It was a quick taxi ride to our hostel. We have seen better but I like the name, "MD House". There is a place for a lock (besides the key that they give us) outside our door, so mom + dad, we use our own extra lock to our room.
We immediately went in search of food, and found the best place ever. It is an organic american restaurant with a free hour of computer use for customers. We got mango + pinapple pancakes + a mango smoothie. We were very content + will most definitely be returning.
We walked back to our hostel + signed up for activities. We picked a cooking class for the evening + a trek for the next day (an elephant ride, bamboo rafting, + waterfall swim). We then dropped off our landry ($2 dollars for all my laundry to be cleaned within 2 hours). It almost feels like we are rich people with servants, it is kind of sickening.
Since we had a couple hours until our cooking class, we got our first thai massages. OMG. Amazing. For $4.75 We got a 1 hour massage. Marissa + I have decided this will now become part of our daily routine.
We had to duck to get into the room + then we got changed into some thai outfits. We were a little confused because in the states we get our massages under a sheet. But we were very glad for our clothes once they got started. These tiny thai women use their feet, elbows, legs, etc to stretch + massage your body. Sadly enough, when we walked in, they turned on the air. Apparently thai people are so accustomed to this heat. It is crazy. Luckily Chiang Mai has not been nearly as hot as it was in Bangkok. It is kind of overcast, still humid, + honestly a million times more bearable.
Marissa was too tall to fit through the door
Marissa + I were in the same room on floor mat-beds. By the end of the massage, we had to ask them to turn the air up because it was so chilly. The massages were just amazing. We couldn't get over the fact that we normally spend about 12x the price on massages at home...thus we decided from now on we really need to invest in these everyday. It is a hard life to backpack.
Really though, I wish I could explain what crazy positions these women would get in + put us in.
I'd also like to note how Marissa + I have a joint account. Since we both buy + eat the exact same things, we just combine equal amounts of money + pay for everything we both get. We will be at say our couples massage + be like "should we use our joint account?" We feel slightly married.
After our massages, we walked the 5 feet back to our hostel + waited for our cooking class to pick us up. Our first stop was the market. We learned a lot about thai food + herbs + how they make coconut milk, cream, + powder. How they make curry paste + the difference between basil types.
One really interesting + gross thing to me is that eggs are not refrigerated here. Marissa told me it is the same in Israel, but we decided eggs are not in 100 degree outdoor weather in Israel, but in indoor air conditioned stores. Ew considering our only source of protein here is egg.
We took a 20 minute ride to the thai man's house with about 10 other people. We did a course with The Thai Cookery School (the first one ever in Chiang Mai...there are now like 100) + loved it. Marissa + I pretend we are vegetarians whenever we are in groups, so we don't sound like kveches. So we started preparing our food. We made a vegetable soup that was delicious + took about 2 minutes to make. Everything is so quick because they use SO much oil. We don't understand how thai people eat such hot soup outsides. We immediately started sweating after having ours + were right in having avoided soup thus far. The kitchen was outside in a patio, but at least there were fans.
Our next meal was veggie stiry fry. Marissa made sweet + sour veggies + I made regular. They were our favorite part of the 6 course meal. Next, we made a pumpkin curry with tofu and then spring rolls with noodles + veggies. They seal the roll with banana. Pretty cool. Then fry. Not so cool. We made sticky rice for dessert (to be served with mango) + finally Pad Thai. We were absolutely stuffed by the end and we loved the class. There was so much going on + so we didn't actually learn how to make the stuff by heart, but at least we got a cookbook in the end. So family + friends, get ready for Marissa + I to cook you a thai meal.
Sweet and Sour + Stir Fry Veggie
Pumpkin curry with tofu
We met some kids at cooking class who really wanted to go to a bar with us, so we agreed, even though we had been planning to go to bed at 9pm, after we got back from cooking. So we planned to meet at 915 + then they never showed. Haha. We figure they got dropped off much later than us + probably had no idea where the atm we were supposed to meet at was. But still! [Update: They left a note the next night at out hostel saying they were late.]
So Marissa + I tried to go to The Riverside Bar, our really funny Thai cooking instructor had suggested. But when we got there, we were the only white girls + everyone looked at us really weirdly. So we left + decided to go get loose pants for our trek, since our jeans had literally been HELL at the tiger temple. A nice thai girl we asked where to get pants at, told us + when she tried to get us to say whatever the market was called, she goes "let me just tell the tuk tuk driver". So she got us a ride + for much cheaper than we normally pay (got to love the thai people). We found the perfect pants + then walked home. We fell asleep so easily + woke up feeling like we had gotten our first real night of sleep since being in Thailand. We woke up at 730 am + had breakfast. It was not the buffet of Roof View Palace in Bangkok, and we only got to pick one of the following: scrambled eggs, an omelet, fried eggs, french toast, or yogurt with muesli. Marissa + I were still hungry after! Ugh. Luckily we have a snack stash.
Our van came to pick us up for our trek + our guide, May, was really nice, funny, + informative. To be a guide in Thailand, you either have to have a B.A. in tourism or take a couple month course at university. It seems pretty legit.
We are now just driving out to the country...get ready for the next update!
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