art and language

   Because my mom was working, I did an art class and a language class, in Chiang Mai. The art class for me was a favorite. It was pretty much one on one, though there were sometimes a few other people there, we all got plenty of help with drawing. The teacher's name was Noina, and if you go to Chiang Mai and want something to do, I recommend this drawing class.

the buddha

    The language class was cool and I learned the basics of Thai. It was one on one and the teacher was helpful. An upside was that the class was at the computer plaza of Chiang Mai and I always went and played on the ipads after class. They were both worth doing and gave me something to do during the day.

me drawing a penguin

drawing a lotus flower

Lovely Laos, Lousy Laos

                         This blog is about my brief trip to Laos, the lousy and lovely....

     The first part of the journey was the boat. We bought a package deal in Chiang Mai, for a slow boat river cruise to Luang Prabang, Laos. From Chiang Mai my mom and I took a bus to the Thai-Laos border, formed by the Mekong River. We stayed a night in a cheap and not-so-nice guesthouse on the Thai side, included in the (quite lousy) package we had bought in Chiang Mai. The next day we and the whole big tourist group with numerous package deals set out across the border.
   The crossing was pretty painless, though instead of forming nice lines on the Lao side, everything was a big blob of humans rushing to get their visas and get going. We did so and exchanged some of our Thai baht for Lao kip. Then we were taken to the boat. After waiting around for a while, we finally got on the boat. The seats were not hard benches as we had been told, but old seats from mini buses. Then we headed out.
   The boat trip was lovely. We cruised through the pretty country side, and passed many local people washing or fishing on the sandy beaches. That night after six hours on the boat, we pulled into Pak Beng (lousy) to stay the night there. We were greeted by touts, offering rooms for the night.... And the travel agency in Chiang Mai had said we would have a hard time finding a place to stay, that there was no money exchange and no Baht was excepted. Of course there was a money changer and they even took Baht at most places, and probably US dollars. The kip is a fairly unstable currency so dollars and baht are used a lot.
   We stayed the night in a mediocre guest house an the next morning headed out to Luang Prabang with a German/Colombian couple. When we arrived we went to a more pricey but very nice guesthouse. In the evening we ate at the night market. The next day we parted ways and my mom an I went to see a friend from Eugene, Karen.We met at her massage course area in the country and after that went to see a beautiful waterfall.
   That evening with the couple from the boat we found a great restaurant a little way away from the main area and very hard to find. The food though, was delicious, serving a small menu of Lao and western food. The chef had been to Europe so it was authentic. The next day the couple left and we went wat (temple) hopping. The main one was on top of a hill in the town and provided a great view. The rest of the day was spent relaxing. We had switched to a cheaper guesthouse then. The next day we took a kayak trip down the nearby Nam Khan. We started out early while it was still cool. We and our guide passed elephants and locals bathing in the river. At around noon we stopped for lunch which was uneventful. We continued on and at some points the river and surrounding area was so quiet you could hear a coin drop in to the water downstream
   That was a fun conclusion an the next day we left to Vang Vieng. VV is more of a party town and in the main area are restaurants playing reruns of dumb TV episodes, in other words nothing interesting. The other side of the river was quiet and pretty but there was no internet over there and we needed that. We stayed two nights there and were glad to move on, to Vientiene, the capital. The roads were terrible and we bumped along to the bus station. It was a bit out of town and we had to take local transport to the main area. As we were waiting for our driver the bus slowly, but with gaining speed, started to roll backwards towards a pond. Fortunately the driver stopped it before it crashed.
   Vientiene turned out to be rather boring. We stayed at a nice cheap geusthouse and saw the main attraction, Pha That Luang, a giant golden tower. We were glad to leave in a few days time.The crossing went smoothly and we were back into Thailand.  

Laos waterfall

Mekong River view

temple in Laung Prabang

Laos waterfall

The White Temple in Thailand where we took a rest stop

 

Elephant park

   A week or so ago I went to an elephant sanctuary out side of Chiang Mai. Instead of riding the elephants, we fed them and washed them in the river. This park was a cruelty free place and the goal was to get the elephants back into the wild. Most elephants are treated very badly, getting beaten and tortured to make them tame
   We took a bus into the country and arrived at the 200 acre park. There, the elephants were given free range to wander. The first thing we did is see the massive food storage area. The elephants could eat a whole lot! There was also a covered walkway that the elephants could walk underneath and directly under you. Next we went to feed them, and they eat a whole lot! We broke for lunch, which was an extravagant buffet (the elephants weren't the only ones who ate well!).
   After lunch we went into the river and splashed the elephants with buckets of water. It was fun and refreshing to splash in the cool, clean water with the elephants. After that we fed the baby elephant (who ate like a toddler) and then it was time to go. Overall it was a fascinating and memorable experience.

Bug Museum

   In Chiang Mai there is a museum of bugs that has on display cases full of carefully preserved insects in glass cases. We went in and the friendly owner of the museum showed us around a bit. We were the only ones there and it was very small. The first case displayed several large tarantulas, a long centipede (about 6 inches) and a bunch of large beetles (about 3-4 inches). One of the beetles could kill you by pinching the artery in your hand, and another could cut your finger off between its head and body. (pictures) The second and third floors contained butterflies and then more bugs including a display of fighting beetles! (pictures) It was fun way to spend the afternoon

The man who ran the place was a spry 81-yr old, retired lawyer who never meant to be an entomologist (someone who studies insects). He and his wife spent a lifetime studying over 400 species of mosquitoes in an effort to study and eradicate malaria in Thailand.

What my mom really liked about the guy and museum was his respect for life. There were many displays with writing about how we must all respect nature, about love, about his own personal spiritual journey. Quite moving and touching.

Thai Cooking Class

 A couple of days ago my mom and I did a Thai cooking class at a farm. We were picked up from our hotel in a song tao, a converted pick-up truck with a cover and seats in the rear truck bed. We headed out with the rest of our group and stopped at a market, where we learned a few basic ingredients we would be using. The market was a typical Thai market, basically a large covered shelter with stalls selling fish, meat, veggies, sauces and cooking supplies.
   After that we got back into the song tao and headed out to the farm. It was quite a ways out of the main town and we got a chance to see some of the country side, filled with rice fields, farms, and a whole lot of cows. We got to the farm. There were open air buildings to cook in but first we looked at the herbs and veggies growing around. It was interesting to see all the herbs and learn what they were. Many we recognized from Thai meals we had had.
   We finished that and finally got down to the cooking. Inside each building were maybe a dozen cooking stations with a stove for everyone learning to cook. I shared a station with my mom. We started out by making a coconut milk and chicken soup (tom khar). It was delicious. Next we made a curry. We had to mash various herbs and spices together with a mortar and pestle to form the base for it. It was cooked in a pot with chicken and veggies. mmmmmmmm
   Next we made a stir fry with chicken and cashews. We fried in a big wok pot. It was perfectly done, and it was eaten quickly and eagerly. We proceeded to make spring rolls and a dessert, mango in sticky rice. They were both great but we were so full we had to bring some home.
   My conclusions: we can make anything better than a restaurant can.

New Year's Eve in Chiang Mai

CD xmas tree

   In Chiang Mai, I have to say, New Year's Eve is a massive deal. At the Tha Phae gate on the east side of the city, was a humongous celebration. Many streets were closed off and packed with people. There were street stalls with tons of food and more stalls selling clothing, jewelery, and lots of other stuff. A huge stage had been set up and there was a massive Christmas tree made entirely from CDs! Far away it sparkled and you could only tell it was made of CDs if you went up close.
   But the most amazing thing was the lanterns. In the streets hundreds and hundreds of lanterns, a paper hot air balloon thing that when you lit the material at the bottom, drifted off into the sky, in vast numbers. It was quite a sight to see them all drifting away. We also got a massage on the street and an iced mocha at a starbucks , where we sat on the 3rd floor, enjoying the view and the drink. Then, at midnight we watched fireworks shoot into the air, beginning the new year.

massages on the street

Tigers in Chiang Mai

   A couple weeks ago we arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, by train. After a few days of getting settled in the city, we took a tuk tuk, a small, open-air taxi thing, out about 17 kilometers outside of the city to the Chiang Mai tiger park. There, for an exorbitant price, you could go face to face with tigers and actually pet them inside their enclosures. We started out by meeting the young six month old tigers. It was thrilling and a bit scary to be up so close to such an amazing and powerful animal..... I mean really, they could rip you apart if they wanted.

me with a 6 month old tiger

    Next before we left we decided to look at the other tigers, though we couldn't go in with them unless we got more tickets for it. Well, when we saw the baby tigers, we decided that we had to go in and pet them, so we had to get more tickets. They were adorable.

me with a baby (1 month old)

     In all it was an okay trip out there, although getting there was not half the fun, in a tuk tuk on the car fumed road. It also seemed that the staff could be a tad cruel at times to the tigers, bugging them and shoving them around so the tourists could pet them. A word of advice..... if you are in Chiang Mai, and go see the tigers, only visit the baby ones.