Thai Cooking School

This was the highlight of the day. Em and I woke at 5:45am local time after crashing out before 8pm the night before. Jet lag likely suspect. We walked for about 90 minutes checking out a new part of Chiang Mai, watched students commuting to school, monks in their routine, and street vendors selling "breakfast" to the local folk. Breakfast in Thailand consists of grilled meat on sticks (fish, chicken, etc), pho, and many types of curries. It smelled delicious but I couldn't pick anything. Perhaps it was the language barrier, though it seems almost everyone here speaks a few English phrases. It was likely being unsure of the quality of the food. Perhaps tomorrow I shall be more adventurous.

Mid-morning, we were picked up songthaew and transported to the market where we experienced a crash-course in picking ingredients. After wandering around for a short while and seeing cockroaches, dead mice, and other actual edible "delights", we moved on to the Thai Cooking School for a 5 hour instruction on Thai cooking. The hosts were fantastic, the ingredients fresh, and we each prepared our own plates with our own chopping block, cleaver, and wok. I think I cooked up over 30 Thai chilies today...maybe not the best idea but so far, my stomach is happy.

Stuffed, we were dropped off at the hostel and after a brief rest, we wandered out for a massage. I had no idea how one could get a foot massage for an hour, but it can be done. The ladies were amused at how ticklish I was and we attempted to learn how to say "How are you?" and "Thank you" in Thai. So far, I can say "Hello" and "three". Em is a bit ahead of me in the language department.

Once massaged, we went back to the hostel for a nap, then met with two cooking school students for a beer at the Muay Thai arena. This venue has probably 20 small bars, each crammed into one space. Each bar blasts music so loud that the ensuing cacophony of noise was almost overwhelming. After one beer, we decided that it wasn't our thing. The Night Market was shutting down, so we're currently en route to the hostel to pass out.

Chiang Mai is definitely geared toward the tourist industry, but little by little, we've found some of the local life. In my opinion, this city was a good introduction to Thailand, but only in the sense that it's easy to get around, relatively easy to communicate with the locals, and easy to find what we need. I am glad, however, that we will be heading out to Laos tomorrow evening. Two days is just about right. Any longer and we would start shelling out funds for trekking.