Chiang Mai (Thailand)

After a 15 hour train ride north from Bangkok we arrived in Chiang Mai. Unfortunately, there was only one 1st class cabin available, so the boys valiantly forfeited their rights and allowed Shari & I to share the cabin while they stayed in the 2nd class cabin. It wasn't exactly the 1st class North American standard we were used to, given that Shari & I couldn't get the A/C turned off and spent much of the night hunting roaches that inhabited our cabin. However, can't complain too badly as if that was 1st class you can only imagine what 2nd class was like. All complaining aside, the train was better than the bus.

The first full day in Chiang Mai, Shari & I participated in a Thai Cooking Course at the Chiang Mai International Cooking School, while the boys planned our future travels. We made 6 Thai dishes (all very hot) and as such Shari and I had some sensitive tummies the next day. We opted for some Western food after that. The dishes were amazing and we had a lot of fun with our class. There was a slight incident when we lost one of the German tourists in the market where we were purchasing our ingredients for a day of cooking. Unfortunately he was never found so we then had to go back and purchase the ingredients he was responsible for. Other than that the rest of the day went smoothly. We will always remember the one chef, Thai Banana, as we fondly referred to her. Thai Banana told Shari & I that all white people look the same. Shari started laughing and asked Thai Banana how we could possiblly look alike given that Shari & I have different skin colours. Thai Banana responded by saying that we were tall with big noses! How flattering! Here is a picture of Shari & I at cooking class. If you are interested in checking out the cooking school, click on Thai Cooking

And here is a photo of some "goodies" at the market where we did our grocery shopping.








After mastering the art of Thai cooking it was time to do some shopping. Here's a look down at the Sunday night market in Chiang Mai.






On March 5, 2006 we went hill tribe trekking. Sounds exotic, but have learned since that a more authentic experience can be had in the North of Vietnam. 　The hill tribes are various ethnic minorities from the neighboring countries of Burma, China, Tibet or Laos that have settled in the North of Thailand. Unfortunately, they face persecution in their countries of origin and at the same time are not accepted in Thailand, so they are somewhat semi-nomadic people that have made their homes in the middle of nowhere. We went to visit 5 different tribes. Many of the houses were made of thatch or mud and a lot of them were on stilts due to the heavy rains that can ensue in the area. Of course the ever important satellite dishes could be seen outside some of the local houses…a bit of a strange sight to say the least. Although, one must have priorities I guess! Here is a look at one of the villages.


There were also some swinging bars in the area. Here is a picture of Wade & Eamon at the local pub!





The most intriguing tribe that we visited was the Cairn tribe. This tribe is also known the “ Long Neck ” tribe for their giraffe like women. The women of the tribe wear heavy brass coils around their necks in order to stretch their necks over many years. Little girls as young as 5 or 6 start wearing the coils and over time more and more are added in order to continually stretch the neck. These coils can weigh 7 to 10 lbs! We had seen a Discovery Channel documentary on this tribe in Thailand before we left so it made it all the more interesting to visit them in person.

Legend has it that the coils originated from the men in the tribe trying to protect their women from Tigers preying on them. However, another story that we heard was that the men are more interested in protecting the longevity of their tribe; thus they make their women unattractive to other tribes and ensure their women do not marry into another tribe. Here is a picture of Shari & I with a local Cairn woman.


On the same day we also visited an elephant dung farm that recycles elephant dung into paper. That’ll make you think the next time you go to reach for a pad of paper! It was actually quite interesting and resourceful. And because our day was not long enough…decided that we should also visit the Chiang Dao caves ( a complex of caverns containing Buddhist sanctuaries). Here is a picture of one of the caverns…I was just waiting for the stone creatures around the Buddhas to come to life and chase us out of the caves like something in an Indiana Jones movie.


Here is a picture of the wat outside of the Chiang Dao cave.







Our last day in Chiang Mai was spent at the Royal Chiang Mai Golf Course. Yes…backpacking at it’s best. We all used the excuse that Wade needed a proper birthday present and golfing for the boys seemed like a natural “vacation from our vacation”. Of course a beneficial side effect was that Shari & I got to spend the afternoon at the pool!


Golf was a little different in Thailand…the boys were required to use caddies and much to our dismay have gotten quite used to having caddies now! I think there may be a slight problem when they return to the real world!