Songkran

Thailand celebrated its New Year, known as Songkran, from April 13th-15th so Meg and I went North to the city of Chiang Mai, supposedly the best place to go to celebrate. We were not disappointed. The city had practically doubled in size due to the festivities. There is a lot of tradition associated with Songkran but primary among them is the water splashing. Since the New Year occurs during the hottest time of the year when it can be as hot as 40°C, it is custom for everyone to douse everyone with water. It's definitely the largest water fight I've ever been involved in. From dusk til dawn for 3 days, people are armed with water guns and buckets, stationed on the side of the road with hoses, or driving around in pickup trucks with barrels of ice cold water, drenching everyone who crosses their path. I was in my glee and it did not take us long to join in the fun. Meg and I had our doubts about the cleanliness of the water since most of it came from a huge moat surrounding the old city - we tried not to think about it. Here is a picture of some kids swimming in the moat - you can see in the background the pickup trucks performing drive-bys.



We stayed at a guest house appropriately called "Riverview Lodge" because it is positioned next to the Mae Ping River. Despite the nice garden, pool, and decent accommodations, neither Meg nor I were impressed with the service so we were on the look out for other places to stay for future visits. It was located next to a massage studio where Meg and I got daily foot and Thai massages. :) Here's a shot of the back of the lodge with Meg sporting her traditional Songkran pants (a gift from our friend Oh):



During the evenings, we'd go to the night markets and bazaars which are better than those in Bangkok. Well, I guess that depends on what you're looking for. If you want fake goods, Bangkok is where you wanna be. However, if you're looking for locally made crafts than Chiang Mai seems to have a lot more of it. With Songkran going on, the streets were packed with hoards of people each night. Here is a typical scene when walking around any of the streets within Old Town:



We did our best to explore Chiang Mai but it was difficult with all the people. The temples were very busy, as Thais visited them to perform traditional Songkran rituals - I won't try to explain them as I don't fully understand the history or significance but it was interesting to observe.



And, of course, we dined at various locations around the city. Our favorite place for food was a Thai/Indian place called "Whole Earth". I had an Indian chicken curry-like dish with garlic naan which was one of the best meals I've had since being here. As for entertainment, "The Riverside" restaurant had live music and was in an open setting on the river which was very relaxing. Our last day there, we went to the Chiang Mai Zoo. None of the animals were particularly active, most likely due to the heat. As cool as they are, the leopards gave me the creeps as they eyed me with the same longing I gave to my delicious "Whole Earth" meal. The Giant Pandas were a treat to see and were very playful.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed Chiang Mai, especially the Songkran festival portion of it. We hope to return soon so we can explore more of the city and surrounding area...maybe when it's a little cooler though.

Muay Thai training

I had my first taste of Muay Thai (i.e. Thai kick boxing) recently when I went to a training camp in Pattaya, which is a 2 hr drive from Bangkok. It was a fantastic complex with 4 rings and lots of trainers to teach you the basics one-on-one. On both days, there were 2 2-hr training sessions. It was a brutally hard workout but by the time it was over, I feel like I had a grasp of the various moves. The trainers were sure to clip me in the head or knee me in the ribs if ever my guard was down. Overall, I can't rave enough about the experience and how cool it was. Hopefully, I'll be able to go back sometime during the summer.

As for Pattaya, I didn't think it were possible to find a bigger party city than Bangkok. It is a city with numerous beach resorts and an obscene number of bars & clubs. Even the congestion of bars and people on George St. during Mardi Gras pales in comparision. If anyone is looking for a place to party 24/7, Pattaya is definitely that place.

Isaan - Northeast Thailand

And finally! The update on my much-talked-about trip to Northeast Thailand, better known as Isaan. Although, I can hardly remember it now! ;) Just kidding.

Well, we started off with an overnight train trip to get to the Isaan region. Gotta say, the train isn't really my thing, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel! In this case, lots of beautiful silk! After a little sleep and relaxation at the hotel, the fun began! Our first stop was a silk producing co-op known to be much more developed than others. We met with the organizer who set-up this co-op to help local women from various villages earn good wages and supplement their family's income. It was really amazing to see how textile products get made. Seriously. Who knew that a woman actually weaved each strand of silk together? Like, EACH strand. It's really crazy. Check this out:

After this visit (and the shopping that ensued) we traveled to another, less developed village nearby. I was excited about this one because I had seen their products before and was absolutely in love with them!

This group uses two different parts of the silk cocoon to weave their scarves. One is the regular part that most weavers use; it's very fine and smooth. But they also use a thicker, more coarse part of the cocoon that ends up as a beautiful, thick, cozy type of fabric! Love. It. Clearly I bought one even though it will be of absolutely no use to me until I'm back to -20 degree temperatures.

The coolest part of this place was just walking around the village. These people have the most exotic fruit just growing all over the place! In the yards, along the streets! It's really amazing. We had mango's, star fruit and a whole bunch of other things I don't know the names of. But they were all really good. We also got to see how silk worms are grown and how they pull the thread from the cocoons! We even got to try! I'm an expert now...


And here are all the yummy scarves! Should have mentioned the Ikat dyeing...so much to tell! To get the pattern you see on the blue wrap in the foreground the women basically use a very complicated form of tie-dying. They dye all the silk one color and then wrap plastic around certain parts of it (before it's woven!) and dye it all again. They do this as many times as there are colors in the design and then basically fit the pieces together like a puzzle when they weave it. I couldn't believe it! Who knew that this stuff was literally HAND done, start to finish.


The second day was spent in the silver-making village of Surin province. This is where the very last master craftsman of a specific style of Khmer silver jewelry lives and works. He's literally the very last person who can do this particular type of craft and is just now working to pass his knowledge on through a program endorsed by the Royal Family. We got a chance to see the groups melt the silver, form it into hundreds of tiny beads, hand-carve the beads and eventually string them together to make gorgeous jewelry. Then I got to make my own earrings to match the necklace I picked out! They also served us the most incredible vegetarian lunch - Tui had been raving about the food all week prior to the trip and I was NOT disappointed! :)

We took a break from visiting villages for a couple of hours so that we could see the ruins of a famous Hindu temple called Phnom Peng. At the height of the site you can actually see the mountains of Cambodia! Wild! Here's me posing for the camera :)

Finally, on our third and final day, we ventured into yet another weaving village. This one, like all the others, had something really unique to teach us. This particular group uses only natural dye for their silk products. Which means the amazing colors come from various leaves, tree bark, flowers, etc. We actually watched them boil a whole bunch of tree bark and then dye a TONNE of silk an amazing bright orange! After the demonstration they walked through the village with us to show where each color comes from. Here's a green that I liked a lot along with the leaf they use to get the color:

So basically this trip consisted of me saying "Seriously?!?!" a whole lot. I also bought a lot ;) I mean, how could I not?! After seeing the women stitch and weave and dye and design all by hand in the backyards of their little bamboo homes practically in the middle of nowhere. I was basically in awe. Hopefully I'll get to go on another trip really soon! There are so many places and groups to see! Not to mention silk products to buy...

Here's all the rest of my pics...you'll be able to see all the stuff I just rambled on about ;)

Oprah

Ok People. I've just discovered the absolute best part of changing apartments: Satellite. No joke. As I write this I'm watching Oprah for the first time in 5 months. And you just cannot understand the joy it brings me. Commercial break's over! ;)

I'm a terrible Blogger

To the few (very few :-P) who check this blog for updates regularly, I apologize. I've been a very bad blogger lately. Life is more hectic now that i actually have to work (shesh!). And that work has me on the road quite regularly. I've also recently lost a dear loved one...my 7 year old computer. She took her last breath a few weeks ago leaving me stranded with no reliable means of communicating with you! I have some very exciting things to tell you about though, or at least I think they are very exciting, such as my recent trip to Northeast Thailand and our impending move to (yet another) apartment. We're also heading up North this Sunday for the Thai New Year (Songkran Festival) and will of course have much to report about that! However, at the moment I am at work. Just stealing a few moments to say hello :)

Indonesian corruption

Since moving to Southeast Asia, Meg and I have heard rumours about the rampant corruption in just about every government institution. Not that Canada's government is squeaky clean or anything but I don't think it's quite as prevalent as it is here.

Anyway, I have been in Jakarta (located in Indonesia) for the last few days on business. Friday night, I was in a taxi with some co-workers, heading back to our hotel after being out to dinner with some clients. We were stopped at a police roadblock on a practically deserted road, void of much traffic. They asked for our passports. Ten minutes later, the policeman returned, speaking in very broken English. We couldn't quite understand what he was saying but it was evident there was a problem. Apparently, it required a "fee" before our ids would be returned.

So, it wasn't exactly the most comfortable situation I've ever been in. We suspect the cabbie might have been paid a kickback for talking an alternate route back to the hotel which conveniently had a police roadblock. Anyway, everything eventually worked out...although my wallet is a little lighter.