Chiang Mai, Thailand

31st May

Today we crossed over the river to Chiang Kong, Thailland. It was so straight forward - we were walked to immigration from our hostel by a woman and her little girl, who were part of the company we booked with. We could have gone their on our own to be honest, but we weren't to have known it was so close and straightforward! Got our passports stamped, then got in a little boat and in a few mins were at the other side. 

We crossed the river in a little boat

We could literally see Thailand on the other side of the river - Chiang Kong

Almost walked into Thailand bypassing immigration, as we didn't see it! Got stamped and then into a shared taxi who took us to a hotel where we got the minibus from. We waited there for an hour, and I went for a swim in their outdoor pool! Excellent way to pass the time. The minibus took less than 5 hours to get to Chiang Mai, including a 30 min stop for lunch. It was fast, comfy and air conned, but I got a bit travelsick because the roads were windy. We were dropped off at the inevitable commission-intended choice of hostel, and got a tuk tuk to our hostel. Annoyingly we went to the wrong branch so had to walk a bit, and it was v hot. The lady who owns the hostel is english, and was very abrupt - nice, but you wouldn't want to mess with her. We headed out to the night market, via a bar for a Chang beer and some free salted dried peas and nuts! Both our hostel and the market are outside the old city walls and we walked along them for a while to get to where we wanted. The market is huge and spread out over several streets. I finally bought some new flipflops (mine have broken!) and nearly got some bargain fairy lights but the adaptor she tried to sell me didn't work. We got dinner at this outdoor temporary restaurant which was doing a promotion - dishes for 50baht - and it was all quite modern healthy thai food that the locals seemed to like. Then it started pouring with rain, so we sheltered inside and I got a white chocolate ice cream. A treat and comfort food! We had to get a tuk tuk back as it was (and still is) pouring. Our room smells a little rank...its definitely our fault. No matter, in a few days well be settled in Sri Lanka and will have clean clothes!! 

1st June

Its been an exhausting day. We are both just knackered from travelling and today was just a day of walking in the heat too far I think! We started on a fail...yet again the Rough Guide failed on the restaurant front. This time it directed us to totally the wrong place and we ended up going to a different place where I had good wholemeal hot toast, real butter and jam and marmalade. We then got a tuk tuk to the bus station to buy our overnight bus ticket to Bangkok. He returned us, and we walked to Talat Thanin market (featured on Masterchef according to Zoey). 

Talat Thanin market

Amazing sweets and puddings

It was a night mare trying to find it and we asked so many people, and went backwards and forwards up the same street...very puzzling as it was supposed to be huge!! We eventually found it, set back off the street. The Lonely Planet should recommend you get a tuk tuk. It was big, and full of the most amazing food stalls - from fruit, to salads, curries, noodles, fish, bbq'd meat, sweets, pancakes...I got a salad topped with fried fish, peanuts and sweet chili sauce. I also got a sqaure of sticky rice topped with coconut cream and black beans! It looked yum, but was actually very salty and a bit weird. Afterwards, we had planned to go to Wat Umong because it was built for a wayward monk who kept walking off into the forest instead of doing his duties in the temple, and so they had to paint pictures of nature in tunnels in the monastery to keep him in!! But Zoey was feeling really tired and a bit ill, and the tuk tuks were charging a lot (although in reality it was still only a few dollars, and that's nothing in the scheme of things) so we stayed around the old city. We saw Wat Phantao, which is small but beautiful and made entirely out of old teak, and then Wat Chedi Luang, which was more ostentatious and used to house the giant Emerald Buddha before it got taken to Bangkok. After this we walked back to the hostel as Zoey was feeling bad. We had a rest, and then headed for a massage. Got a 1 hour foot, shoulder, back and head and it was sooooo relaxing! The foot massage was my favourite, and afterwards my feet felt like feet again, rather than numb, hot and pounded things on the end of my legs! I liked the pressure of the back massage too - more pressing and manipulating than rubbing. At one point she had her whole body on top of me with her knees in my back and her elbows in my shoulder blades! After wards we were given some tea, and when we started walking again we felt lighter and  rejuvenated and like some oopmh had been restored in us! We were only going to find a beer though, so maybe that had something to do with it! After a drink of Chang in a little bar, we got some food in a tiny restaurant on a street just off Th. Moon Muang (at the north end) called Soi 6.    Had chicken with cashews, and beef with pineapple and basil and rice. And a dollar each. The beef was quite spicy - at my upper end. I can't seem to deal with the spiciness of Thai food - its the fresh chillis. Then we got a whole sliced fresh mango each for 10 baht (20p) and ate it walking back. 

Wat Phantao

2nd June

Went on a trek today :) Saw some baby elephants:) there were only 4 people on our trek and it felt really quiet and remote. It was more scary than we thought it would be - our elephant was really naughty and practically pulled down a tree to eat and we thought we might go over the edge of a steep hill! He also kept taking the really steep muddy route down which was fucking terrifying! He was huuuuuge too. 

 I wasn't very sure about the visit to the 'traditional' village that we were subjected to before we walked to a waterfall. It felt like we were intruding, and was very staged and contrived. We learned how the women weave their dresses which was interesting - now they get the cotton from the city and can get many colours, but before they could do this they made the cotton themselves and it would take months to make one dress. Unmarried women wore white and married women wore blue. Now they can wear many colours though. We were meant to buy something, but there was nothing we wanted. There were little children running around and were playing a relly sick game which involved trying to force a beetle to bit a tiny kitten.....kids!! 

Weaving

The walk to the waterfall was good, except some of the bridges were precarious to say the least! We swam in the water but stayed in the little pool rather than going near the waterfall as it looked very rough and dangerous. 

After lunch we went rafting. We got a lift to the restaurant and felt smug whizzing past the trekkers who were doing a more hardcore trek - i had had enough walking as it was scorching!!). Rafting was amazing - we had to go in our bikinis as it was very wet, but so chilled! :) 

When we got back to our hostel, we went to the Saturday walking market tonight and it was so good, bought a few things including fairy lights! And got interesting food including sticky rice with coconut and honey sprinkled with sesame mmmm. I had my faint thing again, but eating helped. I don't like it when it happens though.

3rd June

Hello :) I had my cooking class today and it was so good! Learned how to make so much stuff (and got to eat it!) I can now whip up a pad thai, papaya salad (this tasted just like we have in restaurants!) a red curry ( I could've made it spicier but the flavour was gorgeous, and we made the paste from scratch too) a coconut soup (not so great but there are other soups I can try now I know the technique) spring rolls, deep fried banana and coconut balls and mango sticky rice! 

Our welcome dish comprised a selection of herbs and foods that.
when combined, created a perfect balance of sweet, salty, sour and spicy:
ginger, lime, ontion, coconut, peanuts and sweet honey dip

We wrapped the carefully balanced ingredients in a leaf
and the result was a burst of flavours and sensations

Ready, steady, cook!

My papaya salad :)

Our cooking station

Hand-pounded curry paste

We made a good team!

I also saw (and tasted) how chicken and cashews was made, and some other types of curry and soup (we got to choose what we cooked from a menu). We got to cook everything, and had our own wok and cooking stations and it was like masterchef! There were only 6 people in the group so we got loads of help and advice and got tonsee how everyone else was doing things. We learned about the balances of flavours - salty, sweet and sour - and how you separate your ingredients into 'flavours' when you are preparing them ie spices from veg. We visited the market beforehand and got taught about all the different types of spices, rice, noodles, veg etc and Zoey and I bought some powdered thai ginger (galingale) and kaffir lime because its hard to get in england. It got so hot cooking!! We got given a recipe book which is step by step and really helpful and I'm so excited about trying it all when I get home! I've decided I'm going to grow herbs on my windowsill, and I need to invest in palm sugar - an essential ingredient - and sweet basil. I also have to see if any shops sell sticky rice as it is a special type. At 9pm were getting a night bus to Bangkok (joy!) We then fly to Sri Lanka tomorrow night and arrive tuesday morning, and are being picked up.  I'm feeling a bit homesick - I think because I'm now sort of in transition from one part of the trip to another, and I don't know what to expect from Sri Lanka. 

4th June

We're about to leave Bangkok and camp in the airport. I got my hair cut on Kho San road...its now a lot shorter (above my shoulders) but I like it, and I can still tie it up - its just a lot cooler and more shape and it will grow in 6 weeks anyway! Skyped home -saw ziggy and my bedroom and I now feel so homesick! Did last minute shopping and bought Chang Tshirts and fairy lights, and bought a very spicy papaya salad for unch and were watched with fascination and amusement by an old lady as we perched on the road and ate it. She opened the bag for us when we were struggling (yes it was in a bag!) took away our napkins, and provided us with napkins at the end We were so tired having got an overnight bus and not really slept. We got sticky rice at the bus staition with sweet chili sauce and made an old lady very happy as other people saw us buying it and bought it too! We aren't going to sleep tonight either as we fly overnight. We will be so tired tomorrow in Sri Lanka!!