Chiang Mai

One thing I wanted to do in Chiang Mai, one of the main things to do is to take a cooking class. I went to May Kaidee's, a veggie restaurant to get some info. As I was devouring a great meal someone kept piing dishes on the table behind me until it was full. Two girls were doing the class and this was all their creations. They came down to eat just as I finished and it turned out they both had upset stomachs from the day before and could barely eat. In the interest of not wasting food I was invited to join them and I feasted as they nibbled. So I had two Australian friends to hang out with and then we met up to explore some markets and believe it or not have dinner. There was a musical quartet playing at the restaurant, each instrument was new to me and it was quite pleasant.
The following day I had my own cooking class, and another feast.


We were a group of 4 and made 10 dishes each. We didn't learn to make the curry pastes which I think is the most important part as most of the rest of it is just frying food and adding coconut milk... We made some tasty treats which should be repeatable in Canada and got so full we looked like Buddhas. The Chinese kind that is as Thai and Lao Buddhas don't have the big belly. They are stretch Buddhas... If the Chinese Buddha is shaped roughly like John Goodman, the Thai and Lao ones are more like Golden Gumbys.

I also wet for a haircut....
I hadto repeatmany times I wanted my head completely shaved, and my face too... she shaved me with an electric, then a small electric, then an even smaller one like lint remover, and then finally an ordinary bic blade...

If you have ever crawled into a very small enclosed space with no ventilation and fired up an old Diesel generator while smoking a dozen cheap cigars and burning some rubber for good measure then you may have a good idea what it is ike to go for a stroll in Chiang Mai. You would just need to add a bunch of Watts to your sealed box and surround it with a moat.

If there was ever a car/motorbike free day in Chiang Mai it would be a great city to visit, but until that happens gas masks should be common issue. To escape the fumes I hopped a bus to Pai...