Thailand, Chiang Mai

After Sri Lanka we decided to head straight to Chaing Mai, Thailand. We caught a flight at 01:20 from Colombo to Bangkok, where we had an 11 hour wait before our sleeper train to Chaing Mai. We tried several hostels in the hope one would let us check in early and sleep for the afternoon. Everyday Hostel, a 20 minute walk from Hua Lamphong train station, was the one and they also happened to be near a veggie/vegan restaurant that was open for breakfast. So after stuffing our faces with noodles and mock duck we crashed out in a dorm room for a few hours rest. We had pre-booked our second class sleeper train from Bangkok using the 12goAsia website which we had used whilst in Sri Lanka. The sleeper train is a great way to get from north to south in Thailand. They are fairly comfortable and quite cheap (£30 per person). There is something magical about falling asleep in one place and waking up in another that feels more adventurous then catching a flight. Word of warning about the second class sleepers though, they do not turn out or even dim the lights, so bring a sleeping mask! Do make sure to get some food before the train and purchase some water and snacks. There are no vegan options and one vegetarian option which is a ‘breakfast’ consisting of chocolate chip cookies and a piece of banana bread.

We decided that after all the moving about in Sri Lanka we wanted some time to rest and wash our clothes in Chiang Mai, so we booked a little apartment for 2 weeks in an area outside of the old town called Ninman. We really fell in love with this area and enjoyed having the time to explore it properly (and eat in all the restaurants). Our plan was to base out of here and visit other northern towns such as Pai but we ended up falling into this fairly unmotivated state and spent a lot of time sleeping in, playing in the pool all afternoon, and only leaving for dinner at night. Partly this was due to genuine exhaustion: between leaving work and embarking on our travels we had two weeks visiting friends and family in various countries, packing up our lives, and moving out of our flat before spending 3 weeks exploring Sri Lanka, where we hopped from place to place every few days. We absolutely loved our time in Sri Lanka but needed some time to veg out and do absolutely fuck all. This proved a valuable lesson in understanding who we are as people! We discovered that we are not no-plan travelers. Our default state is to get comfy and watch netflix all day so we need something booked to make sure we move on before that mood sets in. Lesson learned our time in Cambodia would involve more activities, travelling, and ‘organised fun’.

Overlooking the city of Chiang Mai, nestled high in the mountain forest is a golden roofed temple, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Legend (via wiki) has it that the temple was founded in 1383 by a monk named Sumanathera. In a dream he was told to go to Pang Cha and look for a relic, this relic was a bone, it glowed and was able to vanish. Sumanathera took the relic to King Dhammaraja, however it showed him no magical properties and so he sent the monk away. King Nu Naone heard of the relic and asked Sumanathera to bring it to him in Lamphun in Northern Thailand. When the bone arrived it broke into two pieces, one piece was enshrined at Wat Suan Dok. The king placed the other piece in the back of a white elephant, which he then released into the jungle. Legend says this white elephant, with a piece of broken bone on its back (believed to be Gautama Buddha’s shoulder bone) climbed the mountain, stopped at the top, trumpeted three times and then died. This was taken to be an omen and so King Nu Naone immediately built a temple where the elephant died. Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is considered one of the most sacred pilgrimage sights in Thailand.

The traditional way of getting to the temple is to hike up the mountain. There is a smaller secret temple on the path up the mountain called Wat Pha Lat. This temple sits on the edge of a river next to a waterfall. The path you follow starts behind Chiang Mai Zoo (don’t go) and is called the Monks trail. There is a map at the start of the hike and from that point to Wat Pha Lat should take 45 minutes. It is fairly steep and rough going, so wear decent shoes. The noise of the cicadas can be fairly overwhelming, the constant, loud, shrill chainsaw of their tymbals hammers at you for the full 45 minute hike.

Wat Pha Lat is spread across several levels and there are many little hidden places to explore. From here it is apparently another 1 hour hike to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. We choose to head to the road and get a taxi to the top, after which there are still over 300 stairs to the temple proper. The views make the long journey more than worth it.

The day before our hike we were picked up in the morning by Aek, the host of a cooking class called Aromdii Cookery School. Along with a lovely Spanish woman we headed to one of the many markets in Chiang Mai old town. Aek took us around the market pointing out any unfamiliar ingredients and explaining the dishes that they are used in. After purchasing the items on our shopping lists we headed to Aek’s home and outdoor kitchen where we met his wife Nok who handles ingredient preparation whilst he teaches. The kitchen is set in their front garden which was a lovely location to spend half the day learning traditional Thai cooking. We have found that one of the benefits of travelling in low season is any tour or activity is usually below capacity so the guides are more attentive and relaxed. We were able to chat about Thai life and the differences between cuisines in our native countries whilst getting one on one help with our cooking. We each got to prepare (and eat) 5 dishes. These were, a side (fresh and fried spring rolls), a soup (hot and sour soup), a main (pad see ew, a flat noodle dish) a curry (massaman curry and Khao soi) and a dessert (sticky rice and mango, fried banana).

First course was fresh spring rolls with a hand-pounded spicey dip, which gained the biggest compliment of the day from Aek (he said “I LOVE THIS” so I guess I’m a Thai chef now…). Alex made fried spring rolls with shrimp.

Second course was soup! We both made the same hot and sour soup but Alex’s included sea creatures whereas mine used a different paste. The vegan paste wasn’t as spicy as the fish based one so I ended up using a fair amount which added a layer of oil over the top of the soup, I thought it added an aesthetic to the dish that Alex’s lacked.

Third was noodles, again we both made the same dish which was pad see ew, this is a stir fried dark soy sauce dish made with large flat noodles. If you have ever eaten drunken noodles then you’ve eaten something very closely related.

Fourth was curry. I made Massaman curry which is a rich mild curry with lots of flavourful spices like nutmeg, mace, cardamon and cloves. Alex cooked up Khao Soi which is a noodle soup dish made using red curry paste. This became one of his favourite things to eat in Thailand.

Fifth and final course was pudding! Blue and white sticky mango rice for me and fried banana for Alex. The rice is made blue by soaking a blue butterfly pea flower in warm water for around 30 minutes and then added the water to the rice for colour. It doesn’t flavour the rice at all but turns it a lovely soft blue colour. If you add lime juice to the mix then it turns purple. Natural magic!

A much used ingrident in Thai cooking is sugar. Aek had a tub of raw cane sugar that had the taste and texture of English fudge, it was delicious, in fact everything we made was delicious and we very merrily rolled back to our apartment and fell into a food coma for the rest of the day.

Our third organised fun activity was visiting the ‘Sticky Waterfall’ – actually Bua Tong waterfalls. We arranged this trip through airbnb and our tour guide was Annie who is maybe 5” in heels and is an endless bundle of energy and knowledge. She is the O.G sticky waterfall guide, plays great tunes on the drive and knows a lot about the legends in the area. One legend was our first stop! This was a cave system where two Lanna princesses are said to have hidden after their kingdom fell to a Burmese army. One of the sisters was called Bua Tong after whom the waterfall and nearby Wat are named. The cave now contains a Buddha statue and is maintained as a sacred space. We then headed over to the waterfalls and nearby crystal clear spring, where Annie told us she had once seen a turtle swimming.

The waterfall is sticky because a calcium rich spring feeds the waterfall and deposits layers of calcium coating forming a spongy sticky surface on the rock that makes climbing near vertical slopes a breeze. The calcium also coats the surrounding trees and any leaves or sticks that fall into the water, making creepy tree bones.  

Clambering up and down a waterfall isn’t the most natural of things for a human to do and it takes a while to convince the brain that walking down a steep rocky slope covered in rushing water with no assistance is fine… It helps if you have an Annie running around with ease, snapping pictures and telling you funny stories. Once that clicks bounding up and down the waterfall was an amazing and unique experience. Included in the tour is lunch at a really lovely guest house, they were kind enough to give us a big bunch of bananas from their garden for free. This was a really amazing day out, not only because you get to play around in a waterfall but also because we got to learn about really interesting local folk lore, told by a great storyteller.

We very much enjoyed our restful time in Chiang Mai but wished we had done a bit more exploration. Northern Thailand has some fascinating history and truly beautiful places to visit. The Nimman area of the city was pretty much perfect for us. It has a high student population which normally comes with a very boujee character. Which means a place teeming with good coffee spots, boutique shops, and gelato places open at 10 o’clock at night selling amazing sorbets. There is a very fancy and modern shopping centre called The Maya which has a great cinema, we spent a couple of hot afternoons seeking refuge in the aircon and standing for the national anthem that plays before every film. There is a cute night market opposite selling sexy coconuts (coconuts without the shells). The evenings in Chiang Mai are really lovely and cool so we spent many of them just wandering around exploring the area and were able to find a bunch of really nice vegan friendly restaurants. Our top food spots in the area are Italics where we went for Alex’s birthday – they do an amazing pesto and have a great chili pasta dish, Janie Scoop for a late night coconut sorbet, GRAPH for some very inventive coffee based concoctions, and salad concept – huge salads what more can you want.

Once we had fully feasted and rested ourselves in Chiang Mai we took the sleeper train back to Bangkok. There we spent 2 days wandering around giant shopping malls trying and failing to replace our broken water filter whilst playing Pokemon Go and drinking one too many lime sprites…