Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Next stop, Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand. Fate is on my side as having reluctantly agreed to travel by train (all this not peeing for 8 hour stretches cannot be good for my bladder), a sink hole appears two days before we were due to leave directly under the railway tracks stopping all trains from running (check it out - it looks horrendous...thank god no train was on it at time http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Trains-in-North-stopped-as-wet-causes-sinkhole-30190023.html).
God clearly wants me to fly, so we book a comfortable hour flight from Bangkok which frankly is the way to travel. We can immediately tell that we're gonna love it in this city which is confirmed after our first decent coffee in weeks and, OMG, CAKE in a really cool cafe. Everything here is a little smarter and better organised, even the Song Thaew's (the open backed trucks that serve as taxi's for as many people as they can squeeze in) which are painted a matching red across the city.
On our first evening out we head into the old quarter, an eclectic maze of narrow streets and lanes entirely surrounded by a square moat. An asian version of Brighton! We spend ages wandering round, going into cool shops and cafes and at one point follow a peculiar sound emanating from a school yard where we find the whole school preparing for a local festival and all the kids (approx 200) singing and dancing in unison, not to a piano or a guitar as we're used to but a full drum kit! It has a strange feel but somehow really worked. We also came across the first vintage clothes shop on our trip - amazing how we can sniff them out even in Asia! Unfortunately, no room in the rucksack for any more clothes sadly so we had to resist the urge to buy which was SO annoying as the stuff was so cool and so cheap.
BG has wanted to go to a Muay Thai boxing match since we arrived in Thailand so got very excited when we were handed a flyer for a local bout in a very seedy part of town. The barely dressed go go girls / boys somehow persuaded BG to pay for a ringside seat for an extra 200 baht only for him to get inside and realise out there were only 4 rows of seats in total! And he chastises me for not adhering to the budget (Note to self, do not allow BG access to the wallet when there are scantily clad girls trying to sell him stuff). Looking forward to a couple of hours wandering round the amazing night market on my own, I did not anticipate having dad, sorry, BG, tell me where I could and could not go, how long I could be gone for and be given a talk on safety, strangers and staying in well lit areas. Having pretended to take this ridiculous talk seriously, yes BG, of course not BG, will do BG, I got him off my back and spent a good couple of hours completely disregarding everything he'd said and explored the night market very thoroughly. Without BG in tow, I was able to buy loads of DVDs for 30p each without the usual lecture about copyright infringement and licensing laws (just doing my bit for the budget!). Duly meeting BG in our agreed spot on time, he looked very relieved to see me in one piece (or maybe it was the shock of seeing me get somewhere on time). The fighting sounded awful and I'm very pleased I spent the two hours shopping instead of seeing men, women and children beat the merry hell our of each other all in the name of sport.
Next day, we headed into the Nimmanhemin district for a whole day of shopping, whoop whoop! Having stopped off at a European style coffee shop where the menu was only in English, we struggled to order two mochas with a girl who didn't understand the words coffee, mocha or milk. Impressive. We spent the day wandering and zig-zagging the tens of streets and mini shopping centres, cafes, kooky art galleries and bars. It was a nice change to be somewhere really modern, not in terms of the buildings or services, but in terms of the art and the culture. It was the first place we saw modern SE Asia and the culture of the new generations pushing through all the gilt, temples and Buddhas which was a refreshing change and much needed injection of art and youth.
The next day we booked ourselves onto a full day cooking course. Having turned cooking into a competitive sport (along with everything else, what's the point unless you've won?!) I was keen to add some Thai strings to my cooking bow and see if BG or I would reign supreme in the Thai kitchen. Slightly perturbed that the course starts at 8am (technically the middle of the night), I drag myself up without any whining or fake crying (well not much at all...) only to be shepherded into an open back truck full of... people. Stranger.... DANGER. BG was far more eager to start after finding out we get to eat all day.
First stop and we head straight to the local food market where our chef gives us a tour of the weird and wonderful fruits and veg of Asia. We got off to a bad start when he rubbed some fresh tumeric into my arm to show the colour stating that he chose me for my extra pale skin! BG wet himself laughing as my three weeks of deep tanning and golden glow were ridiculed and smothered in day-glo orange. After a ten minute walk around the market seeing and smelling things I hardly believed possible, we headed to our chefs home and his amazing alfresco kitchen. Once there, we were allocated a cooking station each and we choose each of the 7 (yes 7!) dishes to prepare during the course of the day. Then it was time for utensils for the day - a stylish apron with an elephant embroidered on the front and more importantly a meat clever and a chopping board! BG looked absolutely horrified as I waved the cleaver around, fearing for the lives of him and the others around the table and spent the rest of the day telling me to be careful and was I sure I didn't want him to chop for me. First dish, soup and after ten minutes I'm still slicing a chilli with a meat cleaver and have to be helped by the chef while everyone else's soups are simmering in the wok. Once finished we all sit round a huge wooden table to enjoy the various soups (mine, chicken and coconut) we've made, and have to TALK to each other. Luckily, it turns out that the strangers provide tolerable conversation and I am able to embrace that albeit at arms length! The day turns out to be amazing and while we tuck into our own cooked dishes, one after the other, we gradually become more confident and more stuffed! Even BG was beaten towards the end of the day and I saw him leave food on his plate for the first time in my life!
One final lesson before we left, we were shown how to cut up veg in that oh, so Asian way to resemble a flower. I took this the only way I could, as an all out competition to outshine the others with my artistic talents. As our flowers were taking form it was apparent that the stranger dangers were no match and that mine would reign supreme. However, sensing that BG had gone very quiet, I looked to my right to see that he was slowly but surely sculpting a work of art. Furious, I had immediately demanded that he stop being so good and threatened him with my scalpel. While he found this funny, the rest of the group were perturbed (and rightly concerned for his safety!) and urged him to reduce his efforts and let me win. After 15 minutes of furious competitive sculpting, our flowers were finished and we eagerly awaiting the judging process, confident that one of us would be crowned winner. Imagine then our horror when the chef didn't even ask to see them, never mind judge which one was the best. What was the point if it wasn't a competition?!
Once home, our final task of the day was deciding how to move onto Laos. We'd heard mixed stories of the two day river boat journey; from it being a beautiful, relaxing and scenic introduction, to enduring 2 days of sitting on bare wooden benches or rice sacks and accompanying livestock! And no mention of how or where to pee... So comes the end of the first country we have visited and although we are sad to be leaving the sights and smells of Thailand we are looking forward to Laos, assuming we get there in one piece...
- comments
Stu Parkes Hilarious - very entertaining!! Great blog!
Jill x More please!