Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai was all about water and shopping, the latter of which wasn't so good. We took a tuk-tuk to the airport in Luang Prabang and were dosed by water on the way. Billy wore clothes which dried quickly but I had to stand on the tuk-tuk so my pants would dry before getting on the flight. We arrived at the one plane airport an hour before our flight and the check in agent, of which there is only one for international flights, know who we were since apparently we were the last to get there. They were holding the luggage until we arrived before they moved it to the jetway. Apparently even with a one jet airport you still need to get there more than one hour before your flight, at least in Laos.

We landed in Chiang Mai and were greeted by a wonderful female taxi driver. This is the first time we have had a woman. I am not sure if other countries don't allow women or it isn't the type of job they would hold. Her English was wonderful and she gave us a short history on the drive to our hotel and told us what pitfalls to avoid with the New Year celebration. She warned us that our hotel was a hot spot for water throwing and fun and she wasn't wrong. Later in the post you will see what I mean.

Day 1:
We decided to see the Saturday Night Bazaar since we didn't have much time that evening once we checked in. It was a wonderful hodge podge of souvenirs, food, foot massages, and people. The Saturday Bazaar was written to have lots of silver shops but once I took a look I was quite disappointed. I like statement pieces and most of their things were plain and simple. Luang Prabang had much better silver and I was a little bummed for not having bought a few pieces there. We ate a hodge podge of food that night from vendors. Billy and I shared corn-on-the-cob, raisin waffle, pad thai, and ice cream. It wasn't a bad meal for our first night in town.

We did do one thing very American. When walking the bazaar we found we were fighting crowds the whole time. It took us until half-way through to realized that we were walking the way we drive and here in Thailand they drive on the opposite side of the road. We quickly walked with the flow of people, which meant we went back the same row we walked, but learned for the second night how best to move with the people.

Day 2:
Billy and I took a cooking class at Baan Thai cooking school and had a blast. They picked us up at the hotel and we spent from 9:30-3:30 learning about food at the market and preparing six dishes. We made sure we didn't choose the same ones in hopes that we could take something back. One thing I was surprised with was how few spices they use. Most of their flavor comes from ingredients like lemongrass, Thai ginger, and kaffir lime. Each category, such as curry or appetizers, had three options which allowed us to break into smaller groups and get good instruction. Overall it was a fun day with lots of eating, conversation, and hopefully a few lessons learned.

That evening we went to the Sunday Bazaar which we heard from a member of the cooking class was better than the Saturday Bazaar. Both of us were amazed at how many shops there were but felt the stuff they sold was the same, just more of it. Neither of us bought anything but we treated ourselves to a 30 minute leg massage. Mine wasn't that restful since my calves were so tight but it was a great chance to sit and people watch.

Day 3:
Billy and I ate breakfast at the hotel and set out to find a tuk-tuk driver for the morning. We negotiated a half-day with the driver and tried to head to Bo Sang. Our main desire was to see how they make the paper umbrellas and visit their craft village but it turned into a tour of factories where drivers get kick backs for bringing tourists. We played along for a bit until we reached Bo Sang but even that was disappointing. You win some and you loose some!

After our half-day was up we negotiated with our driver to take us to the Chiang Mai Night Safari. We couldn't go at night but our travel book said they were also open during the day. There was nobody there but we arrived an hour and a half before the first bus tour. We had lunch with what they sold which was chips and ice cream. Not that nutritious but we made sure we had nuts and a fruit juice pop, at least we got two food pyramid groups. We spent our last hour of time walking Swan Lake. Around the lake they gave smaller animals like birds, chimps, hippos, etc. After the lake we set off on the Predator and Savanna Safari's. They let some of the animals roam free here so zebras and giraffes were coming up to the bus to eat out of our hands.
Overall a fun afternoon but not something I would do again.

When we got back we saw the water fights were already starting. The New Year (Songkran) is the 13th-15th but on the 12th many water fights begin. Water is only supposed to last one day but the night before is the pre-party. We asked our driver to try and take us the back entrance but he didn't. He dropped us off right in the middle of everything so before we even got to the room we were soaked. We quickly dropped off our bags and bought two big super soakers and joined the fun. We didn't get many photos since we didn't have a waterproof case for the camera but for about 3 hours we sprayed tourists and locals.

The music was blaring and everyone was dancing in the streets. All along the old city of Chiang Mai people were using moat water and city supplied hoses to fill buckets and guns. The Thai New Year is known to be the biggest water fight in the world and Chiang Mai is known as the best place. By 7 pm I was cold and the water fight was over. We changed into dry clothes and walked to the night bazaar.


One good thing we realized is that in Chiang Mai people stop partying at 7pm which still allows you to enjoy the rest of your night dry. The night bazaar was wonderful and had great shopping. We wished we had gone here instead of the Sunday bazaar but oh well. After walking for a couple of hours we had another one hour leg and back massage. This one was more relaxing and put both of us to sleep.