Oh Mai

(Sorry for the title…Chiang Mai isn’t very punny.)

Anyhoo, we’re literally days and days ahead of this blog post – but our days have been so full there’s been little time for posting! So, let’s travel back in time to last week when Pow and I ventured to Thailand!

The country was originally known as Siam and the word is actually pronounced S-i-ahh-m. (Not S-i-yaaam as we American’s like to say. Could that be becuase of the way those Siamese cats pronounced it in Land and The Tramp?).

Our first stop in Thailand was Chiang Mai (which I have also seen spelled Chieng Mai and Chiangmai). It’s a medium-sized city in the North, which I’m pretty sure was a capital at one point and is known for its 700 Wats (that’s the Thai word for Temple.)

The first thing we did upon arriving in town was hike up the mountain, uh, in a bus, to see Phrathat Doi Suthep. It’s the most famous Wat in town. The spot where it stands was said to have been chosen by a white elephant. The king gave the elephant a sacred Budha relic and sent him on his way. The animal climbed to the top of the mountain, turned around in a circle three times, and knelt down to mark the spot for the temple. Then it promptly died.

On our second day in Chiang Mai we spent mostly wandering around looking at Wats – a story best told through pictures. Unfortunately, the USB drive isn’t working on the computer I’m on, so I can’t show you any photos.

But, if you remember the final picture from the last post, you’ll see that we saw some fascinating traditional dancing. That was taken at the Chiang Mai Cultural Center where they treated us to dinner and dancing. The picture is of the traditional finger dance.

On our last day in Chiang Mai we took a day-long cooking course. The course was taught (in part) by a celebrity TV chef. Our class was making curries, which involves a ton of different spices all mashed up together with a mortar and pestel. It’s quite a lot of work, but the food was delicious. And, good news everyone, they gave us a cookbook! So, there’s a good chance I’ll have a Thai curry party when I get home.

After Chiang Mai we headed south to Krabi, Ao Nang, Railay, and the Phi Phi islands (prounounced Pee Pee). If you remember your hollywood history, the Phi Phi islands are where they filmed that historic Leonarde DiCaprio flick The Beach.

Krabi, frankly, kicked our asses. Now in Bangkok, we’re currently overcoming: sunburn, a mild and a not so mild case of traveller’s tummy, jellyfish stings, and, well, we’re exhausted. But boy was it worth it. And here’s a random picture from the internets to show you why:

http://www.thailandmagic.com/phi%20phi%20islands/Phi%20Phi%20Islands%20famous%20Maya%20Beach.jpg