Chiang Mai

21.07.-28.07.2017

We arrive at our closed hostel at 6 o'clock in the morning and first have to ask for the security code for the door. I lay down directly in the hammock and treat myself to a nap. Claudi is lying next to me on the couch. A few hours later we sit on our rented bikes and explore the temples of the city. There are about 300 of them in Chiang Mai and the surrounding area. Among them, we like the Silver Temple the best, even though it is mainly made of aluminum.

The next day we have a Thai cooking class. During this class, we visit a local market, receive various tips on rice and noodle varieties, and various vegetables. In the cooking school, which is located a bit off and cozy, we each choose a typical Thai dish from different categories. I make a papaya salad, stir-fried cashews with chicken, Tom Sab (hot and sour soup), fried banana, Panaeng Curry, which our teacher called the baby curry, but I still had to cook it because I really wanted to know how my favorite Asian restaurant in Dresden prepares this curry :). Claudi cooked spicy chicken salad, mango sticky rice, Pad Thai, Khao Soi Curry (Chiang Mai noodle soup), Tom Yung Koong (hot and sour shrimp soup). In addition, we make spring rolls. Before cooking, however, there is a small snack called Meang Kum. A leaf filled with roasted peanuts and coconuts, ginger, shallots, chili, a bit of lime juice, and sugar syrup. The combination initially sounds more than crazy, but when the different flavors are on the tongue at the same time, it tastes amazing. We spend the whole day cooking and then devouring our cooked food. At the end of the course, each participant receives a cookbook with all the cooked dishes and many other additional ones.

Later in the evening, we go to the Saturday night market and look at the different souvenir stands there.

On Sunday, we rent a scooter and drive to Bo Sang, which means Umbrella Village in English. Because there, the wooden umbrellas that are known from Asia are made by hand. Or maybe not. Afterwards, we go to the Grand Canyon, a flooded mine that now serves as a water park. After swimming and another scooter ride through the rain, we go to the Sunday night market in the late evening, which stretches over a 2 km long street and has smaller branches on the sides.

On Monday, we meet Basti again and visit a few more temples. We are slowly getting tired of it, as it is always the same. In the late afternoon, at my request, we attend a discussion session with a monk followed by a meditation course. Unfortunately, the monk can hardly speak English, so he can't really say anything about the belief. After an hour has passed and he actually says nothing despite talking, the looks between the 5 of us with a pleading expression in our eyes become more and more frequent. Finally, one of the Americans takes courage to break off the discussion round with a white lie. Of course, we happen to have the same plans and leave the monk behind.

We all feel a bit bad for a moment, but we think that it is his own fault for letting such an interesting topic wither away.

Together with Fiona and Mat, we go to eat something and then say goodbye at our hostel.

The next day we rent scooters again. It's funny that we accidentally meet two of our Argentinian coworkers from Christchurch again at the rental company. We visit the Wat Umong temple, which is located underground. In general, it is very quiet there, far away from engine noises. After lunch, we drive up the mountain of Chiang Mai to the Suithip temple. On beautiful days, you have a great view over the city from here, but unfortunately, we only had a white wall of clouds at a height of 1600 m in front of our noses. :D But the drive up was really funny, as the road winds up the mountain. Then we accidentally drive through a village of the Karen Hill Tribe to find an alternative way down the mountain. Unfortunately, there is no such way, so we have to turn around.

The next day we really lose our last travel buddy, as Basti goes back to Bangkok and takes the flight home. I am more than jealous, as I haven't felt like seeing or doing anything for a week now. The impressions and places have simply become too much for me and I haven't been able to process them for a long time. I call it travel burnout.

The next day we go to an elephant camp. There we feed the gray giants and the younger ones, walk a bit with them, and then go bathing together. The big ones are really hungry and take one banana after another from our hands. A really great experience, especially because we notice that the elephants are well treated and play with the guides. In addition, the little elephants are very happy when they can go into the water and romp around. We get large plastic basins to wash the elephants nicely while we stand in the water up to our hips.