Doi Suthep Temple

We set off mid morning for Doi Suthep Temple, which is about a 20 minute drive from Chiang Mai. Doi Suthep is the most famous temple in Chiang Mai and it is quite enchanting. There is a real community feel about this place. We were fortunate enough to witness a family ceremony which saw a young male being ordained into Monk-hood. I only wish I had discovered this place earlier in my travels as you are able to freely chat with the monks and they offer daily meditation talks. Never mind, I'm sure there will be a "next time". To reach the temple you can either take cable car from the foot of the hill or climb the 309 steps. We climbed the steps as we had to get in our daily exercise.....actually it wasn't too bad for us, especially after our trekking expedition!! I found a little quiet area where there was a monk sitting and blessing people as they prayed to Budda. I took my place amongst the small group of people and showed my respect to Budda and received a blessing from the monk. I then received a white rope which they tie around your arm for good luck. The temple is such a serene place and I didn't want to leave, but we had too as our time was up and our driver was waiting patiently for us. On returning back to Chiang Mai we freshened up and went for our daily Yoga class which I found really tough going as my muscles were sore from the day before. After that we came back to the guest house and were recommended a place for dinner called the Riverside Bar......so glad we went there as it was really nice. They had a live rock band which was just classic - Thai guys singing western songs in very western accents, the place was certainly rocking!

Yoga Chiang Mai

I had to ask myself today - "Am I NOT destined to do Yoga or Meditation or Both??????"

I went back to the little place I found yesterday, NAMO, raring to go with my Yoga pants on, only to be told it was a full class and they could not take any more. After pounding the pavement in Chiang Mai over the last few days looking for a place to either meditate or do yoga, I was so disappointed to find the class full. Tracy and our new friend Konjit, whom we met at the cooking school, asked the girl at reception if they could just squeeze me in as I was becoming a little disillusioned. They allowed me to join, thank goodness. As for Tracy and Konjit who very kindly pushed for me to have the Yoga experience - they ended up at Chiang Mai Hospital.....The Yoga Center had posted a notice asking for volunteers of the A- blood type to donate blood for a German girl who had been in a really bad accident and was in hospital. Tracy was that blood type and said she would donate blood, so she and Konjit took off for the hospital. Tracy rekons it was the biggest needle she has ever seen!!!!!!!

My first Yoga experience was really good, but no where near beginner level, I think I was put into positions that I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams. I just hope I don't wake up feeling like I've been run over by a truck. Anyway I have put my name down for tomorrow as I really enjoyed the relaxation part of the class........so we'll wait and see how I pull up tomorrow!

Thai Cooking School

I can totally recommend a cooking class to anyone coming to Thailand/Chiang Mai. What a thoroughly enjoyable day we have had starting at 9.30am this morning. We were picked up by our chef "Pot" and taken to the local market, where he took us through and explained all the ingredients we were to use in our cooking for the day. We were then able to wander around the market and sample some of the local produce. The Chiang Mai sausage was to die for and I don't even like sausage normally. From the market we were taken to the school, which by the way is called Siam Rice Cookery School and were guided inside where we were able to help ourselves to tea or coffee served with local biscuits and fruits. After we had relaxed and filled out the guest book it was time to begin our class. We all got to choose 6 items out of 18 to cook for the day. I chose Pad Thai, Hot and Sour Soup with Chicken,Spicy mixed chicken salad, fried mixed vegetables with sweet and sour chicken, yellow curry and sticky rice with mango. YUM!!! I can't wait to show off to my family hehehehe.....I do believe I can cook!!!!! We had so much fun, there was five of us in total and we all had a lot of laughs. Our chef for the day "Pot" and his sister/assistant "Nancy" were just beautiful people who always shared a joke and a laugh. Half way through the class we were all feeling very full so it was time for a little bit of relaxation. We could go for a walk, sit and rest or lie down. Pot asked me if I could ride a motorbike - "of course", I said. He then said if I wanted to I could take their little baby bike (moped style in my language) for a ride. He gave me the instructions for the how the gears were and off I went. To feel the wind in my hair and to be free to ride around the little village amongst locals was fantastic......it gave me a bit of a buzz I must admit!! After our "rest" it was time to continue on with the rest of our menu - Curry and then the sticky rice with Mango. Once we had slaved over a hot stove and then eaten the fruits of our labor, all in good company, it was time to head back to Chiang Mai. We got back in at 4.00pm - What a great day!

In Search of Meditation

I have been looking for a place in Chiang Mai to learn the art of meditation to enable me to gain clarity and quieten the mind. I thought it would be relatively easy to find given the fact that I am here for over a week and there are many temples offering teachings by the Monks. I went for one Monk Chat at Suandok Temple just outside the city as they offer 3 day intensive meditation courses, but unfortunately I was unable to attend due to the up and coming water festival which clashed with the dates of the course. They do not run the courses during the water festival. My lovely friend Nine from the Green Tulip suggested another temple which I also tried, but the shortest course on offer was a 10 day intensive. I felt as a beginner, that it would probably not suit me - I could go mad not speaking to anyone for that period of time - for those who know me, you know how I love to have a chat!!!

Anyway after combing the streets near Thapae Gate yesterday AND being hit on for money by some Burmese guy ( a little bit scary, but I let him know in no uncertain terms, not to mess with me lol), I found a place called NAMO which offers Yoga and Meditation. For 100 baht you can walk in every day and have a Yoga session for 1.5 hours. They also offer Tibetan style mediation classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for 100baht.......so I am sold, will try it out tonight and give the verdict tomorrow.

Sunday Market in Chiang Mai

Sunday Market in Chiang Mai kicks off at about 4pm through until 11pm. This market is "the market" if you want good prices in comparison with the touristy Night Bazaar which is on every evening. Tracy and I went for a 6 hour shopping marathon and only stopped to have dinner with the girls we met on our hill tribe trek. Exhausted we returned back to our sanctuary at the "Green Tulip" and hit the sack.

Hill Tribe Trek Chiang Mai

We decided that a 2 day 1 night trek would be enough for us, especially as I am doing 16 days trekking in Nepal, so it was sure to be a nice warm up! We set off with our guide to the area of Mae Tang where we were to begin our trek. This was approximately a 2 hour drive with a stop at a local market to pick up some fresh fruit. We then visited an elephant camp where we rode on the elephant for about one hour. Tracy sat on the elephants head and rode.....I just couldn't bring myself to do that as I must admit I was feeling a little bit scared, as the track we were on was pretty skinny and it was a long drop. After that we were taken by truck to a waterfall for a swim and cool off which was fantastic. Our guides were diving in off the rocks and sliding down the rocks into the water. It was nice to cool off and muck about in the waterfall because after that we were meeting another group of trekkers for a three hour up hill climb which was pretty intense. Even though the trek was intense and difficult at times it was a great experience and very worthwhile when we reached our destination late in the afternoon. We were welcomed into the Red Lahu Tribal Village by happy little kids holding our hands and accompanying us to our accommodation for the night. Our lodgings were a huge dormitory style bamboo hut with bamboo flooring. There was about 12 of us in total sharing the floor. We were served up the best local dinner ever consisting of a soup and a vegetable stew with rice. Had to go back for seconds it was that good. After dinner we got to sample the local rice wine which was really nice and we had the children from the village come and put on a show for us and sit and play and have photos taken...they were beautiful people, so humble! We all shared stories and laughs into the evening and then called it a night. Next day was all down hill, which in actual fact, was harder than going up hill. It was only a 2 hour trek then driven by truck to the area of the river where we were to do white water rafting. The river was quite low so we got stuck in a few places, but since it was my first experience I was happy for it to be fairly tame. I can't wait now to do it again!! After the white water rafting we swam in the river then did bamboo rafting for a while back to the pick up point to return back to Chiang Mai. We waited at the pick up point for about 2 hours. The guide bought out more rice wine for us, but I declined as I wasn't feeling too great. I found a bamboo structure and shoved my backpack under my head and caught up on some sleep instead, which really helped for the winding truck ride on the way home, where everyone really started to flag and some people felt really sick. The people we met on this trek were great company.