Reflections on one of our best weeks during our travels in Chiang Mai. Being in nature, riding elephants, and visiting more temples was good; however making new friends, reuniting with old, and trying out some good (non-Thai) food is what will remain in our memories. Everyone's got a story in Chiang Mai.
MAKING NEW FRIENDS
Interacting with locals solidifies our love for this place even more. It's amazing how warm and welcoming they are. They don't have a lot but everyone seems genuinely happy and content. Perhaps it's the Buddhist way.
Interacting with locals solidifies our love for this place even more. It's amazing how warm and welcoming they are. They don't have a lot but everyone seems genuinely happy and content. Perhaps it's the Buddhist way.
Also, meeting foreigners in places like Chiang Mai is fun because everyone is from somewhere and has an interesting story to tell. Uninteresting people do not usually trek to places like Chiang Mai, and for certain, uninteresting people do not end up staying in Chiang Mai.
Some of the stories are probably renditions of a semi-truth but highly entertaining, such as the guy we met who claims to have been put in an Istanbul prison back in 1967 (before the Midnight Express movie), then gotten off on a 'technicality', only to have his passport revoked by the US government for 'not being a good representation of the US abroad'. Seeing enough Americans making fools of themselves overseas, we wondered what it took to earn that 'special' status. Well, he obviously got his passport back because he's been hanging out between Thailand and Korea for awhile.
Overall, the folks we've met from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Holland, China, Germany, Switzerland, England, and of course a few expats from the good ol' USofA, all have a story to tell.
The only question off-limits is the finances. We have no idea how these people live here for months and years without seeming to hold down any kind of job. No one talks about "what do you do for a living?", money, status, whatever...nor does anyone care.
Many of these story-telling encounters were facilitated by our new Thai friend, Ben's Cocktail Bar. The 6-seater streetside bar in a U-shape was the perfect place to shoot the breeze with all kinds of people. We also became a regular (well, at least for a week anyway). It felt like an international version of the Cheers bar, "where everyone knows your name".
Ben has been running this bar for 4-years and she definitely makes the best cocktails in Chiang Mai. She's a former tailor and still does some tailoring on the side. She's been open almost every night except for the 7 Buddhist holidays where bars are closed, and when she goes on her volunteer trips in Thailand to help the needy. She is a firecracker of a lady who definitely holds her own with some of the rowdy customers. And, everyone loves her little dog, Yan.
Believe it or not, there were people we met outside of the bar, too! The British couple - healthcare missionaries in Bangladesh for the Baptist Mission - had a compelling story when they fled with just a suitcase and their 18-month old baby when the Islamic extremist uprising became too dangerous for them. They came to Thailand to wait-it-out and figure out their next step.
We also got to know an Australian brother and sister who have lived between Thailand and Australia all their lives. In fact, the brother was born in Thailand, so his Thai language is near-perfect, which sounds very interesting coming from a blonde kid. This year, they are in Chiang Mai as volunteers for a non-denominational church group.
We were intrigued by all the opportunities and reasons for how Chiang Mai has drawn these people in.
REUNITING WITH OLD FRIENDS
This kind of congenial atmosphere draws people like my longtime friend, Travis, to visit Thailand over and over again. It's almost his second home. Our meeting was purely coincidental. Due to the power of Facebook, we found out he was in Thailand, one thing led to another, and we ended up reuniting in Chiang Mai. How cool is that? A few Mekong whiskeys later, we were reminiscing about our high school days and a good time was had by all.
A TASTE OF NON-THAI FOOD IN CHIANG MAI
We really love Thai food, but not every meal, every day.
Fortunately, when a place draws in lots of expats and travelers, the cuisine eventually becomes quite international as well. Expats usually start their own restaurants, craving their homeland food that they can't find in their new country. As a result, we have enjoyed sampling the various all-American food, BBQ, Mexican, Burmese, and Italian food.
The only other place we've visited with as much variety (and consistently good) in non-local cuisine is Baños de Agua Santa in Ecuador. Our other favorite place in the world.
Here's a few places we enjoyed for non-Thai food in Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai Saloon
Owned by a Texan. Large all-American menu. Fixed our craving with southern style fried chicken, mashed potatoes, baked potato, meatloaf, brats, etc.
Three Little Pigs and El Diablo
Owned by Richard from Ashland, Alabama. Before settling in Thailand, he lived in Burma for 8 years to get away from the stressors of American life. He taught English there and tried to open a restaurant but was impossible to maintain without reliable electricity and supply chain. Before that, he had experience running a restaurant in New Orleans. Richard owns both Three Little Pigs, a southern BBQ and New Orleans cuisine kinda place, and El Diablo - his original Mexican restaurant. Last year, he grew a beard and all the locals thought he was Santa Claus and wanted to take a picture with him, so he decided not to shave the beard and have kept up the appearance.
My Place Lounge
We met Russ on one of our last days in Chiang Mai. He is a former Hollywood studio producer (have you heard of Rambo 4, Street Fighter?), turned expat, turned restaurant owner in Chiang Mai. It was a very comfortable bar/restaurant. He started the place as just a bar, then started serving some panini sandwiches, the first one being the Chiang Mai Panini with Thai spicy sausage and green curry paste. The sandwich and Thai flavors tasted strange at first, but we loved it.
The Swan Burmese
Okay, it's Asian food but not Thai. The first time we had Burmese food was at Burma Superstar in San Francisco. The pickled/fermented tea leaf salad was so good, we've dreamt about it ever since. Now that we are only 2 hours away from the Myanmar border, we located The Swan and had two of the best meals we've ever had. The food is hard to describe. It's definitely Asian but a fusion between Indian and Thai, but different. It's the most interesting and complex flavors and we highly recommend trying Burmese food if you ever get a chance.
