Youngs Around the World

We arrived via overnight train from Bangkok and took a taxi to the Chiang Mai White House, our budget hotel of choice, inside the Old City. The Chiang Mai province is surrounded by forest-covered mountains and edged by a river. The Old City is a large square-shaped area enclosed by a moat and the ruined remnants of a thick stone wall. It is clean and beautiful with a vibrant café culture, Thai massage parlors on almost every block, over three hundred temples, street vendors and a broad selection of restaurants and a host of western amenities. The population seems young and energetic; the streets are crowded with teens and twentysomethings weaving through traffic on mopeds. Young girls in smart school uniforms of white blouses and black pleated skirts with white ankle socks and heeled shoes ride two or three to a bike. The boys are all sporting blue jeans and trendy layered haircuts, which undoubtedly require more hairspray than their girlfriends’ dos. There is an endearing wholesomeness about Chiang Mai and everyone is smiling.

After settling into our room, we rented a moped for the day and headed northwest through town and up a winding mountain road to Doi Suthep, a peak named after an old hermit who lived there for many years. Near the top is a Buddhist temple compound called Wat Phra That Soi Duthep. We parked the moped and wandered through the vendor stalls at the temple entrance, indulging in fresh pineapple and strawberries to energize ourselves for the 306 stairs leading up to the temple. The compound boasted flowery courtyards, ornate temples with large gold Buddha statues, the International Buddhism Center with throngs of crew-cut Buddhist monks in their traditional orange robes, and picturesque views of Chiang Mai in a pastel haze.

Back down the mountain, we spent the afternoon touring a host of other Buddhist temples until we were effectively “Buddhaed out”. The temples were all gorgeous, designed with exquisite curves and inordinate amounts of gold, and smelling pleasantly of incense and fresh flowers. There are always as many tourists as worshippers yet the Buddhists still manage to avoid (or mute) the annoying commercialism that one encounters at the Hindu temples in India. As a visitor, you can quietly, respectfully view the Buddhist temples without being hit up for official and unofficial donations, although there is always a contribution box in sight. Among the temples that we visited were Wat Phra Singh, which houses the city’s most revered Buddha image – the Lion Buddha; and Wat Chedi Luang, an impressive elevated temple complex, now in partial ruins, which formerly housed the “Emerald” Buddha (now in Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok).

That evening, we ventured out to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar – a buzzing outdoor market with hundreds of merchant stalls selling Thai handicrafts, designer knockoffs, colorful Thai silks, jewelry and antiques. The stalls are alight from sunset until midnight, every night of the year. There are indoor and outdoor food stalls and restaurants with open patio seating offering every cuisine from Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese to German, American and Mediterranean. We perused the merchant wares and sampled our first local beers – Chang and Singha – which both taste similar to Bud Light and go down just as easily. Our favorite food stall was the rotee cart. Rotee is very similar to the dessert version of the Zanzibar pizza – a pocket of fresh fried dough, stuffed with banana and egg or banana and chocolate, drizzled generously with thick, sweet milk and sprinkled with sugar. I can feel my derriere expanding with each sugary bite of the sweet fried dough but decide that it is worth it! Mentally, I plan to do a lot of walking in Chiang Mai to counteract the Pad Thai and rotee.

The next day was the first of three days of the annual Chiang Mai Flower Festival and it rained almost all day. We had begun to walk to the festival at Buak Hat Park, near the southwestern corner of the city, but when the light drizzle increased to a steady downpour, we ducked into a nearby hotel restaurant and took advantage of their free Wi-Fi for the next four hours. Just outside the window of the restaurant was a small multi-colored house on a stand, resembling a bird house or a decorative mailbox. It was adorned with fresh flowers and offerings of fresh fruit. We have begun to see these everywhere – in storefronts and front yards. I think that they are little Buddhist shrines and have seen them with offerings as elaborate as a full Christmas dinner.

Finally, the rain subsided and we continued on to the festival. It had a small town feel, encompassing the two outer streets bordering the park and a good half of the park’s interior. The streets were lined on one side with elaborate displays of beautiful bright tropical flowers, including an impressive variety of orchids. Many of the displays were constructed as arbors with small benches, inviting passersby to snap photos of themselves in a garden paradise. We were among those who couldn’t resist; everyone seemed to be having fun with the exhibits, posing and laughing in spite of themselves. The opposite side of the street was the real highlight of the festival, however – the food vendors! Grilled squid skewers, sushi, every imaginable variety of skewered and deep fried meats and seafood, fresh fruit, roasted nuts, Pad Thai, and rotee, donuts, and other sugary Thai sweets called to us from street carts as we tried, unsuccessfully, to resist.

Inside the park, I sat down for the most disappointing foot massage of my life while Aaron perused more vendor stalls. He returned with a smile to the massage tent and ushered me to a booth that was taking donations to help the stray dog population in Chiang Mai. Like India, the city has no animal control and mangy muts roam the streets in search of food, water and love. Aaron made a donation with the money he would have otherwise spent on a massage and I got the t-shirt.

Overall the Flower Festival was a great time. It is always nice when the timing of our stay in a place coincides with one of its special events. The tropical flowers were spectacular and the event itself was beautiful and wholesome. Chiang Mai seems like the kind of place that you would want to raise a family.

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