Chiang Mai, Thailand

Our first day in Chiang Mai was pretty uneventful, we walked around the city like zombies, still knackered from our terrible sleep on the night train. we decided to get some comfort food, something from home we’d not had in a while, a sandwich! We should have known it was a little too good to be true, the bread was once again sweet bread and we paid twice what local food would have cost us for this disappointment. I would like to say we’ve learnt our lesson, but sometimes it just looks so delicious and when it’s been weeks or sometimes months since we’ve had it we get drawn in!

After sleeping most of the afternoon we finally felt human again around dinner time and decided to try out a restaurant we had heard rave reviews about from critics and other travelers alike. It boasted the nicest massaman curry in Thailand. So when we got there that’s exactly what I ordered. The waiter asked if I would like a small medium or large portion and I opted for medium after our disappointing lunch. It turns out medium was enough to feed a family of four! Luckily it was absolutely delicious so I managed nearly two people’s worth and Grace also selflessly helped a bit too. She had chosen one of her favourite Thai dishes, one we don’t see much in the UK and mostly only see in the north of Thailand. Khao Soi, it’s a cross between a curry and a soup, with noodles on the bottom and fried crispy noodles on the top. It was also delicious, the restaurant really lived up to the reviews!

On our second day in Chiang Mai we signed up for a tour, we were told we would be doing a hike to the highest point in Vietnam and around a waterfall but that wasn’t quite the case. Instead our first stop was being driven to a waterfall, it was very pretty and we did get to walk around it and do a quick 10 minute walk around it but after that it was back on the bus.

Our next stop was the kind and queen peaks, beautiful monuments to the previous reigning king and his wife one situated at either side of some beautiful flower gardens. The deceased former king was already placed in his monument but the queen was not as she was currently still alive and I don’t think she would take too kindly to being buried there just yet!

Our next stop was the highest point in Thailand, unfortunately we were again driven there instead of hiking it, but it was still cool to see. It’s also the coldest point in Thailand at around 17°c and the Thai tourists were loving it with thick jackets on and remarking how it was like Aircon but in nature! After this visit we did finally get to do a hike for around two hours which was pretty cool, we got to see some cool sights and Grace also got to use a cool walking stick which she enjoyed and I spent a big part of the walk almost tripping over.

After the hike we were taken to a local market and got to try lots of different free samples, I ended up buying some chewy dried mango pieces and a mango wine, which I ended up carrying around in my bag for two weeks until I realised it had gone off when I finally wanted a glass!

Our last stop was to a local tribe who had migrated to Thailand from Myanmar and had previously made a living growing opiates but now farmed coffee. I say used to, they did offer for us to buy some opiates and when we said no they claimed to be joking but we weren’t entirely convinced! It was interesting though and they told us how the local community had helped them learn a substainable legal trade.

All in all it was a good day although we did feel a bit like we were on the tourist convaioir belt. Although the day wasn’t wasted, we finally got to try the famous (amounts backpackers at least) 7/11 cheese toasty. It’s just a cheese and ham tosty you can buy in 7/11 convenience stores that they heat up for you. We had first heard about it from backpackers all the way over in central America and had laughed at one guy who suggested it was a staple of visiting Thailand but once we got here we heard a lot of hype about it. Surprisingly it really lived up to the hype it was super cheesy and delicious, I would definitely eat it again!

Our third day in Chiang Mai was based on more traditional food. We had booked onto a cooking course with a woman named Benny. Grace had done the course with her the last time she was in Thailand, several years ago, and still raves about it to this day as one of her favourite things she did while traveling. Obviously we had to book onto the course. A guy called AJ who we met in Bangkok was also keen to join us after hearing Grace’s raving review.

We were picked up in a tuk tuk and taken straight to a local market where Benny walked us around pointing out various herbs and vegetables we hadn’t seen before and showing us how the coconut milk we would be using was made and which chillies are best for different dishes. She also let us try anything we saw that looked good including some mini oval pancakes and a delicious spicy Chiang Mai sausage. We also saw some pink eggs and Benny explained the local taste for salted and fermented eggs and cracked some open for us to try. The salted eggs were a bit gross and I could tell from the smell of the fermented egg it was not the one for me!

After we had brought all of the things we needed from the market we drove back to Benny’s house where her and her partner had prepared a cooking area in her beautiful garden overlooking a rice paddy. We would each get to cook 5 courses from scratch: a soup, a satay stick, a curry paste which we used to make a curry, a noodle dish and a dessert.

We were each allowed to pick a different soup, meat to satay, noodle dish, curry and dessert dish. So me and Grace picked different ones for each to maximize our knowledge. We learnt so much, Benny was a great teacher and made it all so easy, I left feeling I could easily replicate the dishes at home with the right ingredients, time will tell if that’s true! The food itself was delicious, but Benny’s inside was the most interesting part she was telling us about how different dishes originated, what areas prefer what food and also just general information about Thailand and the Songkran festival that was currently happening.

Songkran is the traditional new year celebration for the Thai calender, it is traditionally to splash Somone with water to wash away their sins and normally cities all over Thailand have a massive city wide water fight. Unfortunately this was cancelled this year because of COVID.

Benny was also asking us about life in England and what people are there and how they cooked it. I was saying how my favourite meat was lamb and Benny commented that she had never had it as it was so expensive here but she had always wanted to try it as many tourists claim it is their favourite.

After several hours of cooking we finally got to eat our feast of 5 courses and Benny gave us free drinks, it was such a fun day we had really enjoyed it and so did Benny. She asked us if we would like to go for drinks with her and her partner Nan the following evening, they said they would show us some of the Songkran parties that were still going ahead against the rules. We agreed and also found a french restaurant that served Lamb and offered to treat them for dinner too. So we settled that they would pick us up at 6pm the following evening.

The next day was pretty uneventful for us, we spent it planning and doing laundry and general life admin. At 6pm we were picked up and headed to the French restaurant, Benny was super excited to try lamb but also felt very guilty as it was so ‘expensive’, which it is for Thailand, dinner and a drink here will normally cost around £2 where as lamb, which is not farmed here and has to be imported in is a bit more expensive, but for us as westerners it is still cheap. We ended up having four mains including lamb stew and a leg of lamb, a bottle of wine, four soft drinks, a bottle of water and four deserts and it came to £38! Less than £10 per person. Benny reeealllly liked the lamb and it was an experience to watch her taste it and try the texture and taste of it with and without other parts of the meal. It was honestly worth more than £10 to see her enjoyment!

After the meal they took us to a huge local club called warm up cafe which is a really famous club in Thailand but not on the tourist radar at all, we were the only non-thai people in the place. We had to do a covid test on entry which was a very surreal experience but once we got in it was really fun! Benny and Nan wouldn’t let us but a drink the whole night, they got us Thai rum and some coke to mix it with and we listened to some Thai bands and then had a bit of a dance in the air conditioned dancefloor.

Once that closed, we headed to the more touristy bar area and to a club called Zoe in yellow where the water fight was well in swing and they had a street party with giant sprinklers pumping water over the street, we got absolutely soaked but it was so fun!

A great end to our time in Chiang Mai, next we’ll be heading down south to explore some of the beautiful islands!

I’ll tell you all about it soon, lots of love, Alice x