BECOMING CULTURE VULTURES OF THE EAST

Saturday, April 25, 2009 9:08 AM

Idalis:

We love Thailand. From the rich culture to beautiful wats, from spicy food to lady-boy winks, Kevin and I are soaking it all in, often glancing at each other with looks of amazement, jaws dropping, unable to believe our good fortune. Traveling here is so easy, with multiple air conditioned (!) buses running all day to different destinations, signs in English, and friendly, helpful staff. It really is the Land of Smiles!

Sukhothai, Central Thailand








We were sad to leave Bangkok, which quickly became one of our favorite big cities, but knew that good things were on their way. Our next stop was Sukhothai, about 7 hours north of Bangkok, to see the ancient city and its amazing wats (temples) and Buddhist ruins. We stayed in a cute little guest house with teak wood floors and a room so hot, you felt that they had thrown in a sauna package for free! In the evenings, we got to know some fellow travelers (hello, Steven!) and shared a few cold Chang beers and many laughs.

The historical park (or meuang kào) was truly amazing. From our guest house, we took a sǎwngthǎew (small pick-up with rows of benches in the back) there, and rented bikes for the day to ride around the site. We loved Wat Mahathat with its lotus-bud stupas, Buddha images, and broken columns. Our favorite was Wat Si Chum, which contains a gargantuan seated Buddha, looking serene with its eyes half closed and barely-perceptible smile. By the afternoon, we were dying from the heat, but forced ourselves to cycle the several kilometers to Wat Saphaan Hin, where we walked up a hill (so many steps!) to see the large standing Buddha which looks back towards Sukhothai. Kevin and I wiped our sweaty brows, lit incense sticks, and gave thanks for our many, many blessings.

One of the things that we have already grown to love about Thailand is the fact that you will never go hungry here. Wherever you look, there are epicurean entrepreneurs selling all kinds of delicious food in outdoor markets, as pushcart vendors, or from makeshift stalls. It's the only country I know of where you can be run over by a restaurant! This country is food heaven. We found the local night market, pointed to what looked good (or just interesting), and feasted like kings on rickety plastic chairs. We had: chicken, beef, and pork skewers (with grilled veggies and pineapple, some soaked in a spicy coconut milk sauce) and pork and rice (with lime, coriander, and red chillies). Desert included iced coffee with a dollop of ice cream (OMG!), sweetened rice with coconut milk and filled with egg (imagine our surprise!) and wrapped in banana leaves, a jelly-like sweet, and the best one yet, Thai snow cones, which consists of shaved ice, syrup, sweetened condensed milk, and a variety of toppings: grass jelly, beans, corn, glass noodles, and a whole bunch of other things we couldn't identify. It sounds gross, but tastes terrific! All of this cost us only 150 baht (about $4.50) and three trips to the bathroom! If you don't mind the flies and the heat, it's definitely the way to eat!

Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand









We are now in Chiang Mai, considered by Thais a national treasure. It is Thailand's cultural center and foodie capital of the country. Needless to say, I'm in heaven. Last night, Kevin and I found the local night market and gorged on some of the tastiest food yet: fried chicken and shrimp, two spicy stews (one beef, one pork) with assorted veggies, spices, coconut milk, and chillies, rice, two ice-cold Chang beers (courtesy of 7-Eleven, which is everywhere) and a gelatinous/bean thing we're not quite sure of. All yummy, for less than $5.

While here in Chiang Mai, we plan to soak up in some Thai-ness and take advantage of our surroundings. We will visit some beautiful wats, pop into a museum or two, experience the famous night bazaar, and take some courses: me, Thai cooking and Kevin, muay thai boxing. We're loving it!

Monday, April 27th at 15:42

Kevin

Well, not much has changed since our last post, with the exception of the fact that we have fallen in love even more with Thailand! Our stay in Chiang Mai is drawing to a close and we have enjoyed it so much we have decided to return before heading further east and into Laos. Thais, as we are learning, know very much how to live and enjoy life. Even in the big cities, life moves along at its own pace without being cajoled by people and their demands. In addition to there being a 7 Eleven on every corner, there are also street stalls and one not need look any further than their own block to find any number of Thai treats or delicacies. Chiang Mai has a 'Saturday' market, a 'Sunday' market and an evening bazaar, to satisfy any craving one may have at any time of the day or night and on any given day. We visited the Sunday market and were impressed to find all sorts of craft, clothing and culinary creations, manufactured by the ever talented and creative people of Chiang Mai, and spanning the distance of several city blocks. Shopping and strolling was accompanied by 50's and 60's music played from an old phonograph, children playing an assortment of instruments they were obviously striving to master, elderly people singing karaoke, a band comprised of five blind members and a couple of young rock/pop bands. A turn in the wrong (right?) direction led us off of the market street of Wualai and into a wat that contains the world's first solid silver temple.

Not having had enough culture yet, we decided to attend a Muay Thai fight at the local arena on Sunday night. We left early hoping to get a seat and ended up being so early that the only other people in attendance were the staff setting up the arena for the night's event. So, we walked down the street, not very far as you have learned, to find the local noodle soup joint. After a spicy noodle soup with pork and fried wontons it was back to the arena and into our upgraded, ring side seats, apparently saved for Westerners. It was a total of eight fights, where the fighters ranged from 20Kg youngsters, probably 10 to 12, all the way up to the 60Kg big boys. An amazing sport, invented by the Thais, it involves fists, feet, knees, elbows, in varying arrangements and combinations, accompanied by live music, in the form of a drum, horn and symbol, that help to keep the pace of the fight. Fighters perform a traditional dance to honor the sport and the lineage and pay homage to their fight schools and trainers before engaging in battle. The fighters use their skill, training and strategy to apply strikes, kicks, blows and throws to amass the most amount of points in defeating their opponents. It is a sport steeped in tradition, respect and honor. It was almost as entertaining to be witness to the local crowd that was comprised of men, women and children, all 'oohing' and 'aahing' at every well landed strike or blow and jostling to place their bets before the fight ended.

Here it is on Monday afternoon and Idalis has just returned from her Thai cooking class with, unfortunately only, pictures of each of the dishes she prepared and smelling slightly of fish sauce and chillies. Her new culinary mastery has added six new plates to her repertoire, which include gaeng garee gai (yellow curry with chicken), hor neung plaa (steamed fish in banana leaves), gai phad med mamuang (chicken with cashew nuts), phad siewe (fried big noodles with sweet soy sauce), plaah goong (spicy prawn salad) and kluay buad chee (bananas in coconut milk). Her newly acquired talents will be sure to benefit us all!

We have decided to leave tomorrow, Tuesday, and head northwest of Chiang Mai to Pai and Mae Hong Son. We hope to do a bit more trekking and come into contact with some hill tribes, one of which being the Long Neck Karens, or the women who accentuate their necks by elongating them with brass rings. We continue to be enamored and astounded by the beauty, food and people of this great country. I trust that our next destination will not disappoint.