgeous scarves. We also learnt why they do the long neck and big ear thing and it was just generally a brill thing to do! Oh, and as the pics show the little nippers are well cute! :) Even though we have seen different ways of life throughout S.E. Asia so far, this was really different and pretty special.

Next up was one of the things we had both been excitedly waiting for.... a Thai cookery school! It was ace! We got picked up in the morning and taken to a market to purchase all our ingredients with our teacher (Wendy). The market was crazy and it was pretty cool seeing all these odd food type things... like 'Ear' mushrooms, Rattani (I think that's what its called... a crazy prickly fruit that when peeled looks like an eyeball... tastes well gross too!), and there was also a rather bad cow lung... it was jet black... sick!

Anyhoo, from the market we headed back to Wendy's house and the BIG open air kitchen that would be our home/ workplace for the day. We had already chosen the meals we were going to cook and they consisted of faves like Pad Thai, Spring Rolls and Sticky Rice and Mango. The class started with curry though and after compiling all the ingredients we had to batter them in a pestle to make the paste... it was harder than it looked, but the smells were amazing!

It was all starting to make us quite hungry but we knew with 6 meals to eat before the day was out we had better pace ourselves. After curry we made up another 2 meals each, and once I stopped burning my cashew nuts, for which Wendy gave me a quite fierce ear bashing in front of the rest of the class, we managed some nice Thai Fried Rice, Sweet and Sour Vegetables, and Black Bean Noodles before stopping for dinner, by which time it felt to my belly as if my throat had been cut.

However, after eating our lunch meals we both agreed that a siesta may be a nicer way to spend the afternoon rather than being a slave to the kitchen. Still, with another 3 meals to eat we needed to work up an appetite somehow. So, back to the grind it was and whilst the morning meals had been a bit more obvious(?)/ normal (?), the afternoon brought some stranger (and ultimately really disgusting ones!) like Tofu soup (blurgh!) and Glass Noodle Soup (that turned into a pukey Jelly type mixture...) However, the session was saved by some amazing Fried Banana and Spring Rolls...

It was a top day and we'd both definitely do it again at another point. But, if we get back and for some reason offer to cook you a meal... make sure Tofu Soup is NOT on the menu!!

The next day was spent recuperating (and, not eating anything until about 8pm as we were still stuffed!) and watching DVD's. We saw some ace films (probably really old in the UK now, but still pretty new out here) like The Illusionist, Pan's Labyrinth and Freedom Writers. We also hit the Sunday Night Market, which whilst not as big as the nightly Bazar, was still quite cool. However, all these markets resulted in a trip to the Post Office to send back home our 5th box... so far...

Chaing Mai has been a gorgeous place and we would recommend it to any Thailand visitors, but unfortunately our time here is nearly over and tomorrow we fly back to Bangkok before getting the bus to Cambodia. So, next stop Siem Reap and the Angkor Watt Temples.