Jungle Hash

Over the past week and a half, I haven't slept well.  There have been several outside noises and elements keeping my mind occupied - annoying barking lion-maned-skinned-yippie-rat-dog, night bazaar music, motos and such.  I am a light sleeper.  It could be much worse, but my body was telling me to break away.  I have been continually on the look for a cheaper stay, not everything is online, cheaper accommodations require leg-work.  I am now staying at the Thai Travel Hotel.  The hotel is located between a bike rental shop and a traveling-tourism shop.  By the way, I have managed to make some great friends at each of these 3 places - I LOVE the people that own this hotel.  The lady that works here has two children who don't speak English, she is moderately conversational.  She is so sweet.  No matter how many times I am in and out of the hotel, we always greet each other with big smiles, unavoidable.

I originally was interested in the hotel with its price, 99 baht per night for a dorm.  These dorms are 4 person twin beds, she let me check them out.  I decided that I would take a bed Friday night.  When I returned around 1pm, she was fast asleep behind her desk, as her two children were watching the Pink Panther.  She awoke 10 minutes later and apologized to me and said she was up all night with a sick child. She felt bad.  She said, “I give you room on 4th floor single room for 99 baht (typically 180 baht).  She had me see the room – queen-size bed with fitted sheet, two large brown flannel blankets, 2 pillows, a fan, light, outlet, and a window to the outside.  In addition, reliable wifi from what I can tell – on my iPod.  The flooring is simply the stick-on mat wallpaper covering the floor.  The bathroom is on the second floor down some mismatched and narrow stairs.  The bathroom is public stalls, sit-down toilets, with cold showers and toilets (with spray heads instead of toilet paper, common throughout SE Asia).  Towels are not provided. Shoes are to be removed before going in the upstairs area (also common in SE Asia).  It's not the cleanest stay, but it's just fine, and for 100 baht a night, this can't be beat. I would say that it’s more of a hostel than a hotel, just don’t ask me the difference.  

 Ah, yes, I settled down into my bed, hoping for some Zzzs in a new bed, without a roommate. I laid down and within 20 minutes, I felt something run across my thigh, it was definitely bigger than a bug, but smaller than my last roommate.  I think it was a baby jinjok (small gecko), it moved so fast.  I flicked on my iPod to see what it was but there was nothing in sight.  I think it was sleeping in the blanket.  No visitors since.  Ok back to the pillow I go. 15 minutes pass, getting sleepy.. AND Bam - I hear, "test," "test," "test," PAUSE .."test;" nothing like mic checks at 12:30 am, for at least 2 hours.  I awoke around 6am with music tests, then a full on festival music.  It’s as though they were welcoming me to that part of town.  Turns out that ‘Coyote’ was in town. Coyot is a  (lady boy) singer, she on stage, as I found out on a walk.  It was comparable to what we call 'crazy days’ in SD. There were lots of sale promotions with department-size stores down one street.  They were giving a way free food along with some of Coyote's music.  I talked to a man, Kit, at the travel place next to my hotel and he said, "do you know Coyote in the USA?" I said, "no." He said, "Oh, she very sexy lady." Thai men always use the phrase, "oh, sexy lady," followed by shy laughing, often.  I think some know the meaning of sexy, while others think it means very beautiful.

Saturday afternoon I headed out for a ‘Hash’ run.  This is an international run that takes place in cities from here to you.  However, it's not the typical runners you may expect.  In Chiang Rai (CR), there are runs 1/month. First and foremost, I am a virgin Hasher, but I know people that have done them in the states and other parts of the world.  The running path is more of a 'guess and check.'  Each month new people set the trails.  The trails here in CR are marked using chalk clues and shredded paper.  You start the run and follow paper and/or chalking.  The trick is, that one path can lead to 2, 3 or 4 other paths.  This is designated by X chalk symbols (meaning 4 paths), > (meaning 2 paths - figure out the correct one), etc.  In other words the symbols represent the number of path potentials.  So, how do you know which route to take? You guess! So you get a little extra run in if you choose incorrectly.  At times the path would be either flat or straight up a steep rocky, rugged hill.  In these cases, we would split up, one person would check one way and the other person looks the other way.   If you keep seeing paper you are on the right path. If you run into a straight line of chalk or see no more paper - you are off track and must turn back.  The lead runners correct the path marking so it's easier for those running or trailing behind.

 A little more on the run. I rented a motorbike for the day, 200 baht.  I handed over my passport and money and they handed me keys and a helmet.  The woman told me 3 times that I must go get gasoline, I looked at the gauge, I was certain the needle couldn't sink anymore beyond the E.  They told me there was a station a kilometer down the road. I made it there and put 50 baht in, this gave me shy of half a tank.  Sorry dad, I keep forgetting to look at the volume I put in.  The pumps are always serviced by an attendant.  Off I went for the run, same direction as the waterfall 2 weeks ago. We (Susan, Mel, Hannah, Katie and I) met with other Hashers at a temple, parked our motos, mopeds, whatever you want to call them.  The cost of the run, 50 baht (includes cold water, juice beverages, snack).  I hopped in the back of one of 3 pick-up beds, drove a short distance to the starting area - off I went.  I chose to run, others chose to walk. How would I describe the running Hasher group? Scottish man (60s), Dutchman and woman (55-60), Thai marathon runner (woman in her 40s), 2 Thai couples, some 40-70 year olds, 5 USA girls around my age.  I even met a couple from Northern WI .  Perhaps around 20-25 Hashers in all.  The head of the Hashers was a crazy 70 year giant old man from Liverpool - clearly NOT a runner but a die-hard Hasher. I think he enjoyed the beer cheers at the finale.

The run is typically set so that you have the option of 5k or 7k.  However, the individual who set the course was unable to due to for health reasons, so he made it a 6.3k.

 How would I describe the run in short? The hottest, sweatiest, intense, beautiful, unreal, breathtaking, torturous, fragrant, challenging, mind-altering run I have ever done! Hands down.  I would do it again.  I cannot describe the run - like nothing I have done before.  The closest experience I have to it is off-road biking through African Jungle/mountains.  I saw sites that were so beautiful I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and this wasn’t first Thai jungle experience.  I went up steep, rugged, rocky, dried-washout-clay paths and I went down steep slopes covered in slippery dried tan-colored-banana leaves.  I paralleled beautiful jade green ponds, rushing and babbling creeks.  I wound through lush beautiful green banana trees, as the sun lit the way shining through the giant vibrant-green banana leaves.  The scratched paths were dotted occasionally with huge banana flowers that had fallen from the trees.  These flowers are plum-purple in color with lime green accents.

We were told, prior to starting that this was not going to be a challenging or adventurous route - hmmm.  Also, the runners were told that they had the option of taking a long strenuous steep hill with a challenging trip down a steep hill on slippery banana leaves OR taking a loop around the steep hill.  Obviously I went with the steep hill.  I made a challenging and rewarding choice.  Interesting assets to this route including a cobra in a well, a path through a jungle canopy centering a starfruit tree - trekked over the fallen starfruit (So cool!), brilliant red caterpillar, mysterious noises in the trees/grass/bushes, tons of bananas, steep down hill slopes, crazy uphill trends, etc. And, I am certain there were monkeys watching us, laughing.  I thought of the run as a game most of the time, trying to find new and hidden things. I wish I had a camera, although the WI lady did take some pics of us all and said she would send them to us.

Thoughts on the run - I went through a time when I thought I wasn't going to make it up one of the longer strenuous hills.  Hannah, Katie, and I stuck together off and on the whole way, leading the pack - thankfully I only I had to back-track paths a few times (at the time my smiling was less pronounced, as I had to hike up my speedy down hill).  The Thai lady was with us as well (making sure the paths were marked well for those behind us), she was quite the runner (wearing long-sleeved cotton shirt, cotton leggings, and a floppy cotton hat).  I would have sweat my insides off in that.  Soon we reached a steep hill.  I said to myself, oh I can do this.  Soon I realized I had been running up the steep washout-crinkled road for about 15 minutes.  I was focusing intently to keep my balance and to avoid sharp rock jutting out of the earth.  At one point I started seeing white circles, carrying water was a huge must.  I stopped about four times going up, clearly wanting to avoid blacking out.  After that mile or so up the curvy steep rugged trail, I was fine.  I drank water throughout the whole run.  I know, you think I am crazy.  Sure wish I had pictures for you!

I loved this adventure for so many reasons.  I was able to see untouched jungle, occasional huts, and beautiful jungle. Breathtaking.  I will remember this day forever! Katie, who does this every month, said this was the most challenging run she has done.  I look forward to exploring more Hash action in Asia.
 I finished in the top 3, maybe 1 hour 15 minutes, with Hannah and Katie.  We started the race around 3:15 in the afternoon.  I was handed a red fruit juice at the end of the race, normally I go with water, but some sugar was also what I needed.  As the race finished up, people started cracking beers and water bottles. Snacks included mini-bags of Seaweed-flavored Lays potato chips (tasted similar to sour cream and onion – kind of), & mini bananas (within arms reach on the run).  The end of the run, once everyone was back amounted to the top 6 runners doing small cups of chilled Chiang beer with a traditional Hash song (drink it all at once).  Then because 7 of us were virgin Hashers, we had to do this beer and song twice.  The beer was actually refreshing, and plenty for my liking.  Once you complete 3 Hashes, you are rewarded a name by the fellow Hashers.  I asked the man who set the run how he knew it was 6.3k, he said, oh you just get to know the general area.  What? You can navigate through jungle, down cliff sides, up vertical slopes and gauge the distances? - I am still skeptical of his measurement.

We set back to downtown Chiang Rai.  I returned my moto, to my friendly new Thai family, so kind.  I returned to my hotel next door and visited with the lady and her manager friend.  They wanted me to go on a trek with their company.  They actually offered it to me at 800 baht for 1 person, for the day - this is the cheapest I have heard of for a one-day, for one person.  Usually one day for one person is around 1,000-1500 baht.  They bashfully told me that I shouldn't tell anyone else about the price.  I think they kind of like me.  I may look more into it with them, if it fits my schedule and they coordinate it with more of my interests, ie tribes, cooking, ecosystems, and agriculture.

In the evening I headed out solo to Walking Street.  I found exactly what I set out for, sweet corn, cashews, and a full bag of fresh pineapple, and some extras.  I bought a cup of sweetcorn for 10 baht, 3 medium size pkg of cashews for 100 baht (really good deal, as they are 25 baht at 7Eleven for 1/5 of  1 of these single pkgs), 10 baht for the pineapple. I also purchase fresh mini coconut ice cream cone for 15 baht (yum), which as topped with dark chocolate swirl, and on a whim I bought a Thai banana pancake for 5 baht.  I keep seeing the pancakes and have been curious.  They come in several flavors, vanilla, custard, strawberry, pork, raisin, chocolate, etc.  They are about the size of a half dollar, almost like a sandwich - 2 mini pancakes staked with a banana custard-like filling.  It was really delicious pair with the coconut ice cream. The music was great, several people dancing.  There were groups of little Thai girls doing traditional dancing on the side streets.

Care for a little more of stroll down Walking Street - Chiang Rai

I promise you'll get to see some crazy food!
Video 1 - Walking Street
Video 2 - Walking Street
Video 3 - Walking Street Dancing Little Ladies
 

 I promise a good blog coming up! The last of my Chiang Rai adventures.

Withholding Thai

Sawadee ka! I have some text ready, but my computer is being selfish, not wanting me to share with the rest of the world. Determination is key at this point. I have lots to share, pics, video, and my usual alphabet soup. Patience for all of us until we meet again. Sending warm spring thoughts to you all from my iPod friend.

The sun is always shining if you know where to look!

And, Happy Birthday mom.

Love, H

Poutine on the shoes

While my past week was filled with job hunting and nutrition-related searching, I thought you might be interested in hearing a little about my favorite parts. What are the odds of me talking about food and adventure?

Last week us ladies went out for some Wednesday night bowling. I can now say that I have bowled in Thailand.  Ahem, "I have bowled in Thailand." - hmm, somewhat less impressive than I thought it would be.  So, yes, I had to rent shoes.  The lady had me place my foot on a sizing-mat to guess my shoe size.  She took a glance and scampered to the back.  She brought me some dashing, blue and silver chromed Velcro-strapped shoes, worn by at least 1,888 people with size 8 feet. I wear a size 9-9.5.  I crammed my feet in and thought, thank you mom for the gift of determination. Now if I can just pull that Velcro strap over - Success! Then.. my feet started screaming. Ok, so I go back and tell the cute Thai gal with size 4.5 feet that, "these are too small." She runs to the back before I finish my sentence.  She comes out and she and her co-worker smile at me from behind the counter; the one kindly hands me my new shoes to try on.  I try them on, as if I were Cinderella's evil stepsister. By trying them on, I mean I crammed and smashed my feet into the Velcro-strapped torture devices. By the miracle of Buddha, Velcro strapped in. Nope, that's not going to work - she gave me perhaps.. a size 7 shoe. I looked up at her and I said 'bigger,please' using my hands.  The two girls look at each other and giggled. Clearly a language barrier, ha.  She then brings me some baby pink and white saddle shoes. Fit like a glove. Now, those shoes weren't made for walking, they were made for dancing. I will leave that to your imagination.. crazy whitegirl on a frictionless surface, carrying an 11 lbs bowling ball. Just know that I won my game.  Conclusion,120 baht decently spent.

What's this foodie been up to you ask? One day for lunch I ventured out into the fresh markets near my stay.  To give you and idea of what this looks like, several fruit/vegetable stands..one after another, mostly beautiful and colorful fruit.  I usually take some time to get the best deal.  But I had a phone date with a cute boys so I had to speed up the indecisiveness and bargaining.  I made eye-contact with this pleasant Thai women.  She greeted me with a big smile.  I asked her in Thai, 'how much.' She said, 40 baht. No reason to bargain.  This was a good deal.  This is actually a lot of fruit.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  This lasted several meals.  Fruit includes: a giant wedge of watermelon (mmm) dragon fruit (so good), orange, mango, honeydew (perfect, I don't usually even care for it), apple, and a crisp white fruit (not sure what this was, looks like a peeled potato) - seen under the mango in the lower left corner.  The fruit was delicious overall.  I disliked the mango, not sure why - had an odd taste.  The apple was bland, but crisp.  I was excited to try the apple though, as there is only one type available here as far as I have noticed and I don't typically try fruits that have peels, no way to wash it properly.  I am eager to try some grapes, but I am not feeling adventurous enough yet.

One night, I went a little crazy at a coffee shop, Doi Chaang and purchased non-Thai food.  I am sucker for hummus. Too my defense, this place was one of the top ten small-medium businesses, awarded by the UN in a business conference. I ordered felafel, with pita bread, and warmed hummus topped with sesame seeds - 120 baht.  This was a nice treat.  The felafel was a bit dry for my liking, but who am I to complain, I am eating Middle-Eastern cuisine in Thailand!  I tried some of my friend's drinks. Mel ordered an iced-coffee, so good - one of my favorite places for it.  Susan had me try her banana-chocolate smoothie, yum. We actually loved the place so much we went there the next night.  I ordered a vegetable panini, it was so good.  I don't know that I have ever had a sandwich with broccoli on it (along with several other vegetables, some cheese), but it was amazing - I splashed it with some chili. Cost, 100 baht. We met up  with some friends we made at out hostel that evening for supper.  They were two guys that also met each other traveling solo.  One guy was teaching in Seoul, Korea and the other a Brit traveling through Asia Dec '12-present with a destination of Australia in the fall.  It was nice visiting with them about their travels.  Even better was the fact that they were NOT the stereotypical, immature lads in search of inebriation and loud music.  But to be honest, I don't see as many farangs as I thought I would, perhaps I am avoiding their hangouts.  If you want to find farangs, rule of thumb, you go to bars, pizza places, Italian places, coffee shops, or AC buildings.

One afternoon last week, after my interview, I had lunch at Connect Cafe, I love the ladies that work there,  they are so sweet. And I needed internet access.  I ordered sweet-sour vegetable and tofu stir-fry.  This was really good, and they know how to cook tofu.  The dish was colorful, containing tomatoes, pineapple, carrots, onions, cucumber, and green pepper.  On the side, whole grain rice medley, with a Thai garnish salad of lettuce, carrots, and cabbage.  One I spiked the dish with some fresh black pepper, all was good. A bit sweet, with the pineapple, but not bad at all. Cost, 99 baht.

Friday made its way to me, I welcomed it and the weekend that followed. What do I have for you that's going to keep you reading? Alright, so there's a.. Brit, a Canadian, an Aussie, an Ohio-an, 2 Thai's, and 4 American gals.  We visited in the lobby talking about our travels.  Then there was me asking about food.  The two Thai guys love music and always listen to it in the evenings (while working at the hostel). And by working, I mean smiling, enjoying some beers, dancing, and ordering snacks off the vender carts circling the night streets. They allowed us all to try some of the food and wouldn't take any money for it.  The first vender they tracked down was a fried donut vendor.  The donuts looked like fried break in the shape of an 'H.' I tried a bite, not my thing. The others enjoyed the treat.  The next vendor went by. You will see the sale in the picture above.  Fried squid with a spicy sauce.  I tried the squid, it was actually really good. The sauce was especially amazing, it had spices and nuts in it.  I would like to know the recipe.  The strips you see on the right are also squid.  There isn't a lot of fishy-taste, more of a mild seafood scent.  The strips were good, especially in the sauce. Something that I probably wouldn't have thought to try on my own.   You commonly see these types of strips in the 711s, packaged up.  You can find flavors such as shrimp, lobster, fish, cuttlefish, etc., I haven't tried them but guessing they are similar to the above, enhanced with salt and oils.  I would describe this as cheap snack food, low nutritional value.

As I visited with the Canadian, originally from Quebec, we started talking about popular foods.  He told me about the traditional fast food in that area.  He said, Poutine, was quite popular.  I asked him to tell me more.  Poutine is fries with a barbecue type of sauce, topped with cheese.  Me coming from the land of cheese, had to know what type of cheese. You never know this could be a trivia question someday. He said, I don't know what kind of cheese it is, its like cheese nuggets.  I knew right then he was describing cheese curds.  What a dish.  I then began to think that this dish mush exist in WI, how had I not heard of this before? Crazy.  As a dietitian, I don't suggest you indulge in this dish, but you should certainly try it.

Sidenote: I sent a picture of Poutine/Putin from a website to Nick and my twin, to see if they could pick up the cheese curd in the dish.  Amanda responded like I thought she would, it's a twin thing. Nick, you make me smile - I love how your mind works.  I think you are learning more than either of us anticipated. Did I mention you make me smile? ..everyday.

The evening led on.  I talked with the Aussie man for a while.  If I were to guess I would say that he was in his 40s.  He was telling me that he was just coming from a meditation retreat at New Life Foundation, 20 minutes from Chiang Rai via car.  He said that the foundation was for those recovering from alcohol or substance abuse, or those wishing to explore the dynamics of meditation/yoga.  He said that he was there for a month, part of the time as a volunteer.  I was fascinated by his experience.  I love that I have the opportunity to meet some quality and cultured passerby's. 

And then there was my weekend..

The Hunt

Sawadee, ka!. Just thought I'd fill you in with some of my past week.  I try to fill all of you in with the adventurous side, more than my studious side.  For a majority of the day time, I have been exploring Chiang Rai, job searching, and hunting new job options that relate to nutrition/health.  On Tuesday, I applied to a job in southern Thailand for a health/sport English educator.  I actually discovered this job on Craig's List.  Not only should you be careful using Craig's List in the US, but also overseas.  There are actually warnings on the site from people warning against individuals or agencies that are requesting that applicants send copies of their diplomas, passport IDs, etc.  I dove deeper than the ad before I even considered sending in my personal information.  I looked up the school.  Sure enough there were several job postings for the school on the school's homepage, with good ratings.  The school seemed to be what I am looking for.  Additionally, with benefits that I haven't seen in other schools. This caught me attention, I applied. 

I contacted the school by emailing them a cover letter detailing my job experiences and reasons for interest in the position.  In the email I also attached a copy of my passport and my resume, required for the application. Just to give you an idea of how this may differ from the US process of applying for jobs, in Asia you are to provide: age, date of birth, gender, marital status, and a current photo of yourself.  In my application to Nestle, I was asked to provide my religious affiliation.  As far as the job postings go you may see statements such as: must be 21 or older, 24 or older, under 40 years of age, 40 years or older (seldom..more for university specialty level), female only, bachelor's degree (nearly all), native English speaker (all), a native English speaker from US, Australia, South Africa, Britain, or New Zealand (often), BA major in English or linguistics (for upper-level English learners), any teaching experience 2+ years (occasionally), etc.  It certainly reminds me that I am not in America. 

After sending in my application, I received an email Wednesday.  The email stated that the job position, health/sports English educator was possibly filled but that there were openings in the Early Learner's program.  With that being said, the email stated that if I was still interested I should fill out and return a questionnaire, along with a lesson plan for 25, 5-6 year olds, teaching multiple disciplines in a 50 minute period. The theme in of the lesson, "our city," intentionally meant to be vague.  So not exactly what I thought I would be doing, but the age group in my opinion would be fun and challenging.  By the evening I sent a lesson plan, feeling confident that it would at least appease my favorite 6 years old! The questionnaire asked questions such as: What sports do you play? What would your classroom look and sound like? Would you feel comfortable in a Christian school? What makes this job position/location appealing to you? Can you teach 20, 2 year old students? The email also asked for a time that I could set up a Skype interview.

Thursday I had my Skype interview, as I sat on an outdoor patio.  I interviewed with a male, I believe he was European or American. He asked me several questions such as: Where have you been in Thailand? What makes you interested in this job/location? Can you drive a motorbike? What is your experience with teaching children? Do you have friends applying for this position? Would you be comfortable if parents came to watch you teach? Are you currently looking at other schools/job positions? What are your food allergies? ... Overall I felt good with all of my answers.  He told me that my resume looked professional and that he liked my responses in the questionnaire I sent him.

Additionally we has some good conversation.  He was detailing the local environment to which I would be working. He said that the areas in welcoming to individuals that can handle, fresh air, natural elements, caves, water, hiking, lack of urbanization, lack of grocery stores, no malls, no movie theaters, no tuk tuk services, and hot weather. In my mind as he is saying this I could feel myself getting really excited - even though I already researched the area and had a fair idea as to what I was getting myself into.  He saw that I went to SDSU and asked if I was native to SD.  He went on to tell me that he has two current teachers from SD working in the school.  That surprised me.  He said that they are both male, one is from the Badlands, a long-time teacher who is leaving the school to return to SD. This seemed so crazy to me.  Moving on, we went over specifics with the job, work visa questions, contracts, teaching periods, etc.  To conclude the interview I was told that I may Skype or call with any further questions, that the interview was a pleasure, and that I should be hearing from them by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. There may be another potential interview with the head director for the school. I will see what happens.

Overall, there are certainly many jobs available, new posts daily.  I would guess that about 80% of the jobs are for Bangkok.  Bangkok, I would like to see, but don't want it to be a destination.  In Thailand, school breaks typically occur in April and October.  With that being said some schools run 5-5.5 days a week.  Some have summer camps or go all year.  Most of the schools and universities restart in mid-late April or early May. 

As of today all three of my friends have jobs. They all want to stay in the Chiang Rai area.  Hannah and Mel both have jobs at a teaching young kids in a Montessori, they started teaching today. Susan got her job today teaching 7-12 year olds at a Catholic school and starts in 2 weeks during the summer camps.  Let's just see what happens next..

Bikes and Hikes

It's Saturday, the day we have all been looking forward to. Hiking! But how will we get there? It's about a 40 minute taxi ride.... motorbike! My first time driving a two-wheeled motorized anything.  The four of us were all in for hiking. Two of us were willing to learn how to ride a motorbike, Susan and I.  A couple friends brought us to the a motorbike rental shop.  I handed the man 250 baht and my passport in exchange for a 24 hour - 115 cc scooter/motorbike rental, with two helmets.  It was like being on the with my dad on the farm. Throw me behind the handle bars, don't be stupid.  I took two laps down and alley, then off I went through traffic.  I think the most awkward part of it all was make right turns...it's a long ways to the left lane. Object of this game: 1) stay on the right side of the road, which is of course the left. 2) stay on the bike.

We met two friends so they took Mel and Hannah, and Susan and I ran solo.  I trailed behind one of the two new friends we met - English teachers here in Thai.  Off I went into the streets, between cars, trucks, taxis, tuk tuks, and motorbikes.  I would say I was rather alert, making sure nobody pulled out in front of me..this happens often enough.  We drove a few kilometer and fueled up with 50 Baht, gave me an extra 1/4 tank or so.  We headed out of the city via highway.  The drive went from somewhat crazy and busy to quiet, winding roads.  The best moment was when I turned the corner and there was rice patties, fields and farmers, cows, flower, trees...so great.  The air felt amazing, the scenery was almost too distracting.  The drive was about 40 minutes on bike.  We traveled with 4 bikes in total. We all made it up the winding mountain roads with out problems.  To be completely honest, I may have smiled the entire ride. This was what I needed. I can't wait to do this again. So beautiful and peaceful! I wish I had pictures to share. If your curious enough you will have to suffer through this rough mini clip: test clip

We parked our bikes and set up for some hiking fun.  This was one of the most beautiful hikes I have been on. Trees, cliffs, bamboo, animal noises, and waterways.  Here have a look..

Hiking through the jungle!

Beautiful canopies.

  Stream paralleling the path.

Bamboo - this picture doesn't begin to show the extent of the bamboo.  The bamboo is amazing to me.  It can grow over three feet in one day, typically with a end height of around 100 feet.  Bamboo is commonly used here for building architecture, furniture, and eating.

Bamboo

Oh look, a giant waterfall.

Khun Korn Waterfall, Chiang Rai

Kuhn Korn Waterfall

This was some cold water.  But after a long hike, it was refreshing.  I stood at the base of the rushing water, getting sprayed by misting water, having water rush around my legs.  Susan said, Hey Holly look up!, and I did.  This was one of the weirdest feelings. I looked up towards the water shooting off of the cliff, I felt like I was going to get taken out by the water.  I guess I didn't take a picture of it, but the water rushed down to the right of the fall.  It was a stream of water that would curve around the rugged jungle terrain.  There were mini pools of water you could swim in.   I enjoyed floating on my back down the river.  It entertained me for a good 15 minutes, the water would push me down the river.

We trekked back to the bikes after some fun in the water. And off we went through the beautiful landscape, did I mention how amazing this is? I'm in love, and I know this adventure is only going to get better. My list of things I need to do in my free time is getting longer.

On the way back, we stopped for some food near a temple that I was dying to see.  I was fairly hungry at this point.  I ordered food at this local indoor food court.  To buy food I had to buy a card.  I put 40 baht on the card. Bought some food for 40 baht, then handed the employee the cards.  I ordered a soy sauce chicken with vegetables.  The lady reached into this class case, hacked off a chunk of this whole-cooked chicken that was hanging.  She places the meat on a cutting board and hammered it down with the blade of her cleaver til the meat was flat.  She then chopped the meat into small diced chicken pieces and placed the plain cooked chicken over about 1.5 cups of steamed rice. No sauces.  She garnished the plate with some peeled cucumber slices and topped the rice with fresh cilantro.  She then handed me a bowl of brothy soup.  The soup had some tiny pieces of carrots, a fleshy green fruit, and bits of fresh cilantro.  At this point I was willing to look past the fact that I was given the wrong food as well as all of my food safety education.  I ate the room-temperature chicken over my rice.  I went back for a dish of chili sauce to add to my dish.  The woman was struck oddly by this and said, "pet - pet - pet - spicy" (pet means spicy in Thai).  I said, pet and smiled at her. She laughed at me like I was a crazy farang, and walked away with her hand in the air.  

We walked about a 1/4 block to Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple. This was better than I had expected.  The wat was as beautiful as it was bizarre.  The construction of the temple was started in the late 90s and continues.  The temple is a representation of Heaven on Earth.  The white represents Buddha's purity and the tiny mirrors that detail the white plaster and sculpting represent Buddhas wisdom.  The wat displays a mix of traditional and modern themes, combining scenes from the life of Buddha with sci-fi and superhero images, including Keanu Reeves from The Matrix, and I am told pictures of the planes crashing into the twin towers (I didn't find this scene - so much going on).

This is the most modern temple I have seen. Care for a look? You will need to cover tour shoulders and knees. Remove your shoes after the hands of hell.

Wat Rong Kuhn, Chiang Rai, Thailand

 Side view of the wat.

 Hands of hell - as you cross the bridge to Nirvana

 

 Don't be scared, it gets better

Let's cross the bridge

  Bridge looking back from the temple. Fountain at the left.

 

 

 View of the temple grounds, some a work in progress.

 Make a donation for blessings and a good life.  After donating money you are given an ornamental charm.  You can write on the charm.  Thousands of charms are hung on structures throughout the temple.

  Buddhist Charms

 Love these trees and their golden blossoms. Oh and that sunset!

Orchids, growing off the side of a tree.  These remind me of someone. I think I need a picture.

In the evening we ventured out to Walking Street for some Saturday night dancing and night life.  Walking Street happens every Saturday and Sunday night in Chiang Rai.  There are at least 10 blocks of vendors down a street - I only made it half way down one side of the road.  There are vendors down the middle, and sides of the street.  Four sides of vendors all together.  Items vary from food stalls of: ice cream with jelly-fruit toppings, sticky-rice balls (garnish with nuts or honey), crispy- wafers with meats or sweet fillings, sausages, fish, seafood, nuts, rice cakes, chicken.  But mostly, the vending items included crafts from local artisans (ie hill tribes), clothing, sunglasses, paintings, jewelry, handmade toys, leather works, etc.  My advice, don't go there before 9 o'clock, there are more people that you can imagine making their way through as well. Also try going with the flow of people (see picture on L)  I don't know where everyone comes from. Chiang Rai seems pretty chill otherwise.  Midway through Walking Street there is a stage with a dancing ring adjacent to it.  There are mostly food vendors around the perimeter of the dancing area.  I had some fresh pineapple, you eat it with a stick and some big piece of grilled corn-on-the-cob. The total cost was 20 baht.  Lots of people, ages 16 and up join for some fun and thai dancing. 

Northern Thai Dancing - clip I  

Northern Thai Dancing - clip II

I was eager to join the fun. So Mel and I jumped in the dance circle. I will add that we were the only farang there.  There were Thia men and women dancing.  During the first song, this 65-70 years old tall Thai man (wearing a black and white striped shirt, black pants) was adamant about teaching me this slow three step dance.  He would watch me on and off.  If I failed, he would come stand right next to me and count the steps for me.  He was cute and the tallest Thai male I have met thus far.  The next song came up and a woman saw me as I was observing the dance, hand gestures, and foot movement.  She just smiled at me, then grabbed my wrist and had me walk through the dance with her.  She then followed me around as we circled the dancing area.  She was so sweet. She kept saying yes, good job. Good job.  As I danced I kept noticing people smiling at me. I am sure I looked ridiculous as I towered over nearly all of them.  Not to mention my lack of dancing skills. All of the music was sung by a male or female singer, with background instruments.  Some of the music was more mellow, while other music was more fast-paced.

Soon enough my favorite dance moment hit.  I looked over and there were two parallel lines of boys dancing, facing one another - doing their own thing.  I was watching their feet, hands, and side-to-side movement.  All I could do was smile.  These boys were so into their dancing.  They noticed me watching and practicing to the side and cued me into their lines. This was so much fun! They and I smiled the entire time. And believe it or not, it was a pretty good workout. Take a look for your self at this fun dance.

On an unrelated note, I have been having trouble sleeping, that night especially. So..I ended up staying up late and talked with Nick.  We talked well into the my morning.  ...loved it!

Chiang Rai Begins

We set our for Chiang Rai (pronounced chang rye) Wednesday afternoon. Our bus set out around 5:30 pm.  The journey was beautiful from the few glimpses I got.  I spent most of the trip with my head between my knees. It was about 2.5 hours of feeling nauseas. Would I do it again? Absolutely yes. Pictured, to the left is one of my favorite pictures. I love seeing these colorful blossoms. How would I describe Chiang Rai thus far? This is a place of friendly faces, fresh air, and more chill than any place I have been thus far, in Thai.

Once we arrive to our hostel, The North Hotel, we
unloaded our belongings and headed out to see parts of the city.  The hotel is great, with lots of character.  The floors are wooden, with imperfections. Each floor has an outlook.  Pictured to the right is a library-like study with books and night lighting.  It's peaceful, quiet, and quaint.  I am sharing a room with Mel, we have a queen bed, bathroom, mini refrigerator, mini patio, wifi (works only on my iPod).  The staff here is great.  We are in a great location, just a minute walk to the Night Bazaar. I believe it's about $8 a night. I know we can get cheaper rates, but this just worked well at the time, good location.

 Dining area of the Night Bazaar

 The night bazaar is so great - complete with a beautiful moon.  The night bazaar is centered around a rectangular dining area.  The center has hundreds of tables and chairs, anchored by a large open stage on one end.  The other three sides of the dining rectangle are vendors.

 Stage performance, Thai artists, singing and guitars

These venders sell a wide variety of inexpensive foods. Thai dishes: meat  with noodles or rice, vegetarian meals, gyros, pies with meats, fried rice varieties, stirfried meats and vegetables, fried potatoes, fried fish, grilled fish, soup in clay hot pots where you can cook or grill your meats, you can also find other great protein, such as bugs, tree nuts, etc. Care for a glimpse?

 These are the clay pots that you can order.  I described this in previous blog post, realized I should get a picture of it.  The top clay pot contains broth, where you cook your vegetables (carrots, leafy greens), rice noodles, egg, mushrooms, and meat of choice.  I have not tried one of these yet here in Chiang Rai, but they are good.  I like to add chili's to mine to give it a bit of a kick. Pictured below are the baskets of food items that you are able to cook in the broth.  You then eat the soup with a small-ladle-like spoon.

  mushroom shoots, leafy greens, egg, rice or glass noodles, carrots. Meat not pictured. Meat is typically seafood or chicken.

 Top row: Vegetable/noodle baskets, bottom row: prawn, squid, and chicken satay on the end.

 Leafy greens, mussels, shrimp, pork intestine (lower left)

 Typically the grilled fish that you see here in Thailand.  This is Pla Plao, a salted and grilled river fish. Quite popular.

 Shrimp

 Clams - I watch people eat this with a single chopstick.  They break the shell, spear the flesh, and indulge.

 

Oo - the little cream-filled kind

Nuts and fried foods. Your heart will hate you and love you.  Pictured: peanuts, red skin peanuts, fries, spring rolls, onion rings, fried shrimp, fried fish. If you are curious how these items taste, I have no idea.  They don't look appetizing.  I have only tried cashews  in my dishes and the red peanuts (both are great).

This is the place that I have ordered my meals in the market bazaar.  Open every evening.  This woman cooks to order.  She cooks everything in a large wok.  It's inexpensive, delicious, and has character.  She has a large menu board to choose from.

 Produce at the vendor where I got my meal. Pictured: rice noodles, PINK eggs, bean sprouts, mushrooms, peppers, snap peas.

                       Meal 1 at bazaar Wednesday

I chose spicy chicken with cashews and steamed rice, this cost less than a dollar. This meal included rice, which isn't typical.  Usually you pay 15-20 Baht for a side of rice. It was so good!  The eating environment to an onlooker may appear crowded, but I didn't feel that way.  Everyone was there to socialize; calm and casual night as we listened to live Thai music.  After eating we set out to look around the night bazaar.  The venders that encircled the dining area had unique and iteresting craft.  Much of the items were unique or handmade.  The vendors were all quite friendly and with reasonable prices.

Meal 2 at bazaar Friday Evening

Thursday, we set out to explore schools.  Susan and I visited a high school outside of town.  I mostly went to drop off my application but also to just feel the environment out and see more of Chiang Rai. The school was interested and welcoming.  The were looking for 6 new teachers, but I found myself less interested.  Not the age group I am interested in.  When we were was about to leave the school, I was told that taxi's come into that outside area of Chiang Rai, but you have to call a taxi to get back to the heart of Chiang Rai where I was staying.  So I took a taxi back, inexpensive.  This taxi was actually more like a car, I realized it had been a long time since I had been in a car.  The driver was nice.  I think his wife must have helped with the interior design of his car.  The stick had large fluffy green crocheted doilie yarn on it, and the wipers and cruise control too, had croched green yarn.  It was odd, but made me think of someone dear to me that shares a liking of large green doilies. Pictured to the right is me in the Northern Thai tuk tuk.  There is only one bench seat.  It cost 50 Baht to take to the school.  In the picture I am holding my skirt with one hand and the camera with the other. It was a windy ride. I was really hoping her wasn't looking in his rearview mirror.

 Tesabao 6 School - high school

 














  In the evening we had a bite to eat by the Clock Tower.  The tower is the center of a round-about.  It was inticate and beautiful with detail.  At dark, music and a kaleidescope of lights decorated the tower.  This was beautiful, and the best part was that I had no idea it existed, and stumbled upon it.

 

  

 The clock goes off three times every hour after 7 pm.  There is music and colorful lighting.

We dined with some fellow teachers that we have networked with.  Two from CA, and one from western WI.  They teach different age groups, college, highschool, and kindergarten students.  It was nice getting insight from them on jobs, locations, living situations, adventurings, etc.  Most of them are leaving Thailand soon.  I went in thinking they were all older than me, turns out I definately the oldest in our bunch.  We had mentioned that the four of us girls want to go hiking.  They were all interested. So tomorrow, Saturday, we have a hiking trip planned.  I am looking forward to it.  For supper I ordered, spicy cashew chicken with fresh vegetables.  Are you noticing a trend? I love the cashews, so good.  And frankly, everytime I order this, it tastes different.  There is always a different sauce served with them.

Friday night we all want to got the night bazaar for some cheap food as I talked about above. I had rice, vegetables (baby corn, carrots, pea pods, leafy greens, onions) and cashews (50 baht)..so good! The small white dish contains a pepper sauce that is commonly served with Thai and Cambodian meals.  The pepper powder next to it is a combination of spices - I believe it has paprika and red pepper flakes. I usually add this hot spice to my dish to add a little flair to my plates.   In the evening we settled down with some live local music.  Some of my friends went out later that night.  I decided to head home on a long walk.  Mom, I have felt safe here since arrival, the people again, are so friendly. No worries, no one would dare mess with me, I have a lot of things to do in the next year.

And the tops for my Friday night.. On the walk home I had a young guy checking me out as he to stolled down a low key side street in Chiang Rai.  ...I don't think he will forget me!

Yes, twin, this is one happy place. Just look at this guy! So great. No tourists around, just me & a GIANT BABY ELEPHANT. This elephant has personality.  He kept wrapping his trunk around me.

All in all, one great night.  I set back to work on my blog.  I was up pretty late! That last blog took some time, so worth it.

Also, don't forget your challenge for the last blog. You can even send me pictures! I love hearing from you all too. Thanks for the all the comments, I enjoy them.