Bangkok on My Own

After my travel companions left for the airport and I stayed as long as I could in our luxury digs, I packed up my things and headed for my much more austere lodgings, closer to the fun that was to ensue the next day. Songkran, a Thai New Year celebration and country-wide water festival is also known as the world's biggest water fight. The water is supposed to wash away all sins and bad luck and absolutely no one is safe from it for the duration of the festival. There are parts of the city dedicated to all out soak-fests where the beer flows almost as freely as the water, but even just walking down the sidewalk a joyous kid can run right up to you screaming "Songkran!" as he throws a bucket of water on you or shoots you with a water gun. The temperature is about as hot as it can get so it actually feels amazingly refreshing to get drenched and you can't help but laugh at the enthusiasm. I actually preferred to wander the streets and see how the locals celebrate rather then stay in the tourist packed water mobs (though I made sure to spend a good few hours there to "soak it in" before I bailed). 

There were several parades with floats almost as perplexing as this one.

Nothing like an ice cold Chang or two and a water gun on a lovely afternoon

No one is safe! The streets are a battlefield!

In a few corners around the city people still tried to maintain traditions

and you could see worshipers pouring water over Buddha statues.

Traditional music and talent shows took place in the middle of the fest each day

Never mind the Subway/KFC signs, this is still Thailand

The kids take the battles even more seriously than the adults

Wat Suthat and the iconic Giant Swing

Temples were almost the only things open during the festival and 

people lined up everywhere to pour water over the icons and pay respects

This beef soup street vendor was one of the few places open during the festival

so I pulled up a plastic chair, sidled up to the table and dug in. Yum!

Climbing up the steps up and around Wat Saket are some rather atmospheric nooks

People couldn't help but ring every bell on this small stop along the ascent.

Once you're at the top of Wat Saket, the view is gorgeous!

Entire families made the climb up the Golden Mount to pay respects 

and pray for luck and fortune in the upcoming year

Near the base of the temple was a vendor selling coconut ice cream, 

served inside an ice cold young coconut, drizzled with condensed

milk and topped with crushed peanuts. The climb was worth this!

If you were unfortunate enough to find yourself unprepared for the water festival

there were plenty of vendors on every street corner willing to arm you or 

refill your weapons with water for a fee.

Chiang Mai - Tigers and Elephants and Wats, Oh My!

My sister has more or less covered this particular part of the trip on Facebook, but in the spirit of completeness I'm going to tell you about it again here. With a few ideas about city highlights we ventured into the hot, sun-soaked streets armed with water and umbrellas to explore. Once inside the ancient Old City walls, Wats were around every corner, along with adorable shops, art galleries and restaurants. You could find everything from tiny food jewelry to traditional god and demon masks, and we made sure to admire all of them. 

In the evening we had booked a cooking class at Siam Rice Thai Cooking School and we barely made it back to our hotel in time for pickup. The class started with a trip to the market where the chef walked us through the stalls and explained the different ingredients popular in Thai cooking as well as what goes with what and how it differs from ingredients found elsewhere. We went over kaffir lime leaves, galangal, different varieties of basil, ginger, lemon grass, angel wing beans and the inappropriate sounding in Thai long beans. We were also given a few minutes to wander around on our own and ask questions about our findings.

Starving and knowing that dinner won't actually be ready for a few hours we asked this adorable little girl for some of the spicy sausage she was selling and with the gravitas of a seasoned shop owner she prepared our snack.

We passed on the pile of fried worms being sold at the shop next to hers...

Angel Wing Beans! How fun do these look?

After the market we piled into a van and headed for the kitchen where each of us picked what we wanted to make (a nice feature since usually everyone just sticks to a set menu) and got started on prep.

Smash the chilies!

They gave her a cleaver!

Beautiful ingredients!

Concentrating on deliciousness!

I, obviously, picked the most dangerous dish. Drunken noodles. Yum!

We each made different kinds of soup, various curry pastes, noodle dishes, and mango sticky rice. Everything was delicious and everyone had a lot of fun learning about all the different recipes.

The next day we set out for wildlife! We found the best elephant park where the animals are treated humanely and got to watch elephants paint self portraits, play soccer and twirl hula hoops before setting out on an elephant ride and an ox cart ride. The weather was threatening to rain, but after the elephants, we decided that we have plenty of time to also pet some tigers. Even though it did start drizzling at that point, the tigers were amazing. Playing with gorgeous cats that could kill you is my idea of fun! 

Who knew that cows liked bananas?

Hey barkeep, how about a drink?

Who needs chairs when you have an elephant!

How about a shower? (Ignore the poop)

Sittin'  pretty

Cats of all sizes like dangly toys on a stick!

One of these cats is ready to run :)

Me-ow!

Iddle widdle cuddly baby!

At night we ventured to the market, but things were wrapping up inside so we didn't stick around for long.

Squid!

The morning before leaving Chiang Mai we splurged on a private driver and asked him to take us down to see Wat Phra That Suthep and then to a few stops along the craft highway where various carvers, jewelers, weavers, etc. sell their wares, before rushing us to the airport. It was such a treat to have timely and comfortable transportation at every turn that day that we wondered why we didn't think to do that earlier!

Monks in training heading up for morning prayers

At the silk shop they show you the entire process of silk production, starting with the worms and the types of food they eat, to the method of boiling the cocoons to extract the silk threads, to the natural herbs and bark that's used to dye the thread, to the weaving and processing of that into cloth and finished products.

It was once again a close call as we got distracted by all the wonderful handiwork, but we made it to the airport on time and headed on to our next destination.