There are always positive things embedded in unforeseen problems that delay one's original plans. I was sad about leaving Chiang Mai so quickly but we really didn't want to experience Loy Krathong with tens of thousands of tourists (actually possibly hundreds of thousands, no kidding) and riding the short distance to Lamphun was the right decision. Having to return to Chiang Mai just when we were starting our bike trip was a bit discouraging but we were happy to be back in Chiang Mai. Why bemoan what had to happen and how could we possibly be sad to be back in lovely Chiang Mai! Also, having scheduled four and a half months for our trip allowed us leeway to absorb any unforeseen delays. It would have been a very different story if we only had a month for our trip and the delay took up more than one quarter of that time. But that was not the case for us and we could instead be grateful that professional dental care was right at our fingertips. The root canal needed to be done and gotten out of the way and we were incredibly lucky to be able to have that taken care of exceedingly fast and competently. And while we were waiting for it to heal a bit we were able to enjoy exploring more of Chiang Mai and have time to observe the Thai personality, people whom I find to be fascinating, always.
For instance one morning while gazing out from our balcony I saw a man across the way banging a big stick on the sheet metal he had attached to the end of his balcony. I never would have been watching the scene that unfolded had he not been making such a racket. He was scaring away pigeons that were near his balcony. He couldn't see around the sheet metal he had installed to wall off that end of his balcony. But I could see that one minute after he went inside a woman came out to her balcony which was just a few feet back from his balcony. She dumped lots of food for the pigeons on her balcony and instantly there were dozens of happy pigeons eating their breakfast. It was as if the racket the man made was the signal for her to wait one minute and then go feed the pigeons. I think the metal wall the man had made was so he couldn't see his nearby neighbor. Maybe they have had an ongoing feud for a long time. Leaning on the railing of our balcony I was amused by this little human nature scene. I felt like I was Jimmy Stewart in the film Rear Window as I observed two people with very different opinions about pigeons on their balconies. Normally Thais are more tolerant than most people I have ever known but I guess they too have their limits.
I like staying awhile in a place because I start to feel the rhythm of life around me. There is a woman three blocks away from our hotel who sells papayas on a little table every morning. The first thing I do every morning is walk those three blocks and buy a papaya from her. I can buy papayas elsewhere and possibly cheaper but I like her. Right from the first time we walked by her table and stopped briefly to stare at the magic marker prices right on the papayas she was excited to see us. She is super sweet and animated and interested in trying out a few words of English. I am always interested in trying out my few words of Thai on people who I think are going to be receptive and helpful. She has been happy to see me every morning and we started to teach each other little tiny bits of each other's language. This is how I have learned the little Thai I know and if we had stayed for a month in Chiang Mai I maybe would have learned quite a bit more Thai by now. She was just easy to talk with and so friendly. I feel that Thais do this well. Who doesn't enjoy being warmly welcomed by a total stranger! This is what I love about Thais and this is why I was not sad that we had to return to Chiang Mai for more than a week. It gave us time to be relaxed and to just enjoy the culture.
We had the luxury of time to also do a bit of research on restaurants we wanted to try and I think we chose wisely each time. We ate well and experienced some amazingly delicious food. We now know there is a lot of good Burmese food in Chiang Mai which never used to be the case. We also had the best Chiang Mai Curry we have ever eaten - Gaeng Heng Lay at Aroon Rai. We had khao soi several times in different khao soi restaurants. And I now have a new favorite tray food restaurant which is where we will eat breakfast right before I go to the Dr. for my permanent filling and we take off for Lamphun a second time.
Our last dinner was in a tiny rustic place where, again, the people welcomed us as if we were old friends. In fact, when we were laughing with them and their antics in the visible and very nearby kitchen, one of them actually asked, "You have been here before, right?" Nope, we had never been there The people were so happy and friendly and the food so great that we would have definitely gone back several times if we were staying in Chiang Mai. But, it was at least a great last dinner.
At the tiny restaurant we went to for our final dinner in Chiang Mai.
One of our best discoveries was a gorgeous building complex called the Museum of Makers. Besides old temples, the Museum of Makers buildings are the most beautiful group of buildings I have ever seen in Chiang Mai. The architecture alone is worth a trip there if you are in Chiang Mai. It's modern but with traditional designs and lots of wood. There is a restaurant, a shop selling handmade textiles, pottery and other handmade things, a room full of hill tribe clothes, jewelry, embroidery, etc. as in a museum setting. There are art pieces hanging everywhere inside and outside. A beautiful courtyard is in the middle of all the separate buildings with super comfortable artistic seating while avant garde music wafts around through the trees. I don't know how to describe how wonderful this place is. Even the bathrooms are modern mixed with the old in a beautiful way. Thai antiques are in every building lining walls on top of cabinets and with information about the objects. There is a coffee shop with a winding wooden stairway to the library where you can drink your coffee and look at books or, as we did, knock out two entries to this journal one afternoon. The books are beautiful too. There is a section of the library with pillows where you can take a nap. The only thing needed in the library was a cat. I would like to live there with a cat.
When the Thais chewed a lot of betel nut these were the containers to hold the various components for making it. Lime paste, the betel nut, a leaf of some sort, and some other little things shaken on it all. It's folded up and chewed as a mild narcotic and it numbs out the mouth. People were too poor to go have a toothache taken care of so they chewed betel nut and got addicted.
I'm pretty happy about how we spent our time in Chiang Mai. We saw many different kinds of flowers, ate many different kinds of foods and saw lots of temples showing off their ancient beauty. We explored areas of Chiang Mai we had never seen. We walked down miles of little lanes and sois. We biked many miles too. We tried out four different hotels all in areas we had never stayed in! We gazed at the green mountain, Doi Suthep, every day and then finally went up there to pay our respects to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. That was a perfect day (in a string of perfect days). From Wat Doi Suthep we looked over the ever expanding, sprawling city and were silent. There is no wonder people come from all over the world to experience Chiang Mai. Even though it has grown tremendously and has become a congested and fast paced city in places, it retains the calm, peacefulness and beauty I felt when I first came so long ago. The reasons I fell in love with Chiang Mai are still there. Change always happens constantly and can often ruin a city. It's rare to find a city that as it inevitably changes it can somehow retain its beautiful true essence. I think it is testament to the Thai character, especially the northern Thai character, that has made this possible for Chiang Mai. I've always said Chiang Mai is my second home but every time I am about to return I'm worried it will have changed to the point of no return for me. I've always been happily surprised that this has never happened. I guess I should quit worrying that it ever will.
lovebruce
There is going to be new construction on this lot but first things first - the spirit house. Thais believe that the spirit of the land will be displaced and could cause things to go wrong with the new building unless they provide a little house for the spirits.
Charlotte FloryThis reminded me of taking pictures at estate sales of all the things we saw but didn’t buy. A reminder of what could have been. Reply to this comment 2 months ago
Bruce LellmanTo Charlotte FloryThat's funny and true. I hadn't thought of this rack in terms of estate sales! Reply to this comment 2 months ago
Here is the whole deal. The straw-like things are holders for paper money. If you want to donate to a temple and therefore gain merit, you don't even have to go to the temple to do so. This one was at a restaurant. Anonymous merit making.
Bruce LellmanTo John SolemHaha, no we were at that particular hotel down the soi from these bananas for at least four nights. I have no idea why they were hanging out there. Reply to this comment 2 months ago
Gregory GarceauHilarious! (Unless it actually resulted in a sprained ankle or a face plant. Broken teeth would suck after you just got a root canal.) Reply to this comment 2 months ago
Bruce LellmanTo Gregory GarceauNo, I'm fine. You really have to watch where you step in Asia. My brother stepped on a rat in Yangon when I was walking with him. He didn't turn around. He just calmly said, "I think I just stepped on a rat." And we kept walking. No need to turn around.
But this was an open sewer and would have been pretty awful to plunge a leg into. I'll take a root canal over sewer canal any day. Reply to this comment 2 months ago
