To oversimplify things and cast them through an American filter, if Bangkok is a bustling East Coast metropolis of franticness and upward & forward energy, Chiang Mai is its West Coast foil, surrounded by natural beauty and more evenly paced. I personally was instantly drawn in by the place. The city itself doesn't have a tangible beauty. Calling it 'quaint' would probably miss the mark as well. Certainly, it has some gorgeous architecture and the aforementioned bucolic surroundings. However, what took ahold of me was the symbiotic quality all moving and still parts of the city had, unlike the ramshackle Bangkok.
At any rate, that's probably enough of my first-blog-post-ever drivel. Here are some of the highlights from the trip:
Wats (temples)
Chiang Mai is literally littered with wats and stupas. It's hard to walk too far in any direction without having their trademark roofs emerge into sight. We started our first full day by grabbing one of the ubiquitous minicab truck taxis of Chiang Mai and, after several bouts of the full contact sport that is fare haggling, we headed up up Wat Doi Suthep, a 14th century temple up a mountain of the same name outside the city. The next day, we visited the famed triumvirate of Wat Pra Singh, Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Phan Tao. I really dig the aura that's cast at these wats, uniquely holy and calm. If I was a better, or even decent, scholar of Buddhism, I could probably be even more profound than that.
As my pedestrian iPhone shots show, the architecture is really pretty remarkable. Yet perhaps what really completes the scene for me is the backdrop.
Massage
Okay, onto lighter fare. I'm still quite the novice at the massage business but had two of the more memorable massages I've had to date.
The first, as the sign indicates, is the massage work rehabilitation program at the Chiang Mai Women's Prison. Andrew and I went for foot massages and chatted the ladies up as they worked on our dogs that were barking from walking all day. We got some candid answers and some uncomfortable silences. All in all, the inmates seemed happy to be a part of the program and planned on continuing their work after release. Of course, maybe the uniformed guard standing outside the massage room had something to do with that rosy outlook but I remain an optimist.
I had been eyeballing the fish tank massage deals all around Bangkok and Chiang Mai, in which a school of fish eat the dead skin of your feet. Finally taking the plunge, it amounted to little more than a weird tickle. However, with Andrew and I sharing the tank, it became obvious pretty quickly who had the more beat up feet. Ah well, mama didn't set out to raise no foot model.
Transportation
After avoiding tuk tuks for my first couple of weeks in Bangkok, we ended up breaking the seal and going a little tuk tuk crazy. With less traffic in Chiang Mai, though, the oft-said "you'll smell like exhaust" warning you get in Bangkok was not applicable.
As previously mentioned, competing with the tuk tuks (i.e., honking at foreigners on foot) are the minicabs, which are essentially just trucks with campers on the back, sometimes decorated in some interesting way or another. Here's a driver taking an afternoon nap in his:
Sunday Walking Market
Having been here a little over 3 weeks now, it's really dawning on me what a market culture this is. The Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Market is famous for its size, wares, food and popularity. The main drag in the old town is cleared out and vendors, in color-coded shirts depending on their location, line the main street. (and a several adjacent side streets, alleys, wat grounds, etc.) Amazing people watching here as well a great energy. I ate some grasshopper, saw a puppet show, found a teak box, bartered in Thai...easily one of my favorite experiences in Chiang Mai.
Meatlust
Yeah.
Muay Thai
Caught my first Muay Thai fight. Not the greatest caliber, although we did see a couple of pretty good takedowns. The last fight was a midget against a 12-year-old. Not as wonderful or as terrible as it sounds.
Well, that's about it. The last day we did some great whitewater rafting on the Maetang but after jumping into the pool with my iPhone in July, I learned my lesson about bringing my phone along to watersport activities. The rafting company has promised to send some shots but I'm not overly hopeful. I did get one shot before embarking:
At any rate, I think I may have set the bar a little high (granted, quantitatively and not qualitatively) with the first post but it was one of those trips that was one great episode after another and it was hard to put the camera down. Really looking forward to taking Samantha and the kids up there...
hey zeke
ReplyDeletethanks for the blog and pics. cool stuff!
uncle matt