Chiang Mai

One more week until my colleagues and I are back to our adventures.  How fitting I'm blogging about Thailand right now because that's where I plan to go...again.  I was planning to go to Nepal, but that fell through.  Apparently, it takes at least a 2-3 week tour just to see Mount Everest on foot.  Other tours through valleys and mountain passes were 9 days, which I do not have.  I also didn't want to helicopter the Himalayas, so I put Nepal on hold for now.  I looked to alternatives.  Cathy and my parents suggested I go back to Thailand.  It was a tossup between that and going to Tokyo. I chose Thailand.

Yes, I really like it down there. The shopping prices are right, the people are friendly, it's easy to navigate, and the food is crazy delicious.  So sue me if it's cliche as an expat to say that I love Thailand.  I'm going there for hardcore Muay Thai training.  For those unaware, Muay Thai is Thai boxing.  By hardcore training, I mean about 6-8 hours a day. I just hope that my body won't shut down half way through the week.

Okay. Enough about my plans.  They'll happen and I'll blog about them later...check back for updates.  Back to my trip to Chiang Mai.  Hands down it's my favorite place in Thailand until I travel more of the country and find somewhere better.

Cathy choosing lunch at a cafe inside the old city walls 

Lemongrass juice.  It wasn't that great, but at least it was fresh.

Thai yellow curry with chicken? I don't remember what I got, but it was delicious.

We went temple-hopping for the day within the old city. Before sunset, we stopped for a massage in what looked like a refurnished family garage. The old ladies who massaged us had awesome hand strength. They mashed Cathy and I as if we were pieces of dough for making bread.

Wat Chedi Luang

Cathy trying out the prayer bells.

Street food in Chiang Mai is diverse and flavorful.  Something about the
Burmese and hill tribe minorities' influence of the area?  I had fried fish in sour sauce,
mango pad thai, some sort of white dessert, and a Singha beer for dinner.

Mango Pad Thai.  Not sure where the mangoes in it were...

Cathy loved trying different roti.  They're more or less crepes.

The Night Market is filled with interesting things to buy.
I got myself a set of standard Thai spices for cooking.
I suppose since I'm going back down to Bangkok, I should learn
how to use them in a cooking course...

After walking around the Night Market, we found some seats near a free performance,
got some coconuts and fruit smoothies, and relaxed as we people-watched.