Cooking, Looking and booking

Slavin' over the stove!!
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So we started out by waking up around 10am and getting directly down to the hotel lobby where our ride was awaiting us to go to the Ping river, where we had planned a cruise to and fro a small farm where we could eat the local Koh Soi dish as well as farm fruits and juices. It was pretty interesting to see all the local men fishing, rich/poor residences, riverside hotels, and some river construction to deepen the river in case of flooding.

We then came back to our splendid and trendy hotel, where Cass got in some Z's and I took the oppurtunity to use the gym for a workout. D2 was very trendy and nice hotel to stay at!

Cassie, you so KRAZY
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We caught a truck to our cooking class which was located a ways outside of the city in a local village. We were privledged to be the only ones scheduled for the night class, so we had some hands on training. With one of the funniest personalities we've encountered during the trip, our cooking instructer (as well as our tasty creations) made this a really fun experience! We made, Green Chicken curry, Tom Yam soup, Chicken with cashew nut, Curry paste, and Mango with sticky rice (a Thai desert)!

Havin' some good eatin' after this one, is what she was thinkin'
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At the laundry mat, we finnished our night. It was 9.30pm when we finnished our laundry. We were scheduled to depart with a private guide tomorrow at 5am, so we returned to the hotel room for more Z's.

Our private guide, Oung, must have slept in a little bit, because he didn't arrive until 5.45am. We departed going directly to the top of the mountain in the Chiang Mai hills to the Doi Suthep National park. We enjoyed a sunrise with a small snack (mini bannana's). We then went to a lookout point over a small village, which Oung told us we would visit later to do some shopping and eating. We then did about an hour nature hike through the national park which was a nice little excercise for us! The air is much fresher than in the city up in the mountains (about 1500 meters high).

See the perfect posture, what you will see out of a serious, well manicured chef, much like myself
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We continued the day by checking out the small town that we overlooked, visiting the Doi Suthep temple, and the Kings palace, where he lives in the winter. The steps to the temple were long, the gardens in the Palace were amazing! After these two things we thought we'd go check out a waterfall. When Oung saw a bunch of roudy teenagers playing in the water, below the waterfall he suggested we go to a waterfall in his village 1.5 hours away. We agreed! Off we were to one of the coolest waterfalls I've ever seen. The entire waterfall which totalled about 400m in playable drop. One you could climb like it was a sticky pad.

On the river cruise
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After spending about an hour playing in the water we enjoyed Oung and the local school teachers for a picnic with food, whisky, wine and beer. The kids (almost the entire school at the park too) were very respectful and well behaved.

The faculty invited us back to the school for karaokee and more whisky. We accepted! What a great school and a great bunch of people. We ate and drank some more and talked a lot about culture and their village. They told us we sholdn't bother with trying to catch a train tonight and just spend the rest of our vacation in their village. Although, it was the nicest thing - welcoming us to their home - we declined saying we already bought tickets and had hotel reservations in Bangkok. They said we were welcome back anytime and I got the impression they felt it would be an insult if we weren't back for Thai new year in April!! We exchanged e-mail and mailing addresses then we were on our way.

River cruise photo
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We got to the rain station with only 15 minutes before our 13 hour train to Bangkok, damn city traffic!

The train was obnoxious. Windows were all closed (sealed) because the cabin was air conditioned. Unfortunately we were awoken to extreme heat, b/c the air conditioning broke. It especially sucked because we purposely triple layered in clothes, because the aircon in Thailand means ICEBOX!! We slowly peeled off our clothes and sweat like pigs for a few hours, but finally they stopped and got the AC back on! WHEW!!

Kids playing in the river
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We checked into our hotel room about 10:30 am and napped for a few hours! We then set out and got some food and did some Bangkok style shopping. Which seems to have continued for a few days now. We've taken trains, planes, automobiles, subways, and motorcycle's yet we haven't even put a dent in Bangkok. Yesterday we took the SkyTrain to the river, caught a boat, then walked to the Grand Palace! We then visited Khao San road, and we were both jealous we hadnt picked this hippie/party town to stay in. Everything was cheper, slower (as far as traffic), and just younger! NEXT TIME I GUESS.

Just before sunrise, in the mountains, our last day in Chiang Mai
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We then caught a boat to Chinatown, which either was confusing or just sucked. Flower market was shutting down and seemed like everything else was closed or just lame!

We went back to Sukumvit where our hotel was a walked through our multi national district, got some food and smoked some huka!!

Having a great time!!