I’ve been to 7 countries since leaving New York almost a year ago. But, Thailand has been my home. Really Chiang Mai has been home, even though the only full month I spent in the city was November. Actually, I camped overnight at Doi Inthanon. So technically, I never spent a full month in Chiang Mai. That, together with the fact that I’ve mostly stayed … Continue reading Goodbye Thailand!
Sawadee pee mai! (That’s Happy New Year in Thai.) Songkran is the celebration of the new year in Thailand. The year is 2560 BE, Buddhist Era. Thai people spend time with family, visit local temples, and offer food to Buddhist monks. People pour water on Buddha statues, representing purification and the washing away of your sins and bad luck. To show respect, young people also … Continue reading Songkran!
Chiang Mai has been my home for the past 6 months. Every time I go somewhere new, I come back. That seems to be common here. People talk about getting stuck in this city, but not in a bad way. Founded in 1296, Chiang Mai was the capital of the Lanna Kingdom for a few hundred years. Before becoming a unified country, the land that … Continue reading Chiang Mai, Rose of the North
Written while sitting at a nightly, pop-up restaurant on a sidewalk, next to a busy road. Something I’ve noticed about Chiang Mai (maybe Thailand in general), is the night food scene. New York may have mastered the $1 slice of pizza available until dawn, but in Chiang Mai you can get a whole plate of Pad Thai. Food is cheap here, and available everywhere, at … Continue reading Chiang Mai Street Food
I’ve been told that if you come to Chiang Mai without going to Doi Suthep, then you haven’t really been to Chiang Mai. I’ve now been 7 times. This weekend’s most recent trip was different from the others because I walked all the way up the mountain to the temple at the top. The Doi Suthep Walkers hike the trail to the temple at the … Continue reading I Walked ALLLLL the Way to the Top
The name of this holiday literally translates to “float a basket”. And that is what I did. There are a few different ideas about what the festival celebrates. Most say the festival comes from an ancient ritual of paying respect to the water spirits. In addition to that you cast a krathong into the river to make a wish or cast away your sins or … Continue reading Loy Krathong
Doi Intahnon is the tallest mountain in Thailand. It’s known as “the roof of Thailand,” and it’s only about 2 hours outside Chiang Mai. Luckily Nina has a car, which makes short trips like this a piece of cake. Well…almost. It’s an old car and it works so hard to carry us all over town. Driving up the tallest mountain in Thailand would take a … Continue reading Greetings from the Roof of Thailand!
Ok, so this wasn’t my first massage. It wasn’t even my first Thai massage. For my 20th birthday my mom and I got massages at Elizabeth Arden. I don’t remember specifics, but I don’t remember being overly impressed either. Content though. When I was in Casablanca I went to a hammam. That experience is a story in and of itself. The massage though, was…..unpleasant. A … Continue reading A Thai Massage
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