Puripunn, The Land of Sharing

After traveling on a tight budget over the past 8 weeks my mother spoiled Jorie and I for 3 days in Chaing Mai. It was a fantastic break from our typical pattern of travel and a great way to celebrate Jorie's 24th birthday. Puripunn Baby Grand Boutique Hotel was a deluxe lap of luxury compared to our normal hostels. The hotel staff was incredibly attentive and thoughtful, they made us feel like royalty. The grounds were so peaceful and beautifully designed, and Jorie was especially into the 3 level pool and the surrounding lounge chairs. We had the most delicious breakfasts each morning; full fruit spread, fluffy waffles, fresh yogurt filled with fruit and so much more that we couldn't even take advantage of all the amazing food they offered. Puripunn, which means the land of sharing, was the most incredible experience to share!

Most of Jorie's birthday was unfortunately spent traveling from Cambodia to Chaing Mai, Thailand. However, once we got to Chaing Mai we celebrated by going to a great restaurant along the river- it was a beautiful evening and finally a comfortable temperature. We also went to the night bazaar and we had a few purchases, but it wasn't as impressive as other markets we have been to. Back at the hotel, fried bananas and ice cream stood in as a birthday dessert, and although it wasn't a traditional American birthday cake it was one of the most incredible desserts ever!

We had 3 rain-free days while exploring the small Thai city located at the base of the mountains. Although we had already ridden elephants we decided to go to the world famous Maesa Elephant Camp. This camp was much bigger and less intimate than our last experience but we attended an impressive show. The elephants were extremely well trained and seemed to be more talented than some humans. Each elephants' personality came through as they showed off their skills, and they were surprisingly communicative and even seemed to have a sense of humor. The performance included elephants: dancing, stealing their mahout's (trainer) hat, playing a harmonica, playing soccer, throwing darts and popping balloons, playing basketball, helping their mahout up onto their backs, giving a massage and painting. Watching the elephants concentrate and work so hard to paint with their trunk was by far the most impressive, and they produced beautiful works of art. After the show the three of us got up close and personal with the big creatures as we each got hugged by their big trunks.

We traveled in the back of a red cover truck (a common taxi form in Chaing Mai) up into the mountains to Doi Suthep temple which over-looks the city. The temple is famous and flocked to by all visiting people and even locals, but after visiting so many temples already we did not find it to be too impressive.

We visited many craft workshops where we saw how the umbrellas, cotton goods, and other crafts are made by hand. Learning how cotton is produced start to finish was impressive and made me appreciate all my cotton cloths even more.

We wandered though the sprawling Sunday Night Market for ages, and it was incredibly over stimulating. Bartering skills are essential for the markets, and we have found that walking away after your last bid is the best trick to see if they will in fact lower the price.

Living in America has given me a craving for diverse foods, so after only being in Asia for a week we had to venture to find western food. We found one of the coolest restaurants, Ginger@Kafe, with amazing decor and incredible food. It was a great change to have a sandwich rather than something with rice.

We spent most of yesterday taking a cooking class with Air's Thai Cooking School. For 2 hours we wandered a local market (very very local, no white people to be found) learning about all their traditional foods. I try very hard in life not to "yuck other peoples yums" but I found quite a few items in the market hard to stomach just by looking at them. The markets consisted of: tons of fruits I didn't even recognize, lots of sticky rice, tons of prepared food that all seemed to be monochromatic brown unidentifiable stir fries, bizarre dessert concoctions that all appeared to have the consistency of flan, a massive meat section (every part of the animal being used including the pigs' heads), chicken feet, frogs, crickets, fried water buffalo skin, congealed chicken blood, cockroaches, and so much more. We learned tons from our chief and it was a true cultural experience. At the cooking school we learned how to prepare the famous Phad Thai, a green curry dish, and Tom Yam (lemon grass sweet and sour soup). My mother was especially thankful to not be cooking the unusual foods we saw at the market. We were able to enjoy the food we cooked for lunch.

We explored more markets and an incredible hill tribe shop. Controlling my mom's spending in the Hill tribe shop was an epic fail, but we all walked out with some incredibly unique items.

We are sending all our purchases and our non-essential cloths home with my mother, so hopefully we will be traveling lighter over the next 4 weeks. Tomorrow we will say goodbye to my mom and hello to Thailand's beaches.