Thailand: Part I

This January, we went on an amazing trip with our friends Andy & Lisa to Thailand.  Neither Steve or I had been to Asia before, so we were incredibly thankful for friends who are both familiar with the culture and great travel companions!  We took so many pictures and have memories that will last a lifetime. 

PART I:  Chiang Mai

We arrived in Thailand after a very long and tiring flight (20 some hours) from Minneapolis to Tokyo to Bangkok.  There were a few hooligans on the plane who smoked in the lavatory (twice!) and stole wine from the beverage cart which, as a nervous flyer, made me all the more uneasy.  But we survived and the anticipation kept us sane. 

After one night's rest in Bangkok, we met Andy & Lisa at the airport and headed to Chiang Mai.  It was New Year's Eve so the city was even more lively than usual.  That evening we ventured over to the main drag with street vendors, music and lots of people.  We also got our first taste of thai massage with a foot rub on the side of the road. 

The sky was filled with paper laterns that float after lighting the candles...I couldn't figure out the right camera setting, but it was beautiful. 

We were all exhausted from travelling & didn't manage to stay awake until Midnight, but we got a friendly reminder right outside our hotel.  I thought our building was being bombed.  The fireworks were so loud and shook our building... yet somehow Steve managed to sleep through it (thanks to the sleeping pills he took).    

On New Year's Day, we decided to venture up the mountain to the Doi Suthep Temple.  It took what seemed like an eternity to wind up the mountain through traffic on mopeds.  We learned later that the Thai people head up to the temple on New Year's to pay their respects, so in addition to all the usual tourists were all the locals as well.

Later that night we took a Thai cooking class.  This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!  They took us to the farmer's market to explain all the different local ingredients - there were countless things I've never seen in my life.   Back at the school, we were able to pick dishes for four courses.  We tried to pick something different so we could sample them all.  Everything was delicious and so much easier to make than I realized - assuming we can find the right ingredients. 

Our cooking stations

This dish was amazing - I think it was called sweet & sour shrimp?

My favorite Tom Kha Gai (Thai coconut soup) and Green Papaya Salad

Pork Panang Curry

For our last day, we decided to do an all-day trek with hiking, visiting a local village, river rafting and elephant rides.  We had a rough start being crammed into a 15-passenger van on windy roads... the motion sickness overcame us all, but we managed to push through the day.

 Crossing this old wooden bridge was a little nerve wrecking... felt like Indiana Jones.

 This is right before the little bugger kicked me!  It was snack time and I think I was invading his personal space.  I'm just glad it wasn't a full grown elephant. 

We finished the day rafting down the river.  It was nothing more than a few pieces of bambo tied together.  We got a little wet, but it was welcome after a long hot day.