Chiang Mai, Thailand's cultural center

Chang Mai Temple
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Chiang Mai is an amazing place! Peter and I love it. The climate is a little less intense then Bangkok (still 87 degrees at night with 80percent humidity), at least you don't feel like your walking into a dense fog of heat, well not as much anyways. Chiang Mai has more than 300 temples!!! It feels as though there are five on every block. The old city is a square bounded by a moat, a rather large square about 10 blocks on all sides. There is reminisce of the old wall that was on the inside of the moats, which was built 700 years ago to defend against the Burmese. The old city contains small streets with motor bikes flying past you. The city is a real character of Thailand.

Riding in the truck taxi
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While Chiang Mai is a tourist destination you really wouldn't know it. The people are extremely friendly and other then the large number of travel agencies there real isn't a tourist area.

We took a cooking class and from the moment we met our instructor it felt as though we had known her for years. The instructor Kata was also the owner of the cooking school and because there were no other people scheduled for that day we had her all to our self. We started off with a tour of the local market. The food was so unbelievably fresh! We went over all the local Thai veggies (we had never seen most of them) and moved on to the fresh tofu, the machine that grounded the coconut to make fresh coconut milk and cream, the fresh meats and fish, and of course the local fruit (omg...amazing). We then spent the rest of the day in the kitchen. We made six dishes: Spicy Shrimp Soup, Pad Thi, Red Curry with chicken, Morning Glory on Fire (a frayed vegi), a noddle salad, and banana in coconut milk. All were amazing and surprisingly easy to make (no kidding). Our favorite dish was the Soup, all fresh ingredients and a beautiful flavor. We can't wait to make it at home, hopefully it will taste as good.

Giant in the circus
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Other then that we have been spending the days walking around the city looking into bookshops (a strange plethora of them around the city, why sus likes the city so much) and just enjoying the food.

Next stop is going to be Pai. Its said to be a completely hippy town and will give you a flash back to the '70s. Considering we were both born in the '80s I will have to let you guys that where born 'way back when' to make the final call from the photos.