Max and I got to Chiang Mai on Sunday afternoon, but due to some unfortunate food choices at the Phuket airport, we really didn't get beyond our rooms until Monday (for me) and Tuesday (for Max). Feeling better, we rented scooters for the day (200 baht ~ $6) and rode with Ian and Tee out to Mae Rim and points beyond. Traffic in and around Chiang Mai is chaotic at best, and had the feeling of a bad video game (since you only get one life, and no chance to start over).
We had to make a stop at Tiger Kingdom, which I think is mandatory for all newcomers to Chaing Mai and Mae Rim. They had three white tigers this time that I didn't see my last time through. The biggest tiger that we got to play with was 200kg (~450lb) at only 19 months old - the same age as my puppy, Ryder. Wonderful creatures!
From Tiger Kingdom, it's only a 5 minute ride to the Taylor/Phiphawee homestead in Mae Rim. Two years ago, it was a semi-dried out rice paddy. With 700 dump trucks of fill, a few baht passed under that table to local officials to obtain permits, and many many man-hours of labor, the garage, restaurant, home, and first bungalow are all coming together. Note that 11 y/o Audi from two years ago has grown into a tall caucasion man, but Ian still hasn't changed his shirt.
We had to make a stop at Tiger Kingdom, which I think is mandatory for all newcomers to Chaing Mai and Mae Rim. They had three white tigers this time that I didn't see my last time through. The biggest tiger that we got to play with was 200kg (~450lb) at only 19 months old - the same age as my puppy, Ryder. Wonderful creatures!
From Tiger Kingdom, it's only a 5 minute ride to the Taylor/Phiphawee homestead in Mae Rim. Two years ago, it was a semi-dried out rice paddy. With 700 dump trucks of fill, a few baht passed under that table to local officials to obtain permits, and many many man-hours of labor, the garage, restaurant, home, and first bungalow are all coming together. Note that 11 y/o Audi from two years ago has grown into a tall caucasion man, but Ian still hasn't changed his shirt.
We made a quick stop at Tee's family home, and got to say hello to her mother and to her dog, DukDik. Neither had moved or changed in two years.
From Mae Rim, we scooted up to the top of a nearby "mountain" (I called it a hill, but was told that it is a mountain - all relative) to a place called Mon Cham which has become a favorite place for Ian and Tee to go. At ~4,500 feet elevation, it is about on par with Paradise on Mt. Rainier, so it is up there and the scooters worked hard with constantly climbing switchbacks.
Mon Cham is inhabited by Hmong tribespeople, and overlooks beautiful terraced hills where all sorts of produce is grown. We had a wonderful meal up there, and actually started to get chilly once the sun moved behind the restaurant and put us in the shade.
Tonight, we're heading to the boxing stadium for some Muay Thai fights. Should have some "colorful" pictures to post tomorrow...
No comments:
Post a Comment