Calmer, cleaner and quieter than Bangkok, Chiang Mai offered welcome relief. We stayed for 3 days in the city – more like large town – in a small hotel within the walls of the Old Town, which put us in walking distance to practically everything we wanted to see and do: Wat Chain Man, the Night Market, and a restorative little Thai massage place. A few things we wanted to do were out of town, so we would also get to see a bit of the surrounding countryside and suburbs of Chiang Mai.
We first spent a day learning to cook Thai food. Starting in a fresh meat and vegetable market in the Old Town, the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School taught about typical Thai ingredients and what we could likely substitute when back at home and desperate for fresh coconut cream or kafir lime leaves. Then we were off to what looked like the home of the school’s founder. Set up at individual stations in a covered outdoor patio, we joined about 20 other students and prepared to do battle with our foreign ingredients armed with woks, knives, and spatulas. We soon learned that Thai dishes apparently each take just about 10 minutes to prepare and cook: pour a little oil in the hot wok, toss in the main ingredients, sprinkle in the spices, and add sauce if needed. Stir fry until fragrant and pour into a dish with steamed rice or noodles. Voila, you are the best Thai cook that you know. We suspect that back at the homestead, the recreation of such Rachel-Ray-trouncing culinary feats will be next to impossible, but as we are now more hooked on Thai food than we ever were before, we and our lucky (perhaps) friends will enjoy our attempts for many dinner parties to come.
We also wanted to visit the famous Wat Prathat Doi Suthep on the highest hill outside town. Our guidebook warned how steep and twisting road to the Wat was, so Pelle determined that a run-of-the-mill 110cc motor scooter for the two of us just wouldn’t do…It would be too slow on the uphill…It could be muscled off the road by a big tour bus. It really would be unsafe. We needed something bigger and faster, like a 250cc motor bike…It would be more powerful…It would have gears…It would be safer…Did he mention how much more power it would have? Off we zoomed up to the Wat. Bye-bye silly simple tourists on their little scooters; hello freedom.
We first spent a day learning to cook Thai food. Starting in a fresh meat and vegetable market in the Old Town, the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School taught about typical Thai ingredients and what we could likely substitute when back at home and desperate for fresh coconut cream or kafir lime leaves. Then we were off to what looked like the home of the school’s founder. Set up at individual stations in a covered outdoor patio, we joined about 20 other students and prepared to do battle with our foreign ingredients armed with woks, knives, and spatulas. We soon learned that Thai dishes apparently each take just about 10 minutes to prepare and cook: pour a little oil in the hot wok, toss in the main ingredients, sprinkle in the spices, and add sauce if needed. Stir fry until fragrant and pour into a dish with steamed rice or noodles. Voila, you are the best Thai cook that you know. We suspect that back at the homestead, the recreation of such Rachel-Ray-trouncing culinary feats will be next to impossible, but as we are now more hooked on Thai food than we ever were before, we and our lucky (perhaps) friends will enjoy our attempts for many dinner parties to come.
We also wanted to visit the famous Wat Prathat Doi Suthep on the highest hill outside town. Our guidebook warned how steep and twisting road to the Wat was, so Pelle determined that a run-of-the-mill 110cc motor scooter for the two of us just wouldn’t do…It would be too slow on the uphill…It could be muscled off the road by a big tour bus. It really would be unsafe. We needed something bigger and faster, like a 250cc motor bike…It would be more powerful…It would have gears…It would be safer…Did he mention how much more power it would have? Off we zoomed up to the Wat. Bye-bye silly simple tourists on their little scooters; hello freedom.
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