chiang mai: where dreams really do come true (part IV)

After Cambodia, we headed to Chiang Mai, Thailand for the last leg of our adventures with Martha and Jim. Chiang Mai was the perfect end to our two weeks - with a little bit of something for everyone!

On our first full day there, we went off-roading with ATVs (some of us may have taken this a little too literally and ended up stuck in the bushes. Believe it or not, it wasn't me...or ari...or martha). To be honest, I was pretty proud of myself and am definitely considering a suped up ATV as my primary means of transportation. Four wheels means no tipping. Although a riding lawn mower might be another alternative.
(While on the way to work...Officer: "Where do you think you're going on that lawn mower?" Me: I'm just mowing the lawn.)

Here we are suffering from some helmet hair but enjoying the incredible view!

The next day we joined a day tour to visit a Karen hill-tribe village, waterfall, go for an elephant ride, and take a lazy trip down a river on a bamboo raft.

Karen village houses. The Karen are the largest hill-tribe population in Thailand. They used to grow a lot of opium.

Elderly villager chewing on betel nut. She had gums like Grover.

Some hand-woven scarves made by women of the tribe

We then took a short hike to a beautiful waterfall. The water was so cold it basically sucked the air out of your lungs. You couldn't scream if you wanted to. I wish we had a few more photos here but I think I was distracted by the mild shock of hypothermia. Oh, and the slippery rocks. (Come to think of it, maybe those rocks were covered in ice) Our guide basically said "a naughty French man didn't listen to me, he slipped, broke his hip was driven to the hospital 2 hours away in agonizing pain, had emergency surgery and then went back to France the following day". Far more effective than, "be careful".

After, we went elephant riding through the forest. This, I think I can safely say was Martha's favourite part. Having skipped a few opportunities in Bangkok (think pony tethered to a pole type of ride) this was definitely worth the wait!

Martha the mahout.

BABY ELEPHANT! Cute enough to take home!

Our last day in Chiang Mai we took a full day cooking class and learned some traditional Thai dishes. It was basically like an all day eating extravaganza. Now that we have an apt (more in a later post) we have been cooking every day. Ari is becoming quite the Thai chef!

The cooking school's sweet ride - decked out with sofas

Our awesome teacher Yui (pronounced U-E). Her cooking school will be featured on a show with Gordon Ramsey.

Some of the delicious dishes I managed to photograph. From the left: Tom Yum Gung (Thai Spicy Soup with Shrimp), Stir-Fry Cashew Chicken, and Red Curry chicken. We also learned to make mango coconut sticky rice.

My successful (not greasy as advertised) Spring rolls.

Thai chefs with our pad thai. Pad Thai apparently was only popularized in the 1930's to promote nationalism and to reduce the country's consumption of rice.

So aside from eating, of course we did more eating. Jim and Martha suggested we appropriately call our blog "eating our way through southeast asia". We only did a quick night tour of the old city (the historical area that used to be surrounded by a wall and moat) and didn't spend too much time there but we did venture there a few times to eat some incredible food. Particularly we had the most incredible fried fish with sweet chili sauce and fried pork. Pork is pretty big in Thailand - great for us! not for pigs.. Unfortunately, our photographic evidence is a little lacking. Here are a few photos...

Our hotel's pineapple smoothies were amazing. Ari's bedhead was too.

Night market food. MMMMMM.

So after Chiang Mai we flew back to Bangkok where we sadly said goodbye to Martha and Jim.

We have to thank them so much for an incredible two weeks! We ate amazing food, we stayed in beautiful hotels and we did and saw so much! We were completely and totally spoiled rotten.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Maybe we'll see you in Vietnam???

siem reap: adventures of martha and jim (part III)

so taking a little (half day) break from exploring temples we went to the stilted village, Kompong Plok. A fishing village along Tonle Sap, the largest fresh water lake in southeast Asia.

In the rainy season the lake is 16000 sq km and all the homes are surrounded by water. Dry season (which is now) the lake recedes and is only 2700 sq km and most of the houses end up on land. Apparently fishing becomes a whole lot easier when when the fish have no where to go.

Kids of all ages rowing their boats gently down the stream...

Dried shrimp creating the perfect pedestrian walkway for the villagers.

Jim became somewhat of a celebrity when he decided to get a $0.60 haircut and shave at the local barber.

Taking a tour of Tonle Sap. These women rowing our boats (from the front) might have been older than my grandmother. At this point, you really kick yourself for eating that second piece of toast. Or any toast...ever.

Ari was enjoying himself, really.

After having lunch on Tonle Sap (don't worry this was on a boat with a motor), we went to our last temple.

Bakong Temple


Built in the 9th century much of the sandstone and stucco bas reliefs have eroded away. Sitting at the top of the central tower, we enjoyed the last of our time in Siem Reap.

This was a super quick stop in Siem Reap. If you're planning a trip to see the temples I would definitely recommend giving yourself a few more days. Each temple is unique and if you have the time, the temples are an amazing place to just sit and take in your surroundings. Pretty incredible.

My last piece of advice is unless you're on your own private yacht or it's halloween this is really unneccessary

loose definitions

beverage:
bev-er-ij, bev-rij
(noun)any potable liquid, esp. one other than water, as tea, coffee, beer, or milk

the fine selection of beverages offered at our last hostel

(pt 2) Can I get a Wat Wat

After exploring Bangkok, the four of us flew to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. There are so many temples (wats) that you could spend a full week exploring and still not see everything. The temples were spectacular, and its easy to see how powerful the Khmer empire was one thousand years ago.

Even in the tourist oasis of Siem Reap, the country's tragic history and crushing poverty are on full display. Cambodia's civil war and lunatic government lead to the torture and death of 1/3 of the country's population just a few decades ago, including everyone with any education at all. One of our guides lost his father and three brothers as a child. Young children swarm tourists, begging and selling knickknacks. Groups of musicians crippled by leftover landmines play music for tourists in hope of living with some dignity. A cab driver waited for us for three hours in order to get a $2 fare. A massage costs $2 or $3 an hour, and the masseuse probably takes home half of that.

Day 1

Preah Kahn. This massive temple is filled with a maze of corridors, and the pictures don't do justice to just how endless the halls are. As you walk through, each door gets smaller and smaller, giving the impression of looking into a mirror. The temple was designed this way intentionally, forcing visitors to respectfully bow lower and lower the closer to the holy statues they got.



Preah Neak Poan. A small temple surrounded by water. In it's heyday the four pools surrounding the central pool were believed to have healing powers. Our guide described it as an ancient hospital.


Eastern Meborn. By the third temple of the day, we were all exhausted and had yet to eat lunch.



Bantai Srei. This small, well preserved temple has some of the best stone carvings in the world. Every inch of stone is beautifully carved.




Pre Rup. We went to this temple for sunset. By now we were so tired and had seen enough temples that we didn't even bother looking around. We just sat with a bunch of other tourists and watched a mediocre sunset.

Day 2

Angkor Wat. Still tired from the day before, we woke up at 4 AM to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat. This is the biggest temple in the region. Before we got to Cambodia I thought that all of the temples in the area were called Angkor Wat, but no.. It's just one of many temples.

Angkor Wat from a distance. Great shot Janet.

The first level of the temple contains nearly 1 kilometer of intricately carved bas reliefs telling Hindu stories.

These patched bullet holes are remnants of the recent civil war.

Our guide explaining the Hindu stories.

The back of Angkor Wat.

Ta Phrom. The guides also call this temple "Tomb Raider" as this is where the movie was shot. Nature wants this land back.



Baphoun. The world's biggest jigsaw puzzle. The temple was dismantled as part of restoration efforts, but then the civil war broke out and all of the records of how to put it back together were destroyed. It's been halfway restored in the last 15 years.


Bayon. One of the coolest temples. Four expressive faces are carved into 54 towers.
The post is getting long, so we'll talk about Cambodia Day 3 tomorrow! Preview: After two days of wats, we were templed out, so we went to a centuries old village that is under water half of the year.

Happy birthday Janet!

(and happy birthday to Joanna too!)

Bangkok: adventures of martha and jim (part I)

- basically, this is going to be a multi-part post - think harry potter

After a few (quiet) months in Hong Kong we met Martha and Jim in Bangkok, Thailand! And we probably did more in these last two weeks than we have in the last six months. They definitely kept us on our toes (though more accurately, ran circles around us). We had an incredible time and here is our top ten list of Bangkok

#10 The National Gallery

Read all about the history of Thailand and the Siamese. We were slightly underwhelmed by the display but didn't realize there were actually five additional buildings that housed national treasures and art...including a teak house that used to be the residence of the King's sister.

#9 Taking the Ferry along Chao Phraya

Bangkok used to be called "Venice of the East" and with all the waterways and canals (as we discovered) it's FAR more convenient to take a boat than sit in traffic for hours...also super inexpensive - approximately $0.40 a trip.

#8 Grand Palace
Packer-Kramer family. Jim sizing up the guards with guns.

Everything was covered in gold or made of gold or made of and covered in gold. Surprisingly, there is no reflection that can be seen from space.

#7 Wat Pho

The oldest and largest temple in Bangkok. With over 1000 images of the Buddha (the most famous being the reclining Buddha) it is also the national headquarters for traditional Thai medicine, including Thai massage.

#6 The Floating Market

Taking the water taxi to the floating market

Selling souvenirs, snacks, fruit and full meals.

#5 Shopping

This doesn't quite give the markets of Bangkok justice but imagine having this much variety in anything you could ever want, now multiply that times a thousand, and square that. That number is an approximation of things to buy in one street market in Bangkok. At some point I will drag Ari to the largest market in Bangkok, the lonely planet recommends you purchase a map for this market before venturing out.

#4 Emerald Buddha

That gold spot in the middle is the Emerald Buddha clothed in his "winter outfit" which- SURPRISE - is made of gold! He has a change of clothes for all seasons. I would say it reminds me of barbie but I'm pretty sure in my next life I would be reincarnated into a rock.

#3 Reclining Buddha
At 46 m long and 15 m high the reclining buddha is a symbol of buddha passing into nirvana. Here Ari and Jim discuss the intricacies of 108 images made of mother of pearl on the soles of the feet.

#2 Solid Gold Buddha
Three meters tall and 5.5 tonnes of solid gold this buddha was once covered in stucco to hide it from looters and the solid gold inside was forgotten about for centuries until it was accidentally dropped.

#1 The Wildlife
Martha feeding an elephant bananas!

The Martha and Jim dead skin buffet. Fish feeding on...them. Reversing the food chain.

So we packed A LOT into our three days in Bangkok. And surprisingly Martha and Jim showed no signs of jet lag. They kept going and going and going. Most nights we headed to bed as they went for a "night cap".

More to come when we work up the energy to post about Siem Reap, Cambodia and Chiang Mai, Thailand...