But after all that time in the van, we took a day off. We slept in until like 9am and slowly started the morning. Stephanie at the front desk helped us secure a scooter for the day at only 200bt for the whole day. That's not such a bad deal considering the tuk-tuk (Thai form of autorickshaws) usually costs about 100bt for an across the city ride.
We jumped on the scooter, Dad in the driver's seat, and headed up the hill by Chiang Mai to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (another Buddhist temple). I hate to say this, but after awhile, all the Buddhist temples look the same. This one was nice though because it had a view of the city from the very top--well, what you could see through the smog that is. [I'm really surprised with the amount of air pollution around here. I thought because we were so far away from Bangkok that the skies would be clear.]While we were in the market at the bottom, we had the brilliant idea of buying water guns. The water festival, called Songkran, is starting tomorrow in honour of the Thai new year. Basically the whole country turns into a big water fight area. So we saw these little water guns and thought we'd better arm ourselves in case we stumbled upon an open battlefield. After wandering around for a while, we decided to head back down to the city to see some more Wats.
I got to drive. I'd driven moped's before in Victoria with Auntie Jane but for some reason, I had a wee bit of trouble driving this one. I was doing great for a long time but then something jolted me out of my happy little world and I started to over think things. Then things got bad. Before, corners were easy to go around since you can just lean in the direction of the force, but now I was freaking out and the scooter was wobbling around coming dangerously close to the ditch.
Then the inevitable happened. We were going around a bend and my mind blanked on how to get it to maneuver smoothly around the corner. "Just bail!" my mind screamed. I didn't bail though... I did my best to slow it down but you have gravity pulling down the hill and we slid into the top of the ditch before we were stopped by well.. I guess me and Dad putting our legs out. Hence, I have road rash on two of my toes, the top of my foot, and the front of my leg. Dad got a little on his ankle and I'm thankful neither of us got hurt too badly.
We stood there for awhile just recollecting ourselves--well that's what I was doing at least. I feel like an idiot. Who can't drive a moped! Those things are designed for children! Anyways, I decided to get back on the horse and proceeded to drive us [safely] another 10min or so before we stopped at a popular Thai hangout by a mountain stream. Since I had already proved I could do it safely, I swallowed my pride and let Dad drive the rest of the way down and into the city.
I still feel like an idiot, not going to lie.
But the whole day really turned around once we got into the city. Someone told me to take a trip around the old moated city if I could so Dad and I headed down the main street, ready to go around the whole square. What we didn't realize is that Songkran started in Chiang Mai and thus some people feel the need to celebrate early than the official April 13 New Year. Woosh! A full bucket of water was dumped on us as we sat at a light. That was only the beginning...!
The north part of the square wasn't too bad, but as soon as we got near the northeast corner and turned onto the eastern side of the square it was on! The streets were lined with kids standing with buckets, water guns, and garden hoses. Anyone and everyone was fair game. Pick-up trucks full of people and bins of water drove around soaking anyone in sight. Luckily the same friend who told me to take a trip around the city also told me that I can either get upset or I can join in the festivities and have fun with the locals. So I told Dad to keep driving (as best he could as he was having water thrown in his face) and I grabbed our dinky little guns and started shooting whoever was throwing water at us. Really, our guns didn't register as more than a sprinkle but we had a BLAST! We ended up driving around the outside of the city once, then pulling a u-turn and driving around the inside of the city TWICE! We were DRENCHED by the end. And laughing hysterically.
What was so funny to me was to see a man driving his scooter with his son standing up at the handlebars holding a huge SuperSoaker. There were tourists with huge backpack jugs of water attached to pump-action hoses--only they were spraying icy water. That was a shock. Even though it was crazy hot out, the icy water was a little much.
All in all, the city-wide water fight made my scooter-accident of a day so much better. Later that evening, Dad and I spent a couple hours walking the blocks and blocks of the night bazaar set up in honour of the New Year. There were so many knick-knacks, so many clothes, so many... EVERYTHING! You could find almost anything your heart desired there I'm pretty sure. We even got 30min foot massages for 60bt at one point. It was a pretty good way to spend $2 if I do say so... :D
Today was another day for the record books. This morning at 8am, we met another pickup outside and joined a group. Today was Thai cooking class. They took us to the market first to explain how to pick out the best produce, how to substitute Western products for Asian products (if you so choose or can't find), and just basic facts about the food itself. At one point, a little boy ran up with a squirt gun and opened fire so I grabbed our little squirt guns and returned the favour. From that point on, I don't think I was completely dry for the rest of the day!
When we left the market, there were tons of kids just WAITING for the pickup full of foreigners to go by.. They mercilessly drenched us. My goodness. One bucket of water hit me so hard from behind that it pushed all my hair into my face. I was just dripping. And we just kept getting pelted all the way to the cooking school. But we were all still laughing--it's just Songkhan!
mmm I learned how to make the most wonderful yellow curry, coconut milk soup with chicken, and basil chicken (all easily made vegetarian by adding firm tofu instead of chicken). We took a lunch break to taste all our dishes, then headed back for dessert. Dad made a yummy pumpkin in coconut milk dish and I made mango sticky rice. Oh my goodness... I will most definitely be making that when I get home as long as I can figure out how to steam the rice. I don't have the bamboo baskets he was using so I'll have to find some kind of substitute.
We were all rolling out the door by this point so in mercy, Max the chef let us put the pad thai in doggy bags to go. Pad thai was our final dish so we all met back at the outside workbench to regroup before heading back into town. Max gave us the cooking school's cookbook and we all exchanged contact info so we could get pictures later. Then the little old ladies who help at the school came by with big bowls of water and gently poured water down each of our backs. And we sat there and took it, cringing as the water dripped from our necks to our knees. This is really an incredible festival. It was just an incredible day. I'm sad that WallaWalla doesn't have an Asian market because I'm going to be wanting to cook my new favourite dishes down there!Upon arrival back at Penny's Place, we changed our clothes and relaxed in our food comas up in our room. After resting for a bit, I ventured out in search of a hair saloon. I'm so proud of how long my hair has gotten but the dry and brittle ends have really been annoying me lately. The housekeeper here helped me find a place and she explained to the stylist that I just wanted a trim. Well when my hair was that bad, a trim turned into a good two inches off.. Blast... I was really impressed with how long it had gotten--I just should have been maintaining it better along the way. The slight bummer of the day was when I showed her a picture in a magazine of a woman with cute bangs. Then she proceeded to give me Asian bangs. Oh dear, I hope these grow out quickly. And no, I'm not going to post any pictures :P lol I feel like an anime character.
lol How much can hair grow in a week...? Enough to make a bad haircut into a good haircut?After dinner, Dad and I took the manager and his wife out for dinner. Pete and Stephanie have been so helpful, advising places to see, places to eat, and organizing all our tours for us. Just incredible people. Super sweet, super generous. So we wanted to show them thankyou in some way. We went to a Thai restaurant and Pete ordered for all of us. Yikes, I was able to grin it off and pick around the shrimp and pork but all I could think about was how I wanted to eat my pad thai... lol Oh well, all food aside, it was a great evening with great people so I can't complain.
Tomorrow, I'm sad to say, we are leaving Chiang Mai. I'm going to miss it. Elephants, cooking schools, scooters.. So many memories are here. We fly out at 7am to Bangkok, then have to catch a plane down to Phuket after a 3hr layover. I'm sad to go but also excited to stick my toes in the sand and gaze out over the clear blue ocean. That'll be a first for me. What a way to end my adventures in Asia...
10days til I hit Canadian soil. Crazy thought eh?
ami tomake bhalobashi
No comments:
Post a Comment