Chiang Mai

We spent two days and three nights in Chiang Mai. Mainly we ate, but we also got up to some pretty cool things. We visited temples, participated in a monk chat (where we talked with a monk to help him practice English), did a bicycle tour of the countryside, went for Thai massages, and visited the night bazaar. 

On our second morning in Chiang Mai we went for a bike tour of the Thai countryside. Our tour group was small - Just the three of us and two other American women who are chefs in NYC. Our group meshed really well, and we had nice time cycling around and chatting with the women and our tour guides.

The tour included several stops at local places of interest. At each location, our guide, a fluent English speaker, would give us information about the place. First we stopped off at a local temple, followed by a rice mill. Our third stop was at a kindergarten, where we brought the kids snacks as a special treat. It was their last day of school before the New Year's holiday. The kids were cute. Bit grubby.

Next we went by a wood carving studio owned by a family. The shop we visited specifically dealt in elephant statues, but one of the women there was producing hawks. The studio's workstation was completely outdoors under a pavilion. We were able to watch women carve details into the sculptures, but we did not see the men, who were across the street doing more of the rough cutting and heavy lifting. The deftness of the female sculptors was astounding, and our guide told us that the family trains its kids from childhood to carve the elephants. They don't go to school, he said, they just learn how to carry on the trade.

Woman carving details into wood hawks

Debbie enjoys a cup of tea in the studio

The final stop on our bike tour was at a place where they make very elaborate wood, paper, and foil "death houses" to house bodies for cremation. The houses are built on request after someone has died, with the elaborate structures taking about three days to build. Once completed, the body of the deceased is placed inside for the funeral pyre.

Some of the more expensive houses were quite large and elaborate. The houses we saw were incredible works of art, and it was a bit sad to know that their purpose is to burn.

Wooden skeletons for the "death houses"

We were relatively tired after our 20km cycle, and chose to get massages in the afternoon. We had heard about a women's prison that has a program to train soon-to-be-released inmates in Thai massage, and we wanted to go there. Unfortunately we couldn't find the place and settled on a spa that employed ex-inmates.

Debbie and I opted for the traditional hour-long Thai massage ($6), while Hannah went for the expensive option, an hour and a half Western style massage + facial ($10).

In other words, Debbie and I shelled out $6 for a combination massage/ torture session. It started out nice, we were told to change into looser clothes, provided by the spa. We locked up our valuables and street clothes and they brought us into a big room with mats on the ground. It was a little odd because there were curtains in the room, but they weren't pulled shut, so I could see everyone else getting their massages. The room was also hot, and I was sweating through the first half hour of the massage.

But that was the least of my worries because the masseuse then began her work. It started out nice, like a normal massage, but some of it was extremely painful. She walked on my calves and quads, pressed her full body weight into my pelvis, cracked all the knuckles in my fingers and toes, and for the cherry on top she sat me up, put a pillow between herself and my back, and laid her whole body weight across my back so that I was physically folded in half. At this point I started going "ow ow ow ow owwww." and I looked over a Debbie, who was laughing....until her masseuse did the same thing to her and we were both crying out in pain. But then it was over, and maybe it was the relief from pain, but my body felt really good.

We celebrated the end of our torture session with Chang beers and nachos at the restaurant across the street as we waited for Hannah to finish off her soothing massage.