I have been busy being a tourist the past 5 days in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a city in the north, so it’s a bit cooler than Singapore and it’s ringed by beautiful mountains.  Aunt Lo is really good about taking pictures, so get ready to see a lot of me.

On our first full day, Aunt Lo and I took a cooking class. First we went to a market and learned about the different kinds of rice, spices, tofu, etc., then out to a farm. We took a quick tour of the garden and then got started.  Here are some pictures of the farm.

We cooked pad see uw, papaya salad, tom sab soup, mango sticky rice, green curry paste, green curry, and spring rolls.  It was a full day and we ate a ton. Here we are. Aunt Lo is wearing the hat they gave us to go into the garden and we both have the aprons.

Here is one of our creations–mango sticky rice. To be fair, the real chefs did the plating, although we did cook it.  The flower is the butterfly pea flower and it’s what is used to make the rice blue. It was so delicious. Why haven’t I been eating more mangoes?

The next day we went trekking into the jungle. We were picked up early and taken to the market for any last purchases. While I was perusing, I saw this.

In case you missed it, those are the stars and bars on that hat. It’s crazy how American culture is everywhere. I even saw someone at breakfast wearing an ATL t-shirt. And don’t even get me started about the Yankees hats.

Right after the market, we were driven to see some elephants. I was so looking forward to this and I almost burst into tears when I saw them. Asian elephants are different from African ones; someone told us the ears are a different shape, but they seem to be a bit more approachable as well. Here I am feeding her bananas. The elephant trunk is as amazing as you imagine it to be. The elephants would huff in frustration through their trunks when it took us too long to pull a banana from the pack. They were very demanding.

This is the itinerary they followed:

Eat bananas with tourists,

Get river-washed by tourists,

Re-coat with mud–this protects the elephant’s skin from the sun–,

and eat some crunchy leaves to help digestion.

Some surprising things: although I’m sure they can stampede, our guide, Rambo, pointed out how softly they walk and it’s really true. You can’t even hear them. Also, their knees in their front legs are really low to the ground, really close to their feet. Additionally, they do suck in water through their trunks, but then they squirt the water into their mouths, so I think that their trunk is like our noses: your nose is connected to your mouth, but you can’t eat through your nose.

The next several hours were spent trekking through the jungle. Rambo had some regard for our well-being, but the trek wasn’t without peril. At one point we had to cross a log over a rushing, semi-riotous river by side-stepping and balancing our way across. There was no indication that Rambo had any sort of safety equipment. He could have had a rope in his pack, I suppose, in case we fell in. Maybe.

We went through beautiful countryside, passed by waterfalls and rivers, rice fields, and through villages.

We spent the night in a village, I think. The terrain made exploring difficult so I’m not sure how big the area was. The company was great and the food was filling, but it was a restless night. One of the guides drank quite a bit of saki–he called it “the talking water”–which subsequently inspired him to overshare; apparently, he owned an elephant that had killed two tourists…

We took one other trip while we were in Chiang Mai. The highest mountain in Thailand is Doi Inthanon and it contains two pagodas dedicated to the 9th king and queen of Thailand upon their 60th birthdays. The pagodas are also Buddhist reliquaries with beautiful statues of Buddhas. The royal family is extremely important in Thailand. There are shrines to the king and queen everywhere.

Here is the Buddha for the Queen.

And the Buddha for the King.

This is in the gardens on the outside of the Queen’s pagoda. It’s almost fantastical when you see it.

There are tiled stories inside and outside the temples. I don’t know all of them, but in the one below, the Buddha is being born. He takes seven steps after his mother gives birth and then declares that reincarnation is over.

We also visited the Mae Klang waterfall.

And we did a walk in the cloud forest, one of the only ones in Thailand.

This shrine is at the highest point in Thailand. You can see the elephants at the base.

I have had an amazing time in Thailand. I would have never been able to go without my Aunt Lo and it wouldn’t have been any fun without her. I’m so grateful she took a chance and traveled with me. 🙂