Today was incredibly jam packed with amazing experiences in Chiang Mai. We arrived by train at about 10:00 am, making the train ride last about 14 hours or so.
Chiang Mai seemed so much more laid back than Bangkok, and it definitely is. People are friendlier, the scam attempts are fewer, and the traffic isn't nearly as horrendous (although it is still daunting).
We began our experience in Chiang Mai how we have spent the beginning of most of our experiences thus far: lost. We had a map of Chiang Mai, but it was difficult to locate ourselves on it. We thought we would be able to walk from the train station to our guesthouse, but we were further away than we thought.
We ended up getting flagged down by a truck taxi who knew exactly where Julie's guesthouse was. We paid him 150 baht for the lift (overpriced, but we didn't care at this point).
Julie's guesthouse is a really neat place. It has a very social and laid back vibe. The staff are mostly Thai people, but they seem so used to travelers that it's easy to mistake the two. Everything is put on a tab, so we just pay at the end of our stay (including food, water, snacks, etc.)
After we settled into our rooms, and after eating lunch at Julie's, we decided to go get a massage. There are several massage parlors which are suggested in Lonely Planet, but one seemed most interesting to us. The Thai Massage Conservation Club hires only blind men and women as masseuses. It allows such people, who might otherwise be on the streets, to have a source of income and a place in society. They're incredibly good at what they do partially because their blindness gives them a heightened sense of touch. The guy who gave me a massage did an amazing job and rubbing out all of the knots and kinks. I'm not going to lie, there were some points during the massage that I found extremely painful, not because he wasn't doing a good job, but because he was doing a good job. I left the massage parlor feeling like my muscles were ten times as soft as they were when I went in.
After the massage, we wandered around looking for a place to eat. We visited a few temples and then found a small little cafe in an isolated alley way. The cafe was full of a bunch of terra cotta clay statues. Trees were growing from the ground of the inside of the cafe out through the roof. What a beautiful cafe, I thought to myself. There were only two selections for food: Green curry with chicken, or red curry with pork. I got the latter, and I am glad I did. It was one of the best meals I've had in Thailand. The Thai women who owned the cafe seemed so appreciative of our business. I had the impression that her cafe wasn't very profitable. She gave us a bunch of butter cookies as a token of her appreciation. Her kindness melted me.
On the way back to our guesthouse, I bought some coconut juice. In Thailand, there are vendors all over the place who sell whole coconuts to people for the juice. Upon purchasing one, the vendor cuts around the very top of the coconut and then inserts a straw. Fresh coconut juice is remarkable. And, it's a natural laxative ;)
At this point, the time was 5:00 pm. We had planned on going to the night bazaar (night market), but it didn't start until 7:00 pm. We went back to Julie's to hang out until then.
While back at the guesthouse, we got some food, and decided to go to a local Muay Thai fight after visiting the market. We also met some young Canadian women named Janna and Valerie. They seemed very nice. They accompanied us to the night market.
The night market was very touristic. Touristic (generally inauthentic) souvenirs of all sorts lined the booths of the streets. The vibrant colors and pleasant smells were the best part of the whole thing. We found this fantastic little booth which sold crepes with bananas and a choice of topping (peanut butter, honey, nutella, etc.). I got the nutella and was not at all disappointed. As I was waiting for my food, a man approached me. He looked foreign, and I was quite surprised to hear him as me a question in flawless, American-accented English. I was even more surprised to learn that he had never stepped foot in America. He was born in Thailand, but moved to Sweden about 8 years prior. He was back in his hometown of Chiang Mai with his Swedish girlfriend. He learned his perfect American English from watching movies and listening to music. His name was Suriyan.
Suriyan gave me a whole new perspective on how some people perceive the United States of America. I could tell that he was extraordinarily fascinated with our culture and people. He knew about our flaws (obesity, ignorance of the outside world, the tendency to always intrude into the business of every country in the world), but he loved our positive attributes (especially the arts). We had an hour long conversation with Suriyan about American movies and music. He is planning to come visit the U.S. in a couple of years after he saves up some money.
We ended the night by going to a Muay Thai fight. It cost us about 400 baht ($11 or so) to get in. At first, we were all very skeptical as to whether or not the fight was real. There were so many tourists there which was why we weren't sure. After 8 fights, and after talking to some Europeans who participated in the fighting, we came to the conclusion that the fights were, in fact, real. It was pretty intense. I found it quite fascinating to watch this form of fighting that is so much a part of Thai culture. Thais love Muay Thai. Many of them live and breath it. If you don't know what Muay Thai is, research it.
I slept like a lamb that night.
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