Marc has been hassling me a bit to write about Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand that we visited in October. Seems ages ago when I put it that way but the memories are still so fresh! This is the place where I had a bit of an awful experience so I wasn't too keen on writing about it, but here we go...
We were in Chiang Mai from October 25 until October 30. The city is very relaxed, somewhat of a tourist town but not overwhelmingly so. There is a moat around the older part of the city which kind of cuts the city in half. On either side are one way streets with the rare stoplight that is only used when a pedestrian pushes the button. The expected result is for all vehicles to stop and wait for the person to cross, no? Well... here they briefly slow down just long enough for you to pass their vehicle and off they go at top speed! Take your time crossing and you're roadkill!
During our time here we checked out some of the hundreds of wats (temples) in the city. We rented bicycles and rode around, checking out the various shops and markets - so much faster than walking! We also participated in a renowned one day cooking school, during which we learned to make six dishes and proceeded to eat them all. I have never been so stuffed in my life! I felt as if I didn't want to see food again for days, which, as it turns out, is near enough to what happened! We also had some clothes tailored - a suit for Marc and a hot pencil skirt for me. Just a taste of what was to come in Vietnam!
One of the draws in Chiang Mai is the treks through northern Thailand. Marc was really interested in this so we signed up for a two day trek, with a homestay in a 'village', which turned out to be one family's living space. Cool enough, right? We also would hop onto an elephant and be carried through the jungle (I had mixed feelings about this - poor elephants carting around tourists, but on the other hand, they are fed, washed and cared for...), and float through the rapids on a bamboo raft. It all sounds like so much fun, doesn't it?
The trek: Realization set in that I do not enjoy this whole walking through the woods thing. A city girl am I - give me the scenery of skyscrapers and asphalt any day and I'm a happy camper. Wait, no, a happy... city dweller? Anyway, I'm cursing and agitated as I watch the others easily manoeuvering up and down the hills, over the rocks, streams and logs, and I'm thinking, I"m so bad at this because I didn't grow up doing it. I can practically cross a busy street full of traffic with my eyes closed (so prepared for Vietnam, I can tell you now!) but drop me here and I completely lack the experience that all of the others so clearly possess, having grown up in rural areas and what not.
Bitter, party of one, we arrive at our overnight spot in the dark. Our group consists of six of us, five guys and myself. Everyone was super friendly and we were getting on very well. Despite carrying these crap, uncomfortable backpacks, but that's another story. We're all to sleep on mattresses on the floor in this candlelit bamboo house on stilts. We proceed to wash ourselves off in the cool nearby river, only to discover the next day the water is brown and manky. Lovely. We eat dinner, and I have no appetite. Odd. Afterwards, as we sit chatting, my stomach ache turns a bit violent so I get up to wander off, mostly to determine the best place to throw up, should I need to. No time for that for as soon as I hit the end of the table, up dinner came! Ugh. Eventually we move to the bonfire, Marc is playing guitar and we're all talking... the guys are drinking beer and I'm trying to get some water down to soothe my tummy. Not sure what's coming next, I head over to the squat toilet, no running water outhouse. Just outside, (I couldn't even make it to the outhouse but was skeptical anyway as how does one throw up into a squatter?), I proceed to chuck up my lunch, repeatedly. It's pitch black, so as I'm about to turn on the flashlight to make sure I'm still presentable, I feel these sharp, stinging pains on my feet. Ouch! Flashlight on, I realize I'm being attacked by ants! Trying not to freak out, I manage to get them off of me. I walk back over to the group and inform Marc what has happened, so he ushers me to bed immediately.
What a night. Have you ever tried using a squat toilet while feverish and weak? In the dark? Not fun. I kept waking either in a complete sweat or shivering cold. I was advised, should I feel the need to throw up again and didn't think I could make it outside, to simply part the bamboo flooring and relieve myself through it. Thankfully, it didn't come to that! Poor Marc barely slept a wink all night.
The next morning, I was incredibly weak but didn't want to ruin the day so we participated in the elephant ride, which turned out to be a pretty cool experience, and the bamboo rafting, which was fun if a little painful for me as I just wanted to be lying down, but we had to stand most of the time as the raft kept getting completely submerged in water!
That night, upon our return to Chiang Mai, I had to miss the famous Sunday night market as rest was the priority. I took it easy on the food for the next two days but my stomach bounced back nicely. Oh yes, and reflecting back, all of my difficulties in the trekking itself had much to do with the fact that I was battling whatever was about to hit me. It turns out I'm not so bad at the whole trekking, jungle walking, boulder jumping thing after all! Still, I'll take the city any day...
On our last day we had a fantastic Thai massage. It was incredible... and well deserved I reckon!
A side note: A strange thing we started noticing at this point was that many (not all) dishes in Thai restaurants are served with a fork and spoon, not chopsticks, as expected. Why did we do all of that practicing? ;)
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