Day 5: May 1, 2008Village Homestay Bike Tour & Chiang Mai
I got up at 6:30am and had a cold shower (luckily the bugs had gone on their way). Then we all crossed the road from our homestay house to the local temple. There, we gave alms to three young monks-in-training. Did you know there are rules when giving alms? As monks can't touch women, when you put the food into their bowls you have to be careful not to touch them or the bowl. That makes it a wee bit stressful. Afterwards they prayed for us.
After a wonderful breakfast that included delicious sticky rice with custard wrapped in big green leaves, we hopped on bikes and started on our bike tour of the village. The village, which has a population of about 300, is surrounded by fields and mountains.
We stopped at a local mushroom farm to learn how they are grown. Let's just say there's way more science involved than I expected and most of the explanation went right over my head. Something about taking a tiny piece of the mushroom and then putting it in a jar to let the culture grow...etc, etc. Let's not really worry about that - just looking around was cool.
The mushrooms are planted in the bags of dirt and are stacked on top of each other in a large dark building. The white mushrooms then grow out of the opening and are harvested by grabbing the whole bunch, pulling up and down and presto! Mushrooms for lunch!
Our next stop was the local kindergarten/daycare. The kids were really cute and friendly but man, were they active! There must have been about 60 kids and they were separated into 3 'rooms' by age. There were only two teachers who supervised (they could see all of the kids because the walls were only waist high).
We joined the older of the three groups. We read the alphabet, sang some songs and played some games.
Our final stop was a small house/factory where the local women sew and sell handicrafts. I did a bit of shopping because I wanted my money to go to this local community rather than to someone in big Bangkok, etc. The bags I bought were really beautiful (and cheap!) and I didn't see anything like them later in the week. We rode back to the house where we had a great lunch (potato curry, pumpkin, lots of other dishes) and played camp games. My camp game stumped Karen, the girl who started the whole camp game thing and she went crazy trying to figure it out. We played 'I'm going to camp and I'm going to bring a ....' the entire songthaew ride to Chiang Mai (She never did guess...we ended up telling her).
After we had checked into our hotel (not as cute as the previous ones) and relaxed a bit, we caught songthaews to Doi Suthep. Doi Suthep is the most famous temple in Chiang Mai. It's located on the top of a mountain and was founded in 1383. Apparently, the site was chosen by placing a relic of Buddha on en elephant's back and letting it roam until it came upon a place where it trumpeted, circled, laid down and died. Yup. That's quite the way to choose a temple location.
The ride there was awful. The road was windy, it was hot and it smelled of exhaust. I thought I was going to be sick. We finally arrived and started climbing the approx. 306 steps.
This elephant is located in one of the temple buildings and Arjan explained what we had to do. With your ring finger (or was it your baby finger...) you lift the heavy elephant off the ground, while concentrating on your wish. Then you try to pick it up for a second time. If you are unable to, your wish will come true. If you can, too bad, it won't be coming true. Yeah for having super weak fingers!
We walked around taking pictures and decided to wait until 6pm to hear the monks chant. We listened for a bit (pretty cool) and then decided to check out the view of Chiang Mai from the top of the mountain.
We headed back down the stairs, found our songtheaw and once back in the city, walked to the night market.
This pad thai was FANTASTIC. A little spicy and refreshing with the lime, bean sprouts and onion things....so delicious!
The night market was a lot of fun but also kind of stressful for me. I just can't bargain with women, especially women who are the same age as me or who are pregnant and trying to make a living selling salt and pepper shakers in a market. Elz and I wandered around a bit, bought some shakes (yummy mango shakes...) and then turned in early.
I'm sorry it's taking me so long to post about my trip...I just don't want to miss anything so each post is taking a long time. I'll try to post another tomorrow!
I got up at 6:30am and had a cold shower (luckily the bugs had gone on their way). Then we all crossed the road from our homestay house to the local temple. There, we gave alms to three young monks-in-training. Did you know there are rules when giving alms? As monks can't touch women, when you put the food into their bowls you have to be careful not to touch them or the bowl. That makes it a wee bit stressful. Afterwards they prayed for us.
After a wonderful breakfast that included delicious sticky rice with custard wrapped in big green leaves, we hopped on bikes and started on our bike tour of the village. The village, which has a population of about 300, is surrounded by fields and mountains. 
(As we were biking I tried to take a few drive-by shots. Most turned out on wonky angles but a few were surprisingly good)
We stopped at a local mushroom farm to learn how they are grown. Let's just say there's way more science involved than I expected and most of the explanation went right over my head. Something about taking a tiny piece of the mushroom and then putting it in a jar to let the culture grow...etc, etc. Let's not really worry about that - just looking around was cool.
The mushrooms are planted in the bags of dirt and are stacked on top of each other in a large dark building. The white mushrooms then grow out of the opening and are harvested by grabbing the whole bunch, pulling up and down and presto! Mushrooms for lunch!
(Me, all happy among the 'shrooms)
Our next stop was the local kindergarten/daycare. The kids were really cute and friendly but man, were they active! There must have been about 60 kids and they were separated into 3 'rooms' by age. There were only two teachers who supervised (they could see all of the kids because the walls were only waist high).
We joined the older of the three groups. We read the alphabet, sang some songs and played some games.
(The Australians in the group were asked to sing their national anthem! Laura and I were praying they didn't ask us next.)
Our final stop was a small house/factory where the local women sew and sell handicrafts. I did a bit of shopping because I wanted my money to go to this local community rather than to someone in big Bangkok, etc. The bags I bought were really beautiful (and cheap!) and I didn't see anything like them later in the week. We rode back to the house where we had a great lunch (potato curry, pumpkin, lots of other dishes) and played camp games. My camp game stumped Karen, the girl who started the whole camp game thing and she went crazy trying to figure it out. We played 'I'm going to camp and I'm going to bring a ....' the entire songthaew ride to Chiang Mai (She never did guess...we ended up telling her).
After we had checked into our hotel (not as cute as the previous ones) and relaxed a bit, we caught songthaews to Doi Suthep. Doi Suthep is the most famous temple in Chiang Mai. It's located on the top of a mountain and was founded in 1383. Apparently, the site was chosen by placing a relic of Buddha on en elephant's back and letting it roam until it came upon a place where it trumpeted, circled, laid down and died. Yup. That's quite the way to choose a temple location.
The ride there was awful. The road was windy, it was hot and it smelled of exhaust. I thought I was going to be sick. We finally arrived and started climbing the approx. 306 steps.
This elephant is located in one of the temple buildings and Arjan explained what we had to do. With your ring finger (or was it your baby finger...) you lift the heavy elephant off the ground, while concentrating on your wish. Then you try to pick it up for a second time. If you are unable to, your wish will come true. If you can, too bad, it won't be coming true. Yeah for having super weak fingers!
(Umm...just a bit flashier than Japanese temples)
We walked around taking pictures and decided to wait until 6pm to hear the monks chant. We listened for a bit (pretty cool) and then decided to check out the view of Chiang Mai from the top of the mountain.
We headed back down the stairs, found our songtheaw and once back in the city, walked to the night market.
('Tough crab meat sashimi' = fake crab cut up. Found in a sushi menu in the night market. Yum.)
This pad thai was FANTASTIC. A little spicy and refreshing with the lime, bean sprouts and onion things....so delicious!
(Arjan and Alissa. Their shirts say, 'Same, same but different.' This is a popular phrase in Thailand meaning that something seems similar but is different in some ways. Example: 'The curry is same, same but different.' This reminds me of what you say about your pork and eggplant dish, mom!)
The night market was a lot of fun but also kind of stressful for me. I just can't bargain with women, especially women who are the same age as me or who are pregnant and trying to make a living selling salt and pepper shakers in a market. Elz and I wandered around a bit, bought some shakes (yummy mango shakes...) and then turned in early. 
I'm sorry it's taking me so long to post about my trip...I just don't want to miss anything so each post is taking a long time. I'll try to post another tomorrow!
2 comments:
"(The Australians in the group were asked to sing their national anthem! Laura and I were praying they didn't ask us next.)"
Hehe, it's like I'm writing your blog! :)
I think also the 'same same but different' shirts refer to the markets where the merchants try and get you to buy their product because it's the same, but different, and that difference is why you should buy their X.
This is a phenomenal post, and I think I'm inspired to update my own blog! (Shock and awe)
We have the best trips.
~Elz
Elz,
Laura = the other Canadian Laura on the tour....I guess the way I wrote it is confusing.
Good explanation of 'same, same..' I was having trouble thinking of examples at 1:20AM.
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