From Bangkok, we flew to Chiang Mai which is the main city Northern Thailand. It’s much more relaxed than Bangkok during the day but the night is still bustling with vendors at the huge night market. We did our share of shopping (my fake Teva’s I got for $6 lasted for 3 weeks before I replaced them with $10 Crocs in Ho Chi Minh City last week) to the point that we actually shipped back some stuff home to ease our carry load (Sidebar - our load is embarrassing. We’ve each one big backpack and then 3 trolley bags plus the small camera bag. And we’ve even shipped a 7KG box of clothes back to Canada. Our lesson is that we really don’t need that many clothes when travelling since getting laundry done is so cheap).
The food at the night market was phenomenal..Dal and I would chow down on pad thai, tom yum soup, red curry, fried shrimp etc..and wash it down with fresh lemon or coconut juice. Our meals would usually total around $4-5 for the two of us leaving us completely satiated.
Since tourists do tours, we booked a day to go visit the most notable landmark in Chiang Mai, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, which is a gorgeous temple complex on the top of a hill. The site was chosen in year 1383 in a rather unique fashion: a relic of Lord Buddha was placed on an elephant’s back and the spot where the elephant finally laid down and died was chosen as the area to erect the temple. Sounds like a real estate developer’s strategy to me. This Wat proved to be worth the 300+ stairs climb as it was truly majestic and we were honoured to receive blessings from monks in one of the enclosed temples.
That same day we visited two other tourist attractions : The Snake farm and the Monkey farm. This was a compromise as I hate snakes and Dal thought it was unfair to have monkeys perform out of their natural habitat.
The snake farm turned out to be a hidden gem for a few reasons
1) Some of the snake cages looked quite rickety and one pane of glass within a cage housing an albino cobra looked like it might shatter with a small amount of force
2) During the 30-minute ‘show’ that took place in a ring, the Thai announcer stood next to a ghetto blaster that was playing an instrumental version of Europe’s “ The Final Countdown”. The volume would be high for a few seconds…he then he’s turn it to low and provide some commentary and jokes...then back to high volume.. Here a sample
· “Snake very big”
· 10 seconds of the Final Countdown at volume level 7..then back to level 2
· “Snake very fast”
· 10 seconds of the Final Countdown at volume level 7..then back to level 2
· “Keep your eyes on snake”
· 10 seconds of the Final Countdown at volume level 7..then back to level 2
· “He keep eyes on you”
· 10 seconds of the Final Countdown at volume level 7..then back to level 2
· “His poison can kill you in 10 minutes”
· 10 seconds of the Final Countdown at volume level 7..then back to level 2
· “Hospital 11 minutes from here”
This sequence literally carried on for 30 minutes and I completely regret not recording it on video just for his commentary.
3) We got an opportunity to have a python drape itself around our neck and shoulders. It felt exactly how you’d probably imagine: heavy, slightly slimy and cold. The term drape, however is left open to interpretation by the snake. On me, you see the more traditional drape. However he gave Dal a bit more of a snug greeting.
Apparently monkey farms bring out my inner Homer Simpson/Peter Griffin as I was rollicking in laughter as monkeys shot basketballs through a hoop, lifted weights, sold monkey balm and recognized numbers. Dal was concerned that the treatment of these monkeys were poor as there was separation of mother and child, the performing monkeys were kept in cages (so as not to attack the crowd I suppose) and there were monkeys on display that were chained by the foot. I rationalized that the show only went for a few hours and then the monkeys were able to live normally again. Also, the monkeys were quite well fed as tourists could buy food for $1 and throw them to the various monkey. And of course…it brings joy to tourists and raises awareness about monkeys.
One other big highlight was the fish spa. A fish spa, for those not in the know, is basically an aquarium containing schools of very small fish. Tourists dip their legs in this aquarium and the fish swam to the legs picking off dead skin. It’s really a win-win situation for everyone. We did it for about 20 minutes..and I could never quite get comfortable with the sensation of these little guys pecking at my legs. Dal blissfully enjoyed it. I have to admit though that my legs and feet did feel like a baby’s bottom afterwards, as promised by the vendor.
- DP
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