2/16/11 Tourist in Chiang Mai

The past few days have been so much fun as my Uncle Mong have been taking me around the beautiful city of Chiang Mai with my grandma, his wife, and my 18 year old cousin Menn. I feel like I’m finally on vacation after a very intense grad school semester, straight nose dive into work, and assisting with research in India. I am taken back by how many foreigners are in Chiang Mai, they are everywhere!

One of the first visits we make is to a temple (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Phrathat_Doi_Suthep) which sits high up on a mountain. It is the most beautiful temple I have ever seen. The white marble floors feel cool or warm to walk barefoot on depending on the vicinity to heat-creating candle holders or oil burners. The pagoda like structures are super ornate in red and gold. In the center of the temple, there is a large shiny golden shrine that supposedly housed bones from the original Buddha. Following my grandma and uncle’s religious tradition lead, we all walk around the golden shrine 3x’s for good luck. We also light our 3 long monk orange candles and stick them on candle holders while kneeling, light our 3 incense sticks and stick them into sand as we make a prayer, and offer a tulip into a large metal chalice…all of these steps presumably for good luck. Then we proceed to ring about 100 large bells around the temple for good luck and also get blessed by a monk that chants something I have no idea what it means and dashes water over our heads and shoulders and finishes the proceeding with a braided white cotton bracelet…all for good luck. There are also symbols of seven different buddhas with a metal lotus holding a flame fueled by oil around it. You pick a Buddha based upon what day of the week you were born and then take a ladle of oil and add to the lotus in a clockwise motion 3 times. The temple is amazingly detailed with statues of golden buddhas everywhere, paintings, hand carved wooden frames and doors, orchids adorned sporadically, and overlooking the rest of Chiang Mai. It feels as if you are at a place that would be the most ideal setting to get married in or visit in a dream.

On other days we visit the night market which houses endless street products and I hoard souvenirs. I also got the chance to ride a chang (elephant). The elephants are quite clever here, they are trained to kick soccer balls, shoot basketballs, play harmonicas, paint pictures, and dance. When I fed one elephant sugar canes, the trainer instructed the elephant to shake my hand with its trunk and put a straw hat on my head. I also visit an umbrella making factory that had pretty umbrellas and hand painted custom t-shirts. There is a gorgeous orchid farm in Chiang Mai so I loved being able to use my telephoto/macro lens to snap away at my favorite flower. My uncle took me to visit a Hmong village, it was more of a tourist attraction with Hmong people dressed in traditional clothing more than an authentic rural tribe village. I also go to a hot spring with really hot water, enough to boil a hard-boiled egg. We also eat dinner at a palace with Thai dancers that put on a spectacular show with decorative Thai costumes as we sat on pillows on the floor eating dinner. My fingers bend back freakishly like the Thai dancers’ since my aunt used to bend my fingers back when I was about 3 years old in hopes of me becoming a Thai dancer. I’ll consider that as a profession when I grow up. Thai food is so incredible and that is a major understatement. Everywhere I go, the food is so full of flavor and often spicy. I drink Thai iced tea on a daily basis, it’s found at every coffee shop and so much more amazing in Thailand. I feel like my culinary experience is just as rich if not more so than my tourist visiting experience. The US dollar goes very far in Thailand. The Thai teas cost less than $1 and meals for 5 people cost about $10.

The entire time, I have accompanied by my cousin Menn. His English is excellent and his fluency allows me to talk at my normal pace, which is very fast. Having Menn on these trips has made him more like a little brother to me. He made one trip to the U.S. to NJ and FL and is in love with America. He has seen more U.S. movies and more up to date on pop culture than I am. He will be attending college in a few months as a freshman and my hope is to have him visit me in LA, a place that he will undoubtedly love.