Chiang Mai

My last destination in SE Asia was Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand. I booked a ticket from Bangkok to Hong Kong way in advance, so rather then visiting Bangkok for the third time this trip, I decided to check out Chiang Mai since everyone was raving about it. I was pretty excited too, because I heard it was a great place to just relax.

The best thing about this city was you had the option to do a ton of activities, or you could do nothing at all; either way was fine. I booked a couple nights at A Little Bird Guesthouse, inside the Old City. Good choice too. Not necessarily for the comfort (the mattresses were wrapped in plastic), but the staff was awesome and it was a great place to meet other backpackers. I ended up staying there for 10 nights! The longest I had stayed in one place, that's for sure.

So what did I actually do there? Well, here's 10 things...

1. Got my teeth checked and cleaned.

It was only 600 baht (20 USD)!

2. Tried Thai cooking at the Asia Scenic Cooking School


Som Tom by me!

Thai food is pretty easy to cook if you have all the ingredients! This was a fun class, but the full day with 7 courses was pretty exhausting (should have gone with the half day/5 courses). Our group couldn't eat everything we cooked, so we took our last two courses in take out boxes. We received a nice recipe book in the end, which I have not put to use yet in the States.

3. Visited Several Wats

Wat Umong
I liked this one because it was in a forest, with some pretty interesting spaces to wander around. There were meditation buildings, a fish pond, underground tunnels with Buddha statues and wall drawings, and some funny dog posters illustrating vices to avoid.




Remnants in the Forest


Buddha in the Tunnel




Emaciated Buddha


Did You Get That?

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep
This is the wat to go for the view of Chiang Mai city. Really nice, but super crowded. It was one of those temples that had vendors lined up along the front and the path to the temple. Touristy = yes.


A Little Dance Performance in the Wat Area


Inside with the Stupa


View of Chiang Mai

Mystery Wat



I can't remember the name of it, but most notable was this fake Donald Duck statue in front of the temple. Oh yeah, he's eating noodles!

4. Got Massages

SO worth it. Especially after walking all the time. I meant to get one every other day, but I only went three times.

5. Ate Muesli with Yogurt and Fruit


Papaya in Your Muesli and Yogurt? Yes, You're in Thailand!

This was a big deal, because western breakfast food was usually more expensive, and after eating mainly fried eggs for breakfast in Burma (probably 20 out of 25 days), it was refreshing to eat something more tasty and healthy.

6. Went to the Sunday Market


Nicolai Takes a Look at the Awesome Wooden Frogs

This was the mother of all markets in Chiang Mai. It spanned...I don't even know how far it extend, but it's HUGE. Great place to by some unique souvenirs, clothes, and food too. I went with 3 other friends, but ended up losing them amongst the crowds. I made out like a bandit though, with some goodies to take back to my family.

7. Ate McDonald's

Yeah, yeah I know. I had McD's breakfast in Singapore. And now, Fish-O-Filet in Chiang Mai. But I was with other Americans! We all caved in!

8. Jungle Zipline

I tried zip-lining in Nicaragua before, but I had more fun with this one. The guides from Jungle Flight were nuts! You can tell they have fun doing at their job and love doing it. We zipped to about 22 platforms...it was pretty rad. I felt so free up there doing the Superman move. At times, I kind of forgot how high up we were, but then I'd look down below and quickly up again. It's friggen high.


Our Crazy Guides


The Gang

9. Doi Tao Lake and Bua Tong Waterfalls

I kind of ended up in these places by accident. Some backpackers at the hostel were going to Doi Tao Lake, and ended up having an open spot, so I tagged along. It was about an hour motorcycle ride to get from Chiang Mai to Doi Tao Lake, but unfortunately, we got pulled over by the cops for not various reasons (not having a helmet on, no motorcycle license, and probably just being farang). Once we got to the edge of the lake, we had a little boat waiting for us to take our group to to these simple, but charming, floating bungalows. We only spent a night there, which consisted of kayaking, lots of food, beer, and skinny dipping under a bright moon.


Little Bungalows on the Lake


View of Doi Tao Lake


Dining Area

The next morning, we shipped off, but stopped by along the Bua Tong Waterfalls before heading back to Chiang Mai. I've never seen such clean, clear waters, rolling over limestone rocks. It was pretty amazing. We walked to down to the first series of falls, and it was great. And then we followed the stream down to an even better spot. It just got better and better each time we walked down to the next section.




So Clear!




Moto Caravan on the Way Back to Chiang Mai

And last, but not at the most least...

10. Met Some Awesome People!

My experience in Chiang Mai would not have been great if I hadn't met these people...


Nicolai (Denmark)

I met him in my dorm on my first day and after late night conversations of design, music, and life in general, I felt like he's a homie. I'm glad he was there for pretty much the whole duration of my stay in CM.


Carmen (UK)

A cool lady from the UK who had similar traveling/backpacking style as I did. She was laid back and up for whatever. We went to Doi Suthep together, but some how along the way, we got dropped off at the zoo and then ended up in a tourist village, thinking we were going to see a real Karin tribe. Ah well. We eventually made it to Doi Suthep and had a good laugh about it all.


Jesper (Sweden), Carmen (again), and Debi (UK)

Jesper was the most ambitious person I met on the trip. He biked (as in bicycled) all the way from Chiang Mai, Thailand, to Malaysia! That's at least 1,000 miles. He was a total sweet heart too. On our last day in the dorm room together, he surprised Carmen, Debi, and me with slices of cake from the bakery. How sweet is he?

Debi was a burst of energy and totally fun to be around with. She was a good shopping buddy in the markets; but too bad we never made it to the vintage stores!


Dave! (UK)

Dave worked at A Little Bird Guesthouse while I was there, and he was great at making everyone feel welcomed and like they were already a part of the guesthouse community. He was nice enough to let me tag along on the lake/waterfall excursion.


Sam (Belgium) (Ok, not his best picture. He looks maniacal here.)

Sam is definitely an interesting fellow. I couldn't guess where he was from initially, because he had an accent, but I would have never guessed he was from Belgium. He's really good friends with Dave, and for a second, I thought he worked at the guesthouse too, but he was just a long term resident. But he was a great resource on where to go in Chiang Mai - actually took me and another friend, Kyle, up to Wat Umong.


Jason and Kyle (US)

Alright, I already had an affinity for these fellas when they said they were from California. I had a blast hanging out late at night with these two, in search of a good hamburger in Chiang Mai...only to end up at McDonald's. How American of us. But seriously, McD's fries never tasted so good.

Other than these activities, I spent my time just walking around the city or hanging out at the guesthouse. I'm sure I could have done a lot more, but after 5 months of backpacking, I was pretty over doing stuff. Chiang Mai was the perfect place to end my backpacking trip.

Happy New Year from Thailand!

I am way behind on updating...almost a month now :( But that is because I have been hopping around too many places with no time for the internet!

The last month of the year was great. I spent a majority of it in beautiful Vietnam. I had a great time exploring the coast from North to South and meeting a lot of great people along the way. More detailed entries will be made, I promise.

I rung in the new year last night at the Koh Phangan Full Moon Party (although there was no full moon). It was nuts! Thousands of people on the beach with music blasting from all areas. Probably the best fireworks show I had seen, only because it was right there in front of you. I stayed the whole night until 7am pretty much. I am still catching up on sleep....

So on that note, happy new year! I'll try to update more before I go to Myanmar on Jan.11, because internet there probably won't be as accessible...

Sarnelli House

Today, a group of us went to the Sarnelli House, an orphanage for children with AIDS/HIV, for a couple of hours to play with the kids. They were so fun to be around; just non stop energy. Right when we got out of the truck, this little boy ran straight to Andi, and jumped right into her arms as if he hadn't seen her in a very long time. Some boys followed suite and latched on to a few volunteers, while others (more so the girls) were a little more shy and waited til we started to play a game of Bang. I spent some time spinning one of the boys around in a circle, and got pretty dizzy after a few rounds and had to sit down! And while I was sitting, one of the teenagers braided my hair, and then one of the younger girls borrowed my camera and walked around the grounds, taking pictures of her friends. She had some really good shots! (Unfortunately, I couldn't remember her name :(


pic by Andrew L.








pic by little girl


pic by little girl


here's the little girl herself!

You couldn't tell at all that these kids were any different from any other kids. They were so full of life, so sweet, and eager to play; their energy was totally infectious. It was a little sad when we left, because you can tell how much some of them wanted to go with us. It was one of those drawn out goodbyes, where you both parties really didn't want the other to go. We were only there for a couple hours, but it was such a nice way to spend a time on a Saturday. We were all pretty wiped out by the time we got back home.

Isara - Mekong River Clean-up Campaign: Boat Project

Over the past week, Isara volunteers have been working on a boat built with recycled materials for the Mekong River Clean-up Campaign. The plan is to raise awareness about the Mekong River garbage problem to riverside communities, from areas in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. To get that message across, Kirk will be sailing down the Mekong on a boat built with recycled plastic bottles, recycled wood, solar panels, and electric engine. (I'm sure there are more parts, but I don't know what they are.) I'm pretty sure this is going to surprise a lot of the communities the project will reach out too.

I wish I could be there to see the boat set sail, but I will be in Laos or Cambodia by then. Unless, the days coincide with my dates in whichever area it will be. Either way, I'm cheering this project on from wherever I am. I feel fortunate to have worked on such a project with heart and impact (I'm sure of it).

Here are a few photos of the volunteers sanding and painting the wood. It's progressed a lot more since these photos, so for more photos and information on this project, go here at the Isara website. Please visit! Not only will you find out more about the boat, you will be instantly donating by viewing the webpage.

Food in Thailand - Sweets

What? No post on food yet? Trust me, I have been eating A LOT. But, I don't always remember to take photos of the dishes/snacks; I just jump into eating! I've had some really tasty things, but my menu is limited since I can't read/speak Thai. Some of the volunteers (foreign and local) have taught me names of some dishes, but aside from that, pointing to food items can only get you so far at a food stall. Here are some foods I've sampled, starting with (what else)...sweets!

Guay Boh Chee
Banana, coconut milk, sugar. Very simple and delicious! Made by our lovely manager, Nok.


Roti Sai Mai
This is definitely my favorite Thai treat. It's like Thai cotton candy wrapped in a thin pancake. May, a Thai volunteer, calls it "sugar hair". It's so simple, but so good! You can't really go wrong if you have something dough-related plus sugar. They sell it at food stands in 2 parts: one bag with candy threads and one with crepes. Put it together at your convenience!




Bakery Buns
I fell in love with this bakery! Don't know the name yet, but will find out. The bun is as big as the size of your palm! The bread tastes like a sweet dinner roll, with a heap of filling inside. I've tried the Thai custard (pandan = favorite!), taro, young coconut (there's a slice of fresh coconut inside with the coconut custard), pineapple, and red bean. They also have savory ones that I have yet to try.



Banana Roti (Crepe)
Lauren, one of the first volunteers I met here, introduced me to the plain crepe at a food stall down the street from Isara. It's an egg flour crepe topped with sugar and condensed milk. (Thais order it with an egg inside as well.) It was so good, I thought I'd try to one-up it by adding bananas to my order. Good lord, it is SO sweet. Bananas here have more flavor, so adding that to the roti was amazing. Only downside was the first time I had it with banana, they added mayonnaise on top (I think the Kewpie one; it was a little sweeter). Not really a taste I want on my crepe. The next time I ordered, I requested the cook to not add it.



Other sweets I've had are (but no pictures):
- Glutinous rice balls with yellow bean filling in coconut milk
- Coconut pudding puffs with corn

One note though...Thai chocolate and some cupcakes are not that great. They have "chocolate flavor" items, instead of real chocolate (cocoa). And the cupcakes...I think it's the weather that affects the baking. All the cupcakes I have had are not moist. But it's okay, there are a lot of other sweets to eat!

Stay tuned for a savory foods...

Hasadee School

3 of us Isara volunteers got up bright and early to go with Teacher Dave (also an Isara volunteer) to his full-time job at Hasadee School, located in Si Chiang Mai (about 40 min from Nong Khai). Even though I've been here for a few weeks, I haven't really had time to venture off outside of Nong Khai, so this was a good opportunity to see a little more of North Eastern Thailand.

We took a road alongside the Mekong River, and passed through rural areas. Dave mentioned that the area was completely flooded just a couple of years ago, but it must have done some good because everything was lush and green. Upon entering Si Chiang Mai, we passed by the city "sculpture park", consisting of manicured hedges shaped like animals, dinosaurs, and people. (Nothing like the Salakaewkoo.)

We sat in all of Dave's English classes throughout the school day. The kids there were so well behaved! The older ones were very polite, and several of them spoke English very well. We basically helped out by reviewing letter sounds, words, and grammar (depending on the level). Dave had us play some fun games with them to reinforce their lessons, including one that involved the winner bopping the losers on the head with an empty water bottle. It was pretty funny since the kids got really into it.


Getting into class






10 min brush-your-teeth time after lunch


Bottle Bop Review Game