Chiang Mai City Limits

I am not sparing with superlatives and have been frequently heard exclaiming about how someone is my favorite person or how 5 Roses is by far the best tea. That said, the day my friend and I spent riding motorbikes in Chiang Mai really was one of the happiest days I've had in a long time and has earned a spot in my admittedly long list of "bests."

Keen to get out into the countryside we hired motorbikes and set off, the plan being to visit Bo Sang Handicraft Centre and then go in search of waterfalls. My yellow 125cc felt like a step up from the 50cc I drive in Phnom Penh and the surge of power as I took off gave me a thrill every time. The city is much bigger than I'd thought and we wove among busy traffic along roads lined with shop fronts for about an hour before the buildings gave way to an expanse of tree dotted hills. 

"Bo Sang is known as the 'Umbrella Village'... And is famed for handmade parasols made from bamboo and rice paper. The village has made umbrellas for generations and the art has been handed down through a small number of families that live here and is said to have originated from a Thai Buddhist monk who learned the practice on a pilgrimage to Burma." (http://www.embracechiangmai.com)

Umbrellas of every size and colour were on display, some painted a single colour, some displaying intricate hand drawn patterns or pictures and some made from recycled paper inlaid with rose petals. Umbrella seems too clunky a term. They are more like parasols, delicate and beautiful. For taking a turn about the garden or displaying as a focal point.  

The artisans making the umbrellas were all in different stages of the process-some were splitting bamboo for the spokes, some were assembling the frame, some were dyeing the paper and others were painting birds, flowers or a vignette of rural life onto the umbrella.

After some cheesy photos, an ice cream(too much berry, not enough chocolate in case you were wondering) and finally deciding on purchases (white umbrella with black floral patterns) we set off in search of natural beauty.

Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden was an awesome find and I was giddy with excitement at the beauty of our natural surroundings. I hadn't known what to expect and was blown away by a mountain wonderland. It was another reminder to me that if you approach things with a grateful heart you will almost always be pleasantly surprised at what you find.

The mountain air was chilly, a welcome respite from the heat down in the town and as we drove home we looked out for a coffee shop to stop for some hot chocolate.  We came across a place called Proud Phu Fah, whose mugs proudly bear the logo "Smooch Angel" and I don't know what either of those means but it's awesome.  We sat on their verandah drinking hot chocolate, eating complimentary biscuits and reading our books and I couldn't have been happier.

Within the Walled City {Chiang Mai}

Whereas Bangkok is huge, noisy, chaotic and modern, Chiang Mai is a small city with narrow streets and an old world charm (the center of town was once a walled city surrounded by a moat)!

We stayed in the walled city, in a dorm, at a place called 60 Blue House. The only other guest was a Korean girl who didn't say a word and wore compression socks and an over sized yellow shirt and slept in the room next door to us, so thankfully there was none of the unavoidable awkwardness of sharing a bedroom with a stranger. The owner had a lovely open face and a ready smile who further sealed my approval of her by bringing us home baked biscuits and taking a photo for her wall holding photos of everyone who's ever stayed there.

Breakfast for 10 baht (less than R10/$1) at a hole in the wall was great start to the first full day there, and we got the added bonus of eating in the owner's living room, next to her TV and an elderly woman.

If Bangkok is the city that never sleeps, Chiang Mai is the the city that sleeps in. On my first morning there I set off on an exploratory walk along still quiet streets and passed a Hello Kitty themed tuk-tuk, a Pirates Cove and a restaurant manned by Tintin and Snowy.

After breakfast we walked on; past waiting tuk-tuks and cyclos, shuttered windows depicting various scenes (I wrote this in my journal at the time but I don't know what I meant), street art, beautiful teak houses, an English looking red phone booth, Chinese signs and temples, a flower market selling things from dyed carnations to orchids and into a market overflowing with dried goods, a plethora of teas, clothes and cheap looking toys.

To be continued...

Two Nights in Bangkok

I have a confession.

For the longest time, whenever someone spoke of Thailand I would say "oh that's nice" and other polite things but secretly I would think about how it was overrated and surely not as great as everyone made it out to be.

Turns out it really is all that and a slice of cake.

We left Phnom Penh late Saturday night, after a horrendous few days that involved packing up the house I've lived in since I moved to Cambodia, some teary goodbyes to colleagues, friends and children I taught, buying of last minute travel items and driving home in the pouring rain, wearing a torn raincoat and bearing a dud dinner.  

Boarding a sleeper bus we set off on the first leg of our journey, Phnom Penh to Bangkok.  The sleeper part was a bit of a misnomer as the speaker near our heads blared distorted Khmer songs alternated with  a Cambodian David Attenborough narrating a documentary on Angkor Wat until past midnight with the accompanying visuals on the grainy TV turned up to the brightest setting possible. And then the border. Surprisingly quick and painless with a short wait and then we were on a minibus to Bangkok.  The only drama came just before we left when a wild eyed young man started yelling about his friend not being able to fit in the bus as we were full.  A mumbled comment from another passenger. "I'm sure he's on drugs." He soon disembarked to wait for the next bus and we proceeded in peace.

I noticed an incredible sight as we drove. The roads were smooth and wide, perfectly paved and lined with street lights. The drivers followed the road rules.  The countryside was green and bright. Where was I? And then Bangkok! Bangkok is just pretty dang cool.  It's contradictory, a little wild with a sleazy and very large underbelly.  It's exciting and full of secrets and my brief stay of 2 nights was a brief glimpse into a city that would take years to uncover.

Here are some things I did:

Sat and watched throngs of people passing while waiting for a bus at the Thai border

 Walked along Khao San Road with a massive backpack perched at an odd angle on my back

Ate breakfast at our hotel which was chock a block with weird and wonderful retro furniture, knick knacks and decor

Rode the Skytrain multiple times to get the most out of the day pass

Admired the many wonders of Chatuchak Market, including this beautiful crockery

Rode down the river on a ferry before disembarking to do a walking tour of the palace and surrounds

Slept in a bedroom that contained this mural on one whole wall

Experienced a tastebude explosion in response to these banana and Nutella pancakes

Had to cover up because I was inappropriately dressed and then didn't get the memo to smile in a touristy fashion

Saw a plethora of stunning temples, a fantastic gallery of some of the Queen's immaculately preserved outfits and the Royal Palace

Another highlight which I couldn't find a photo for was our dinner in the Arab Quarter.  You walk down a street similar to any other in Bangkok and with a mere turn find yourself immersed in a different world.. shop signs are in Arabic, women are clothed in chadors, wisps of smoke from hookah pipes curl upward, the sizzle of grilled lamb kebabs is enhanced by the scents of lime, yoghurt and coriander.  It's incredible and the meal of grilled lamb, chicken and beef kebabs, feta salad and beer was a feast; and a fitting last dinner before the following day's journey to Chiang Mai.