(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
Tag: Chaing Mai
Mae Rim
Today Annalise and I did a tour. Our driver took us up to Mae Rim, an area North of Chaing Mai. The first place we went to was an elephant camp where you can ride elephants. There is big controversy about animals used for tourist purposes and I have very mixed feelings about it myself. Annalise is against it so we decided to do the bamboo raft ride. It was wonderful. It was beautiful and relaxing and just what I needed after being sick. We got to see the elephants with riders in the water which was magical. After that we did a zip line tour. This was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. We zipped over an amazing river and never saw any signs of civilization other than the zip course. The next stop was an orchid farm. A lot of the world’s orchids are grown in Thailand so it was neat to see a farm. I took so many photos that I will post them in a separate blog that you only have to look at if you are into orchids. The next stop was Tiger Kingdom where you can pet tigers. I really want to pet a tiger, but if they really are drugged or mistreated, I’m going to feel that and I don’t want to feel that. So, I went back and forth and finally decided to tell the driver not to stop. So, we went to the snake farm. They rushed us into the snake show. The audience was made up of about 20 Thai women. The snake guy had a king cobra out and there was loud rock music playing and a lady on the microphone telling us to come up and take a picture. There was no getting out of it. We had to take pictures with the snake behind us and if I wasn’t close enough I had to scooch closer and take the picture again. The show went on with Thai cobras and other snakes. The lady on the microphone was so funny and with everything the snakes did the Thai audience squealed, screamed, and ran to higher seats. All of it was extremely entertaining. The next stop was the monkey school. The second we walked in I felt horrible. There was a monkey show where the monkey swam for money, rode a bike, picked coconuts and did other stuff. The place had a horrible feel to it and I couldn’t wait to leave. Now I’m real glad I didn’t do the Tiger thing. I think it would have upset me as much if not more.
Later I went to a night market by myself. It was like I remembered Chaing Mai from years ago, but with way more people. I wandered through back streets looking at tons of hand made goods. I stopped at a row of chairs and got a leg/foot massage. Of in the distance I could hear drums being played. There were pretty lights in the trees and I just watched the people go by. It was very peaceful. After my massage, I followed the sound of the drums and found a temple all lit up. There were a lot of people at the temple and the drummers were out front. The ordination hall of this temple was all in silver metal which I haven’t seen before. They had color changing lights shining on it so it kept changing it’s color. Then they announced that the candle lite ceremony would start in 5 minutes so I bought a pack (candle, incense and offering flower). They turned off all the lights, the drumming stopped and the monks came out and lit candles. Then everyone walked around the ordination hall 3 times in silent meditation. Then you put the candles in holders and put the incense, flower and any further donation you wanted to at the altar. It was mostly foreigners, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a special occasion, but something they do to make money making the foreigners feel like they happened on something special. But, it worked, it was a unique experience and I’m glad I happened upon it.
(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
I really like the feel of Chaing Mai and I could see myself living here for a while. I keep thinking back to my meeting with the placement person at Xploreasia and wondering why when I told her I wanted to live in Chaing Mai, she said “No you don’t”. I remember liking this city when I was here in 2006. It’s gotten busier and waaaaaaay more touristy, but I like it. I think I would have liked being placed here. I think I had an idea in my head before moving to Thailand and it was to experience living in a different culture, but to also be an xpat doing xpat things. But, in Sam Ngao, I don’t feel like an xpat. I feel like that odd, tall foreign woman. Just wandering around Chaing Mai I realize, this is what I pictured in my head before coming here. I wonder if I would like living here or I just think so because it seems to match the picture I had in my head.
I went to the 3D Art Museum with Annalise and a girl she met on the train. So there are a ton of photos from that. A lot of them came out kinda blurry, but I posted some of the fun ones below anyway.
Tonight we went to a dance and dinner show at the Chaing Mai Old City Cultural District. It was a pretty evening. The dancing went on a little longer than I would have liked, but the food and the atmosphere were both great. They had traditional Thai dancing as well as traditional Hill Tribe dancing. The dresses for most of the Thai dancing were so beautiful. The dances were all pretty slow and included movement of the feet and arms, but little else. It was fascinating to see how little the heads moved. Their smiles all looked fake and there was no change of expression through out the dance. It was as if their heads were not part of them or they were vacant. It looked like they were dolls. I found this fascinating and disturbing all at the same time. The hill tribe dances were similar except there was no smiling which made them look bored. I wonder what this cultural thing is where the head is not present.
I’d like to write more, but I can barely stay awake.
(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
Thai Cooking
Annaliese wanted to take a Thai cooking class while in Chaing Mai and I really enjoyed the one I took in Mae Sot. I didn’t realize it was an all day class until last night. That seems like a little too much, but I was already signed up. It was a fun day. They picked us up from our hotels and took us to a market and showed us some of the most common sauces we would need. They taught us the difference between sticky rice and non sticky rice. Then the took us to the cooking school which is on an organic farm. That was delightful. The place was beautiful. We each made 5 different typical dishes. The teacher was so high energy and funny. It was a little too long, but I’m glad we did this class instead of a shorter one somewhere else. Not a long blog today – sooooo tired. Here, look at the pretty pictures.
(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
To Chaing Mai
So school is over and I plan to travel for the next two months. My first stop is Chaing Mai. This is the second largest city in Thailand and I remember when I was here in 2006 I love it. This is the town I asked to be placed in, but was told “you don’t want to live there”. By car, Chaing Mai is probably 3 hours from Sam Ngao, but by bus, longer.
So, my instructions for travel were to come to the school at 7:30 and get on a bus. A certain student would meet me there to tell me which bus to get on. Then that bus would take me to Baa tan cuen which is the bust stop on the side of the highway. I then had to walk past the police box and find the lady that sells bus tickets. Then get on the bus to Chaing Mai. Well, that sounds like a solid plan. What could go wrong?
I showed up at school at 7:30 towing a suitcase and answered “Teacher, where you go?” about 15 times. The student showed up and pointed to a bus. She walked over to it with me and said something to the driver. 15 minutes later, the bus took off with me and a monk. It drove so slow I could have walked faster, but considering I had a suitcase and no real time agenda, who cares? It drove through both villages and picked up a few people along the way. It dropped me off at Baa tan cuen. I looked up and directly in front of me was a lady sitting at a tiny table (on the side of the highway). I said “bus to Chaing Mai?”. She made a phone call, told me 9:30 and I paid her. At 9:25 she said “Chaing Mai” and motioned me and two other people to stand near the median. A minute later she grabbed my suitcase, said “Chaing Mai”, and took my suitcase 20 feet down the median. We followed her. The bus came at 9:30 and took me to Chaing Mai. I can’t imagine any of that going smoothly in the US.
Tonight I met Rob who lives in Chaing Mai and Annaliese for dinner. They were both in my TESOL class. Some of Rob’s coworkers joined us. I had pizza and it tasted like pizza and it was wonderful. Another teacher, Adi, and her mother joined us later. Let vacation begin!
(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
Rraine Drops 