Chiang Mai Birthday

February 6th was Bruce’s birthday. He celebrated by arising in the dark, at 5:30am, and, map in hand, making his way across the Nakon Ping Bridge and along the Mae Ping River to the Empress Hotel (former location of the British Embassy). There, a crowd of Americans was gathering to watch the Super Bowl game. Naturally, Bruce wanted to watch the New England Patriots, if possible. He had been pleased to learn from a fellow passenger on the van to Mae Sai (see previous post) that there were at least a couple of venues opening very early in order to broadcast the game LIVE from Indianapolis. Sadly, as you all know by now, the Patriots lost – and to Bruce’s frustration, there were religious presentations made at half time. Quite a contrast to Madonna’s performance, needless to say!

Later in the morning, Bruce had hoped to get the paperwork done for our visa application to India. Another frustrating situation. Apparently the office at the Indian Embassy processes these applications only at certain hours on certain days – and it requires all but your first-born child. (Just today, after leaving our passports with the Indian embassy folks for a week and paying a total of $300, we got our visas for India!)

A sports bar where the Super Bowl will be shown - not the Empress Hotel!

US Embassy along the Mae Ping River (Bruce would have passed it on his way to the Empress)




Happily, Bruce's birthday dinner in the evening was great! Even though the setting was not as wonderful as we’d imagined after reading about it on-line - on a tiny little soi, about 3 feet from passing pedestrians and motor scooters scooting by, with a tablecloth that had seen quite a few diners already and music that was rather blaring at first - despite all of this, we loved it! The food was FANTASTIC and the service was efficient and friendly. The music got better and soon we didn’t notice the tablecloth. It was a small place with about 4 tables on one side of the soi and 4 on the other side. The wait staff would dash back and forth. Most of the diners seemed to be quiet Western couples of a certain age, perhaps ex-pats who knew a good thing.

What follows is meant for the foodies among you. We began with an order of fresh spring rolls and a pomelo salad. Pomelos are a large grapefruit-like fruit that we have fallen in love with here in Thailand. This salad was so delicious that the memory will leave our mouths watering for a very long time! It had a warm dressing of ground cashews, lemon-grass, garlic, and an itsy bit of red pepper (maybe other ingredients). Fabulous. Bruce went outside of his usual pad thai range and ordered a spicy beef salad which he enjoyed, and I ordered pineapple and cashew fried rice with cherry tomatoes that was unusual and yummy. Of course, red wine for me and a Chang beer for Bruce. This was a celebration, after all.

Bruce's birthday dinner

After dinner we walked back across the moat that surrounds the old city, where the resto is located, and down Prince Street, across the Nakon Ping Bridge along Narawat Road to Bud’s (love the name), an ice cream place that advertises its roots as being in San Francisco. They also display a quote from Time magazine, touting their ice cream as the best in the world! Wow! Who would have thought? Have those Time folks tasted Beals? Bud’s in Chiang Mai is pretty unpretentious-looking – and very western, with bright lights and “air con” and formica table tops. Think Friendly’s. Quite a contrast to our dinner spot. I really appreciated the glass of water that arrived without asking – just like at home. Bruce’s one-scoop cone of espresso ice cream and my lime sherbet (with bits of authentic rind) were delish and a perfect ending for a 69th birthday. We wonder how we’ll celebrate his big 7-0 next year (God willing). Yikes!

Bud's of San Francisco Ice Cream - in Chiang Mai!

visas and chestnuts

On Saturday, February 4th, Bruce and I took a van ride north to the town of Mae Sai on the border of Myanmar (Burma). The purpose of the trip was to get an extension on our tourist visas. As a tourist, Thailand allows you to stay for only one month, if you arrive by air, which we had done. Our month was nearly over. In order to extend the visa, we could either leave and return by air again, for another 30 days, or leave and return by land - for only 14 extra days. Bruce had been talking with people, researching on-line, and debating with himself for quite some time about the most cost- and time-efficient way to acquire more time here. There were MANY considerations! Suffice to say that it was complicated. He finally decided that taking the van to Mae Sai was the best option. That would give us a week to finish our commitment to the school (ending on Friday, February 10), plus nearly a week to do some touristy stuff before we leave for Laos on the 17th.

At about 8am, a van arrived for us at our dorm. It was full of 8 other folks also trekking north to get visa extensions. The next 4 hours flew by as we zipped through the mountains and the countryside, past wet rice fields and dry corn fields, through towns with golden temples, until we pulled into the market town of Mae Sai. We were surprised to find that it was so large (20,000 people). It was bustling with shoppers on this sunny warm Saturday (they all are sunny at this time of year). We learned later that many of the products come down from China. The main street ends in a large, pale blue, official-looking building that stretches across the entrance to the concrete bridge leading to Myanmar.

Our van driver pulled off this main street and entered a small soi (narrow street), barely wide enough for the van and crowded with stalls and shoppers. We made our way slowly along, managing to avoid injuring anyone, and ending finally beside a lacy golden temple. I had a flashback of the markets that take place on the plazas in Guatemala, overshadowed by large churches.

                             The narrow soi in Mae Sai, Thailand

The beautiful temple beside which our van parked.

Just before we had arrived in Mae Sai, we had begun chatting with our seat mate, John, and discovered that he had grown up in Westwood, Mass, a town where Bruce had lived for a couple of years as a child. John had made this visa run two weeks previously, so we followed him when it was time to make our way through the border process. The van driver had given us 1 1/2 hours for all of us to complete our business and meet back at the temple for the return trip to Chiang Mai.

The border bridge leading to Myanmar.

Lots of people were crossing the border on foot, as we were. The Thai border official took a look at us and sent us through one narrow gauntlet. Locals carrying bags of vegetables were herded through another pathway. Almost immediately we were through and onto the bridge. The river below was not deep but rushing quite quickly. We looked down and noticed a young boy laughing while wading to the Myanmar side, a fairly short distance. Old buildings hung over the river on the Thai side. A beautiful pale pink and blue temple rose on the Myanmar side, a lovely first impression.

Little boy splashing his way to Myanmar.

                                                                      
                                              Burmese temple and flag

The immigration facility in Tachileik, Myanmar, just at the end of the short bridge, was a pretty primitive affair.  We were shepherded into a small room that held 4 uniformed officials at desks. I could barely squeeze in with the other folks, but the door was flexible, since it was simply a heavy curtain. The officials took our photo and our 500 Thai Baht (about $15). We could have left our passport with them and toured Tachileik but we don't like leaving our passport with strangers so headed right back to Mae Sai.  Besides, we had a date with a van driver.

The Thai guys stamped our passport and clipped our little 14-day visa onto it. We were good to go for a couple of more weeks! Back on the streets of Mae Sai, vendors were cooking big woks full of chestnuts which smelled so tantalizing. When another van mate said that's what many people come to Mae Sai for, I decided to try a bagful, also some roasted broad beans and something else that was roasted and bean-like. They were all pretty good - and no unpleasant repercussions!

                             Bruce looks over the selection of hats.


We did some chatting with John on the way back. He seemed like a nice guy, and Bruce ended up making plans with him to watch the Patriots play in the Super Bowl game early on Monday morning, his birthday. We were back in Chiang Mai in time to have a nice dinner - and were legal once again!

Mountains and corn fields

Silver and Silk

Thaliand is known for its beautiful, high-quality crafts, among them silver work and silk fabric. Last Sunday afternoon, Barb took us on a tour of the area where these two products are created in factories and then sold at lovely stores. Both factories offered demonstrations of the creative process.

The P Collection (silver ware) Showroom

The first stop was the P Silver Collection and its beautiful showroom. As I meandered around the glitzy, glossy room, a salesperson followed the whole time, trying to entice me into buying something, of course. I was especially curious about the case with the silver and glass beads which are sold under the Pandora label, my "attendant" told me. Andrea, our Safe Passage friend - by way of Madrid - had introduced me to that whole new world of consumption, and now Pandora seems to be following me everywhere I go (including to the Maine Mall!). Alas, the only thing I took away with me were photos!

This worker is punching out a design in a silver plate.

Polishing the silver.
















Our next stop, just down the road, was a silk factory. Here we saw the live silk worms eating mulberry leaves and the cocoons which the worms make from their saliva. Silk comes from the threads which constitute the cocoon. Like other natural processes, it makes you wonder how people first figured this out. Natural coloring agents, such as plants, are used to dye the thread, which are spun and woven. I had learned about this process when we studied Thailand with the kinders at Breakwater, so it was especially cool to witness it in person!

Hungry silkworms fattening up on mulberry leaves.

Yellow cocoons come from Thai worms and white cocoons from Chinese worms!

Weaving a beautiful piece of red silk.












Bruce recently had a fascinating field trip with the fourth graders to a rice paddy. Maybe he'll describe that experience one day.

Magic at a Thai resto

On Friday evening, we had been invited by one of the managers of Chiang Mai International School to go to dinner at a Thai restaurant, along with the chair of the board, and our friend, Barb, the elementary principal. It sounded like it would be a delightful outing. We were excited and looked forward to it all week.

On the night in question, Pitak, the man who had extended the invitation, picked us up at our dorm, and drove us through the crazy FAST Friday night traffic, several miles away, to a beautiful building situated on the banks of the Mae Ping River. The restaurant had been recently constructed, incorporating traditional Thai design from teak wood, with a soaring roof line. As we approached the entrance, we passed a large Thai bell that had been transformed into a lantern. Several young greeters wai-ed us. The wai is the Thai sign of respect, performed by lowering the head with hands pressed together in front of the body.

                             Pitak and Bruce arriving at the Tha Num Restaurant

The bell-turned-lantern

We were led through the restaurant - where there were a few large tables - and out the back into a lovely quiet oasis of water gardens, teak decking, soft lights illuminating stone pathways, and more tables - all fully open to the evening sky. A tree off to the side seemed to cradle the first star, with a sliver of the moon keeping it company. Just beyond the expansive deck area, the slow river meandered by. And beyond the river, rose an ancient chedi, a simple temple, its rusty-colored bricks giving off a warm glow (helped along by some strategic lighting!). It was just dusk when we arrived, the sky a pale pink and blue. Soft Thai music fell over us like a light silk cloth. We were totally engulfed in the magic!

                                   (It was pretty dark but I think you can get the idea.)

Already seated and waiting for us at a table was Bill, the current Chair of the CMIS Board. Barb joined us soon after, bringing her usual good cheer. Bill and Pitak were very gracious co-hosts. Pitak, a native Thai, ordered various small dishes which gave us a sampling of northern Thai food. Bill ordered the wine!

                                                    Pitak, Barb, Rev. Bill, & Bruce

Bill was a comfortable, out-going fellow, a Yale Divinity School grad with an obvious love for Thailand and her people. He has lived and worked here for much of his adult life - a total of 48 years! Most of his career has been spent at Prince Royal's College, a K-12 school,  affiliated with the Church of Christ in Thailand (as is CMIS). This is the school, referred to in a previous post as "a toney private school" . It surrounds CMIS and our dorm, geographically, and is the source of the lovely Thai music that we hear wafting up to our room on school mornings.

The evening slipped away quickly with stories of life in this corner of the world. It came to a close with Pitak driving us back to our cozy dorm room in the heart of the city. We appreciated this Thai welcome and gesture of kindness.

Chiang Mai Market

Since the market is best experienced through photos rather than a whole lot of text, I'll make my description short and try to load a bigger group of pictures. The Chiang Mai market is housed in a large, rambling place. It's a permanent location but all around the outside are little stands that look temporary - but seem to be there every time we wander through. We haven't bought anything in the market - yet! In this market, the items on offer are mostly food (and a few flowers)- and that is what interests my camera eye - but there are also diverse items like trinkets and underwear. In the surrounding shops, you can find anything, including fabric, stationary, LOTS of clothes, kitchenware, hardware, etc. I'm a bit shy about photographing people and their wares but I think you'll get a "taste" of what the market was like. Sorry that I can't send the smells and sounds, too!

These fresh flower decorations are intended to be used for worship - on Buddha images and in  spirit houses.

                                                            Sacks of rice

Sweet Chinese treats wrapped in banana leaves (I believe)

Dried fish

A fruit being cut up. I'm not sure what it was. It was dripping with milky juice. Anyone out there know??




Well, this seems to be the limit of what I can upload here. More later!

Mountains and waterfalls

The Chiang Mai International School is full of good people who do kind things. We are the lucky recipients of some of those kind things. Last Friday was a half day at the school, and one of the teachers, a Canadian woman named Sandra, married to a Thai man, offered to take us along on her family outing that afternoon. The expedition would begin with lunch at her home, followed by a 1 1/2 hour-long car trip out of the city to Doi Inthanon National Park and a breath-taking waterfall.

We felt very privileged to be invited into the home of a local family, as well as chauffeured to a spot of natural beauty that I'm sure we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Our new friend shared her story of meeting her Thai husband in Canada, where they were both studying to be engineers. That was many years ago. For more than 20 years they have lived in Chiang Mai, where they are raising their 3 sons. Their home is a small compound of lovely Thai architecture that had been in her husband's family.

This is the "guest house" on Sandra's property, built in the old style.

After lunch, we piled into Sandra's car with her youngest son, a 13 year old, and a driver. Our trip took us southwest of Chiang Mai, through a long area of suburbs and a few small towns, past rice fields, and eventually up into a wooded mountainous region. Our destination was a stream that wended its way from the mountain over smooth rocks. The area reminded us of Rangeley streams. We were not prepared, however, for the majesty of the magnificent waterfall that cascaded down in lacy patterns. We stood looking at it for awhile, clicking lots of photos, and absorbing its grandeur. After awhile, we found a pooled area and waded and soaked our feet. I must admit that I was a little hesitant about this at first, wondering what kind of unusual creatures might be lurking in the water. However, I followed our friend's lead and found the water to be so refreshing and lovely. We were surrounded by leafy trees and a peaceful environment. Sandra and her son followed the stream, while Bruce and I luxuriated in the bubbly quiet.

The Mae Ya Waterfall at Doi Inthanon National Park

The second part of our outing involved a rendez-vous with our friend's husband who was at the park for a meeting of officials interested in water power (which was being generated by the waterfall). Before heading back to the city, we were invited to share snacks outside on an orchid-ringed lawn beside the stream. The officials sat at small tables. A small celebration took place. It was a delightful afternoon in Northern Thailand!

Back to School - in Chiang Mai

Our journey from Bangkok to Chiang Mai last Friday was a wonderful adventure. We slept on a train and it was rather magical! I've always wanted to do that, ever since seeing pictures of sleeping berths on the Canadian Pacific Railway when I was a child. Our small traveling room had sleeping accommodations for 4 people, two lower berths and two uppers: bunk beds! (Another secret desire.) We boarded the train at 7:30pm. Immediately a woman came and offered us a tray of fresh fruit, followed by offers of beer & dinner. We declined these but did order breakfast to be brought to us the next morning. We had mistakenly thought that the train was an express. Not so. One or two stops down the line, a young man entered our little room, gave respectful greetings, and soon retreated into his little cocoon behind the curtains and began quietly snoring! Guess he'd had a hard week of work in Bangkok.

            Our purple overnight sleeper train.  Thais love the colors purple and pink.

When we had arrived on board, the top two bunks were already made up with fresh linens, ready for sleeping. As it got to be a bit later in the evening, the steward came round and made up the lower bunks, which had served as seats for traveling during the day. Each of the four compartments had a curtain to be pulled around them, like in a hospital, giving privacy to the occupant. The beds were surprisingly comfortable, and the rocking motion of the train soon lulled us off to sleep. Despite this, I did not sleep well. I guess I was too curious to see what was happening outside the window, each time the train stopped, which it did throughout the night.

In the morning, we were still rocking along - but the landscape outside had changed to a much more hilly terrain. In our little sleeping room, a young man emerged from the opposite berth - but it was not the guy who had entered the previous evening! Apparently the first guy had gotten off in the middle of the night, and one of the stewards had snuck in for a little shut-eye! (This would be a great setting for a mystery novel.) We got ourselves organized for the day. It didn't take long. The bathroom at the end of our car left a little to be desired! I decided to wait until we got to Chiang Mai to do any washing up.
Despite being an hour behind schedule on our arrival, Barb & Paul, our Prince Edward Island acquaintances (good friends of Dori and Dan) met us at the station and whisked us off to the dorm, of sorts, that Barb had arranged for us to live in for the month that we are here. Barb is the elementary vice principal at the Chiang Mai International School and has warmly welcomed us into the school community. That woman gets things done! In the short time that we've been here, she has found meaningful volunteer opportunities for us at the school, introduced us to the community church that they attend, taken us out to eat twice and to the grocery store, procured a toaster for our room, and on the very first day, she got Bruce into a pulmonary specialist to assess his continued coughing/breathing problems. It turns out that he has acute bronchitis. The good news is that his Guatemalan pneumonia is finished! The other good news is that he's on some new med's and is beginning to feel his energy flow back. We are so grateful to Barb for all that she is doing for us!

If you look closely in this photo, you can see wooden elephants beside the sign and orchids behind the sign (in addition to Barb, Bruce, and Linda).

We were lucky to begin our volunteering at Chiang Mai International School during Teacher Appreciation Week. This is the lunch that the Korean mom's prepared for the teachers.

The Chiang Mai International School serves pre-school through Grade 12 with an American educational approach - and a triple shot of Asian academic rigor! I was quite taken aback on my first day in the kindergarten class. These little tykes are doing what would be first grade work - in my experience - with nose to the grindstone all day. They have fantastic teachers and wonderful lessons. I'm really enjoying my time and learning a lot. Chiang Mai, it turns out, is a hotbed of missionary activity, so many of the children come from missionary families. In fact, the school originated to serve the children of missionaries. Nowadays, the student body also consists of many Thai children (whose parents want them to be immersed in English), as well as other ex-pat families from all over the world.
Bruce is working with a Korean high school student who needs more practice in English. He's also been a chaperone on a 4th grade field trip to the market, as well as doing a clinical assessment of a student. It's not always easy to plug in a couple of random volunteers who show up for a month only, so we're impressed with how the school is able to use us.

This high school student performed a traditional Thai dance for the Teacher Appreciation assembly.

Our new "home away from home" is interesting. We are in a 3-story building next to the school campus. It is a modern administrative building for the church organization that runs the school and has offices and meeting rooms on the first two floors. There are dorm rooms on the third floor, but they are all empty except for ours! So at night and on weekends, we're here alone, down a long, dark corridor. It was a little weird and spooky at first but seems quite normal now.

       Our room is on the top floor on the left corner.  At night we're the only people in the building.

The room itself is delightful - large and bright with big windows looking out to the school gym and trees and other big buildings. It's on a very busy street with lots of traffic at all hours. In the morning we hear announcements and beautiful, soft Thai music being piped out from another, massive and toney private school nearby, followed by the national anthem at 8am.
One of Barb's most important revelations to us was her secret for easy meal prep in Thailand: order dinner from the chef at the school cafeteria! For $2.50 total, we order dinner each morning and pick it up at 2:30pm, bring it "home" and heat it in our microwave. Alcohol is not allowed in the dorm, so we often walk down the street for a beer at an outdoor Thai bistro (we're always the only "farongs", ie foreigners, and must point to what we want in the cooler - except that they know us now!)

                                 Sightseeing boat on the Mae Ping River in Chiang Mai.

So, that's our new life, so far. No elephant training or Thai cooking classes or temple visits yet - but we're eager to do all of those activities. In the meantime, Bruce, our travel arranger, is spending great amounts of time trying to stay ahead of our ever-moving caravan, so that air flights, visa conundrums, hotels, etc. can be worked out in advance, which saves money, of course, and keeps us legal, we hope. Our friend, Paul, Barb's husband, visits inmates in the Chiang Mai prison. Some of them are farongs who have had visa problems. We don't want to be one of his visitees!