Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is the main city of northern Thailand. This was one of my favourite places on our trip - the north is full of cooler temperatures, mountains, beautiful national parks. . . I felt like I could come back and spend a lot of time just wandering around. Chiang Mai is an old walled city built in 1296 (it's name means "New City") and situated on ancient trade routes. Today it is modern and very resort-y feeling, with very few high rises and lots of outdoor restaurants, bars and markets. It was nice to get out of the smog and chaos of Bangkok and spend some time here, although this was one of those places where I left wishing I had more time to explore it.











Elephant trekking :D We got the baby one, and all he wanted to do was eat. It was quite adorable. We also went trekking and bamboo rafting (decided to leave my camera out for that).
The stunning temple known as Wat Phra Doi Suthep. This is the most important Buddhist temple of northern Thailand. Legend says that worshipers placed an image of Buddha on the back of an elephant and followed it around until it trumpeted and laid down, thus marking the site of the temple. The main spire is surrounded by bells donated by worshipers, which people walked around and ring (see left), giving the site a magical sound.











Welcome to Thai cooking class! We took a day-long course and cooked a number of amazing dishes:
Pad Thai
Spring rolls
Green curry
Tom Kha soup
Cashew chicken
Mango sticky rice
Thai food is rich, fragrant and super flavourful - lots of curry, lemongrass, coconut milk. . . check out the other local specialties below:
Singha Beer - Thailand's most popular brand











Left: Mead wine, made from honey
Right: At "Just Khao Soy", a restaurant that took simple, northern-style street food, known as Khao Soy, and turned it into a culinary adventure. It is basically curry sauce and egg noodles, with a lot of little "extras" on the side (yes, it requires a bib).
I will definitely be cooking when I come home to Canada. As long as I don't forget everything in the meantime!