Oh Chiang Mai

We woke up early this morning since Sam checked out at 5 pm the previous day. Ready to go and see Chiang Mai, we left the hotel early and set out on foot to explore. We are staying in the Old City, which now makes up the city center. The Old City is just over 2 square kilometers, and surrounded by a moat and what remains of an old crumbling wall.

Wat Phra Singh, one of the many many temples in Chiang Mai, is just down the road from our hotel. Because we were up so early, the grounds were mostly deserted. It was great to walk around the temples and the surrounding gardens before the heat set in and the other tourists arrived. Many of the temples in Chiang Mai are older, and in some ways more interesting than the ones we saw in Bangkok.

In general, I like Chiang Mai much better than Bangkok. It is calmer, cooler, and has more distinct character, in my opinion. On our way back from Wat Phra Singh, we ran into an incredibly nice Thai man who shared some of Chiang Mai's best with us. (Sidenote: Often, when tour guides or drivers have actively approached us hoping we would give them some business, they begin with "Where do you come from?" So when this guy first approached us with this question, we were a little hesitant). As luck would have it, his intentions were simply to chat with us, and tell us about his favorite things to do in the city.

He recommended we visit a strip of factories just outside of the city where many of the handicrafts and other goods sold in stores and stands are made. We went to a number of them (including an aggressive oriental carpet dealer from Kashmir who was shocked that we were not in the market for a $2000 carpet), but my favorites were the laquerware and the silk factory.

In the silk factory, you see the silkworms actually making silk, the process of spinning the thread, and the women weaving the silk on giant looms. To make an intricately patterned silk scarf, it can take an entire day to make only 10 centimeters. That's a lot of work.

Around mid-afternoon, we decided to switch up modes of transportation. For the dirt cheap price of 200 baht/day (+50 for insurance - better safe than sorry!) we rented a motorbike. Red, somewhat speedy, and nicknamed "Big Red," this was an amazing way to see the city. Sam expertly navigated us around the city, driving for the first time on the left side of the road (p.s. yes, Mom, we wore helmets).

We rode the bike to Wat Chiang Man, hoping to hear the chants, but arrived at the wrong time. Instead we went to "Monk Chat" where English-speaking monks sit to talk with visitors about the temple, Thailand, or whatever else. We spoke to an incredibly nice monk from Cambodia, who has only been studying English for a year, but speaks quite well. We talked about the temple, about his decision to become a monk, and much about religion in general. He was very interested to discover that Sam is Jewish, and upon hearing that I, myself am not religious, he simply asked me: "Are you scared?" I answered him that no, I'm not. This was an important moment, I think, in helping me understand what Buddhism meant to him. It truly is something that means everything to him in terms of stability, understanding, and knowledge. I guess I have yet to find something in religion that speaks to me that way.

In any case, we have the bike until tomorrow, but decided to park it for the night as we headed out to some exciting festivities.

We had dinner at a restaurant near the hotel and then headed out to see our first Muay Thai boxing match. Muay Thai is a style of boxing that mixes kicks and punches with an almost rhythmic dance the fighters do while sizing each other up. Our seats were...truly front and center. The boxing was interesting, although the first Thai fighters were young, about 14 or 15. The strategy seems very different than in boxing as I know it - but I don't know much to begin with.

There were a number of Thai fighters, including -- as the program put it -- a "Ladyfight!!" After that came a series of international fights, which were less interesting. The fights pit an Englishman, a Candian, and an Australian against Thai fighters. The styles of boxing between the two fighters almost never matched up, and the fights were over quickly. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the scene, and headed home to catch some sleep before tomorrow's adventures in Chiang Mai and our evening journey to Chiang Rai.

Now Sam will tell his side of the story:

When I checked my e-mail in the morning I found out I had gotten into the Mills post-bac program. This is the first response I've gotten, and it's very exciting to know I have been accepted somewhere, but a little disappointing that I have something to in the future, guess I will have come home after all.

Needless to say, it was a good start in a new city, not that Chiang Mai could be anything but good after five days in Bangkok. People here are nicer, the weather is cooler, the city has so much character, and to boot it's a lot cheaper.

We started the morning with some breakfast at the hotel accompanied by some welcomed light rain. The rain didn't last long, but it left a lingering musty coolness in the air. After breakfast we strolled across the street to Wat Phra Singh, one of Chiang Mai's over 300 temples. Wat Phra Singh is much different than any Wat we saw in Bangkok, although it kept it's feeling of attention to detail and grandeur, this What felt used and serine compared to the made-up "amusement parks" of Bangkok.

We walked around the grounds for a while and ran into a man named Tom from Bangkok. Although we were originally skeptical of Tom's intentions, it ultimately seemed like he was looking for some conversation, and we chatted about Bangkok and what to do in Chiang Mai. It turns out Tom was once training to be a Monk and he pointed out the best Wats to visit as well some other activities and before long it seemed like we had an itinerary for our empty day.

We began by walking across the old city to Wat Chiang Man, which was nice and similar in atmosphere to Wat Phra Singh, but built in the 13th century, and had an amazing line of granite elepahants etched into the sides of a building. From here we got picked up by a tuk-tuk driver named Po to go to the factories outside of town.

We saw some cool stuff at the silk, gem, and laquer factories, as well as tons of imports from Kashmir in two large shops. My favorite part of the day was hanging out with Po. He spoke great English, was extremely friendly and was a huge Manchester United fan, don't know why thats important, but it seems to be. We sat outside a couple factories talking and drinking complementary soda (all the factories have goodies for the waiting drivers), while Emma took a little longer in the shops.

After we sadly parted from Po, we ate a delicious lunch at a cafe type place near the hotel, where I had some tasty roasted pork with rice noodles and some great peanut sauce on this side. Then, Mom you might want to close your eyes for this part, we decided to rent a motorbike. 24 hours for 250 bhat seemed like a great deal compared to paying for other transportation, not to mention tons of fun. It was pretty crazy driving in the lawless Thai streets but I quickly got used to it as we toured to old city, its wall and moat, and beyond, getting a little lost at times.

We found our way back to the old city and Wat Chediluang where we were hoping to see the chanting ceremonies, but we did not arrive on time. We instead looked around the ancient Wat, and sat down for Monk Chat, where we spoke to a Cambodian Monk about many topics. He taught us a lot about Buddhism, and I taught him a bit about Judiasm (or so I like to think).

After a dinner at the local "writers club," a hangout for writers and journalists, we took off for a Muay Thai match. I am under the assumption that this was not an example of Muay Thai technique but instead an exhibition with fighters (from other countries, with other backgrounds than Muay Thai, fighting against severely over matched opponents) who are trying to make a name for themselves in the Thai community. It was fun, but I think the fights were rigged and Emma won most of our side bets.

Altogether a great first day in Chiang Mai, my new favorite city in Thailand.