The last two months have been filled with lots of fun times with friends, some relatively quick traveling, and many a poor Internet connection, resulting in zero blog updates. Now that I have time and a normal Internet connection, I can finally catch up. Here's my best attempt at transcribing what's happened since the end of October.
After Australia, I flew to Chiang Mai so I could attend the lantern festivals again this year and to await the arrival of Becca and her brother Michael. You may remember Becca from our fun adventures through Chile last year. Becca had allotted five (completely unplanned) weeks for traveling in Southeast Asia and Michael would be around for about half that time. I happily volunteered my tour guide services when I heard they might be coming to Asia. (Another San Francisco friend, Erik, would be arriving later in the month for about a week and a half.) At my suggestion, Becca timed her trip so she could also catch the lantern festivals.
The weather in Chiang Mai was beautiful upon my return and I spent the few days before Becca's arrival editing photos, visiting friends and people around town, reading, doing some travel research, and going to the gym. As usual, Tha Pae Gate was abuzz with activity.
I had also timed my return to Chiang Mai to include Halloween. Thais don't celebrate Halloween per se, but they are openly delighted and amused by all the farang who do celebrate it. This year, Citylife - the magazine I interned for last year - sponsored a zombie-themed pub crawl in old city that went from Loco Elvis to Zoe's. For those of you that don't know Chiang Mai, that's all of one block, possibly making this pub crawl the shortest (distance-wise) I've ever been a part of. That said, that one block has at least half a dozen places to get a drink.
That afternoon, I took a pair of scissors to a free t-shirt I had received in Phuket Town during the vegetarian festival to construct some semblance of a costume. I bought some red and black paint from an art supply store - coincidentally located on the same block as the pub crawl - and mixed up a batch of fake blood, applying it sloppily to my ripped-up shirt during a messy arts and crafts session in my guesthouse room. After drying the paint for a couple hours in the November heat, I threw the shirt on and made my way to Loco Elvis, where makeup was provided by Citylife. A new friend used my face as a canvas and the rest of the evening was spent socializing, bar hopping, and choking down sugary Halloween drink specials with friends, new and old. I received a lot of smiles and cheers from random Thais as I walked around town in my zombie getup. A couple teenagers even "catcalled" me from a passing motorbike. You're welcome, boys.
A few days later, I went to the airport to greet a bleary-eyed Becca, who had spent the previous umpteen hours on planes and in airports while traveling from San Francisco to Chiang Mai. As per a personal tradition of mine for any first day in Chiang Mai, I took her to Wat Mahawan for a foot massage at the temple in the late afternoon. Even though she was exhausted from traveling, she managed to stay up late enough to maximize her chances of staving off jet lag. Before going to bed, I took her to one of the many fish spas in town and the ensuing fifteen minutes was filled with a lot of squirming and shrieking.
The week and a half with Becca (and later Michael) in Chiang Mai is something of a blur. I have photos from some of our excursions and events, but I'm really not sure how we filled up the rest of the time. Actually, never mind, I take that back. I'm pretty sure I know what we did: eat, drink, sleep, get massages, have laptop time at cafes (Becca was finishing up a freelancing project), catch up about friends and family and work, people watch at bars, go to a Muay Thai fight or two, and wander the city on foot.
It was really fun and satisfying to take Becca to all of my favorite places around town. For food, I made sure to take her to Bamboo Bee, Peppermint (where she fell in love with the khao soi), Dada, Cat House, Mike's Burgers (never before 2:00 in the morning), The Swan, and street food wherever we found it. In the evenings, I took her to Zoe's (of course), Upper Deck (probably my favorite bar in town), Bus Bar, THC Bar, Boy Blues Bar, North Gate Jazz, Playhouse (for beer pong shitshowiness on Loi Kroh), and Mixology (for a taste of San Franciscan hipsterdom).
We also signed up for a two-hour Muay Thai class at Tha Pae stadium, something I had always wanted to do but never got around to. We dutifully showed up bright and early the next morning and were very happy to see we were the only students in the class. That elation quickly faded when our trainer started the class by instructing us to do ten minutes of jump rope as a warm-up. I knew then we were in for a hell of a workout.
Two hours and two dripping, sweat-soaked shirts later, we finished sparring (with our trainers) in the ring and collapsed on the mat, happy to instead focus our energy on hydrating and chatting with our new Thai friends. I could have easily soaked through half a dozen shirts during that session, had I brought enough of my wardrobe with me. Becca and I were quite satisfied with the session - both from a workout perspective and an educational perspective - and very happy we did it. The icing on the cake was that the shorts they gave me for the training led to a new nickname, Wolfcock. See below.
During Loi Krathong and Yi Peng, we were out and about a lot and so enjoyed the sights of floating lanterns and the sounds of fireworks in the evenings. On the last day, we spent the afternoon wandering old city and temple hopping. One of the temples, Wat Chedlin, was particularly interesting and photo-worthy as it has a monk dormitory; walking around the temple grounds revealed some humorous tidbits of monk life. Becca noted that, as with any building housing a large number of males, there were bags of dirty laundry, a makeshift gym, and a random couch in the yard. Monks... they're just like us!
After Wad Chedlin, I took Becca to one of my favorite "secret" spots in the city, the terracotta garden. I've covered the garden before in my blog and in photos, but I was more than happy to go again and take some more shots, especially since a few things had changed since I was there last.
Our last stop of the afternoon was Wat Lok Moli, which is along Sri Poom Road in the north-west part of old city. It's another temple with large grounds and beautiful architecture and colors, but far less tourists and more monks.
That night was the final and most important night of Loi Krathong, so we linked up with Jay and Mel, a couple I had met during the zombie pub crawl, and explored the festivities. We walked with the parade down Tha Pae Road towards the river, bought some khom loi and a street food dinner, and released the lanterns from the Nawarat Bridge, which was closed to vehicles and absolutely mobbed with people and lanterns and fireworks. It was the epicenter of Loi Krathong, for sure.
After releasing our misfortune and bad luck and bad emotions to the heavens, we wandered down to the Iron Bridge, which was crawling with packs of smiling, screaming, highly energetic Thai teenagers. Unlike American teenagers, they weren't drunk or even drinking, but they were armed to the teeth with explosives, as per Thai custom for pretty much any holiday. Fireworks flew back and forth between the bridge and the shores and the water and everywhere in between. We dodged the artillery and ducked into a bar for a beer and, more importantly, a respite from being on our feet all day.
While sipping our beers, I received a call from my friend Jinny, who had just gotten off work and was, completely coincidentally, only a couple minutes away. Becca and I grabbed our beers and walked over to Bus Bar to meet her. While sitting at a table enjoying ice cold Leo and the war-like atmosphere around us, some fireworks hit a power transformer next to the bar, which caused a small explosion and an immediate power outage. We looked at each other and simultaneously decided that was a sign to leave, so we grabbed our beers, walked back to the Nawarat Bridge, bought some more khom loi, and released those too. Though our feet hurt like hell by the end of the day, it was a spectacular evening.
Soon after the festival concluded, Michael arrived in Chiang Mai, humorously still wearing his work clothes from the previous workday. The rest of our time in town was spent similarly to the time Becca and I had together: eating, drinking, massages, Muay Thai, a cooking class, and the like. We went to Wat Chedi Luang for "monkchat" - which is exactly what it sounds like - one afternoon, which is another Chiang Mai activity I had always meant to do but could never find the time for. The conversation with our monk mostly concerned a monk's daily activities and responsibilities, but occasionally we dipped into fundamentals of Buddhism or comparisons with life in America. I really enjoyed it and would like to go back some more while I have the opportunity.
The three of us made the obligatory before-sunrise trip to Doi Suthep, which is always a beautiful and peaceful experience, as I've covered before in my blog and in photos. As with the terracotta garden, I'm always happy to go back and get more shots.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the ladyboy cabaret at the Night Bazaar, another required stop on the Chiang Mai tourist trail. Lip syncing, lavish costumes, dance numbers, and silicone for days.
After getting sucked into Chiang Mai for probably too long (which is par for the course there), the three of us hopped on a flight to Bangkok. We very much tried to enjoy our leisurely time up north as much as possible since we knew we'd be moving pretty quickly through the rest of our itinerary, as Michael didn't have nearly as much time as me or Becca.
Up next: Bangkok, Cambodia, and the islands.
Full photo albums: Chiang Mai, Loi Krathong and Yi Peng
After Australia, I flew to Chiang Mai so I could attend the lantern festivals again this year and to await the arrival of Becca and her brother Michael. You may remember Becca from our fun adventures through Chile last year. Becca had allotted five (completely unplanned) weeks for traveling in Southeast Asia and Michael would be around for about half that time. I happily volunteered my tour guide services when I heard they might be coming to Asia. (Another San Francisco friend, Erik, would be arriving later in the month for about a week and a half.) At my suggestion, Becca timed her trip so she could also catch the lantern festivals.
The weather in Chiang Mai was beautiful upon my return and I spent the few days before Becca's arrival editing photos, visiting friends and people around town, reading, doing some travel research, and going to the gym. As usual, Tha Pae Gate was abuzz with activity.
I had also timed my return to Chiang Mai to include Halloween. Thais don't celebrate Halloween per se, but they are openly delighted and amused by all the farang who do celebrate it. This year, Citylife - the magazine I interned for last year - sponsored a zombie-themed pub crawl in old city that went from Loco Elvis to Zoe's. For those of you that don't know Chiang Mai, that's all of one block, possibly making this pub crawl the shortest (distance-wise) I've ever been a part of. That said, that one block has at least half a dozen places to get a drink.
That afternoon, I took a pair of scissors to a free t-shirt I had received in Phuket Town during the vegetarian festival to construct some semblance of a costume. I bought some red and black paint from an art supply store - coincidentally located on the same block as the pub crawl - and mixed up a batch of fake blood, applying it sloppily to my ripped-up shirt during a messy arts and crafts session in my guesthouse room. After drying the paint for a couple hours in the November heat, I threw the shirt on and made my way to Loco Elvis, where makeup was provided by Citylife. A new friend used my face as a canvas and the rest of the evening was spent socializing, bar hopping, and choking down sugary Halloween drink specials with friends, new and old. I received a lot of smiles and cheers from random Thais as I walked around town in my zombie getup. A couple teenagers even "catcalled" me from a passing motorbike. You're welcome, boys.
A few days later, I went to the airport to greet a bleary-eyed Becca, who had spent the previous umpteen hours on planes and in airports while traveling from San Francisco to Chiang Mai. As per a personal tradition of mine for any first day in Chiang Mai, I took her to Wat Mahawan for a foot massage at the temple in the late afternoon. Even though she was exhausted from traveling, she managed to stay up late enough to maximize her chances of staving off jet lag. Before going to bed, I took her to one of the many fish spas in town and the ensuing fifteen minutes was filled with a lot of squirming and shrieking.
The week and a half with Becca (and later Michael) in Chiang Mai is something of a blur. I have photos from some of our excursions and events, but I'm really not sure how we filled up the rest of the time. Actually, never mind, I take that back. I'm pretty sure I know what we did: eat, drink, sleep, get massages, have laptop time at cafes (Becca was finishing up a freelancing project), catch up about friends and family and work, people watch at bars, go to a Muay Thai fight or two, and wander the city on foot.
It was really fun and satisfying to take Becca to all of my favorite places around town. For food, I made sure to take her to Bamboo Bee, Peppermint (where she fell in love with the khao soi), Dada, Cat House, Mike's Burgers (never before 2:00 in the morning), The Swan, and street food wherever we found it. In the evenings, I took her to Zoe's (of course), Upper Deck (probably my favorite bar in town), Bus Bar, THC Bar, Boy Blues Bar, North Gate Jazz, Playhouse (for beer pong shitshowiness on Loi Kroh), and Mixology (for a taste of San Franciscan hipsterdom).
We also signed up for a two-hour Muay Thai class at Tha Pae stadium, something I had always wanted to do but never got around to. We dutifully showed up bright and early the next morning and were very happy to see we were the only students in the class. That elation quickly faded when our trainer started the class by instructing us to do ten minutes of jump rope as a warm-up. I knew then we were in for a hell of a workout.
Two hours and two dripping, sweat-soaked shirts later, we finished sparring (with our trainers) in the ring and collapsed on the mat, happy to instead focus our energy on hydrating and chatting with our new Thai friends. I could have easily soaked through half a dozen shirts during that session, had I brought enough of my wardrobe with me. Becca and I were quite satisfied with the session - both from a workout perspective and an educational perspective - and very happy we did it. The icing on the cake was that the shorts they gave me for the training led to a new nickname, Wolfcock. See below.
During Loi Krathong and Yi Peng, we were out and about a lot and so enjoyed the sights of floating lanterns and the sounds of fireworks in the evenings. On the last day, we spent the afternoon wandering old city and temple hopping. One of the temples, Wat Chedlin, was particularly interesting and photo-worthy as it has a monk dormitory; walking around the temple grounds revealed some humorous tidbits of monk life. Becca noted that, as with any building housing a large number of males, there were bags of dirty laundry, a makeshift gym, and a random couch in the yard. Monks... they're just like us!
After Wad Chedlin, I took Becca to one of my favorite "secret" spots in the city, the terracotta garden. I've covered the garden before in my blog and in photos, but I was more than happy to go again and take some more shots, especially since a few things had changed since I was there last.
Our last stop of the afternoon was Wat Lok Moli, which is along Sri Poom Road in the north-west part of old city. It's another temple with large grounds and beautiful architecture and colors, but far less tourists and more monks.
That night was the final and most important night of Loi Krathong, so we linked up with Jay and Mel, a couple I had met during the zombie pub crawl, and explored the festivities. We walked with the parade down Tha Pae Road towards the river, bought some khom loi and a street food dinner, and released the lanterns from the Nawarat Bridge, which was closed to vehicles and absolutely mobbed with people and lanterns and fireworks. It was the epicenter of Loi Krathong, for sure.
After releasing our misfortune and bad luck and bad emotions to the heavens, we wandered down to the Iron Bridge, which was crawling with packs of smiling, screaming, highly energetic Thai teenagers. Unlike American teenagers, they weren't drunk or even drinking, but they were armed to the teeth with explosives, as per Thai custom for pretty much any holiday. Fireworks flew back and forth between the bridge and the shores and the water and everywhere in between. We dodged the artillery and ducked into a bar for a beer and, more importantly, a respite from being on our feet all day.
While sipping our beers, I received a call from my friend Jinny, who had just gotten off work and was, completely coincidentally, only a couple minutes away. Becca and I grabbed our beers and walked over to Bus Bar to meet her. While sitting at a table enjoying ice cold Leo and the war-like atmosphere around us, some fireworks hit a power transformer next to the bar, which caused a small explosion and an immediate power outage. We looked at each other and simultaneously decided that was a sign to leave, so we grabbed our beers, walked back to the Nawarat Bridge, bought some more khom loi, and released those too. Though our feet hurt like hell by the end of the day, it was a spectacular evening.
Soon after the festival concluded, Michael arrived in Chiang Mai, humorously still wearing his work clothes from the previous workday. The rest of our time in town was spent similarly to the time Becca and I had together: eating, drinking, massages, Muay Thai, a cooking class, and the like. We went to Wat Chedi Luang for "monkchat" - which is exactly what it sounds like - one afternoon, which is another Chiang Mai activity I had always meant to do but could never find the time for. The conversation with our monk mostly concerned a monk's daily activities and responsibilities, but occasionally we dipped into fundamentals of Buddhism or comparisons with life in America. I really enjoyed it and would like to go back some more while I have the opportunity.
The three of us made the obligatory before-sunrise trip to Doi Suthep, which is always a beautiful and peaceful experience, as I've covered before in my blog and in photos. As with the terracotta garden, I'm always happy to go back and get more shots.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the ladyboy cabaret at the Night Bazaar, another required stop on the Chiang Mai tourist trail. Lip syncing, lavish costumes, dance numbers, and silicone for days.
After getting sucked into Chiang Mai for probably too long (which is par for the course there), the three of us hopped on a flight to Bangkok. We very much tried to enjoy our leisurely time up north as much as possible since we knew we'd be moving pretty quickly through the rest of our itinerary, as Michael didn't have nearly as much time as me or Becca.
Up next: Bangkok, Cambodia, and the islands.
Full photo albums: Chiang Mai, Loi Krathong and Yi Peng
