At the temples in Chiang Mai
Nicola showing off her dishes at Cooking Class
Snackin' on Crickets at a local market....yummy
Temples at the Grand Palace
More pictures of the Grand Palace
Statues at the Grand Palace
The Giant Recline BuddhaWell this is likely to be the last blog for our trip across Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Thailand. A bitter-sweet moment for sure. We have been having an absolute blast on this trip and have learned and seen so much. On the other hand it's been months since we've seen most of our friends and our families and it will be great to come home, especially just in time for Christmas.
Since the last post we've spent 5 days in Thailand's Northern region in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is certainly a different place than the rest of Thailand, originally it was quite separated from the rest of the country, having it's own language and other characteristics. Today it is very much a part of Thailand, but retains it's own unique feel. The air was a little cleaner and the people were quite a bit more relaxed in Chiang Mai, enjoying the beautiful jungles and mountains as backdrops to the city. While in Chiang Mai we went on a city tour and a tour of the many famous temples. There are literally hundreds of Temples in Chiang Mai, but we went to see the most popular ones, and one high up in the mountain over looking the city. We also took in a cooking class at one of the local cooking schools. Our small group of 5 got to pick out 4 dishes from a cookbook and then we hit the local markets to buy all the fresh ingredients. After heading back to the school we prepared all the ingredients and then cooked each dish, ending the evening with a big feast of our creations. The cooking class was a lot of fun and I hope that I'll be able to recreate some of the dishes when I return home, though my history of Kraft Dinner cooking would tend to disagree.
After returning to Bangkok Nicola and I spent a whole day touring the Grand Palace, a group of extravagant Temples in the heart of Bangkok. We also visited the giant reclining Buddha, this thing is absolutely enormous, almost too big to fit in one picture. The level of detail in the temples here in Thailand is indescribable and unfortunately the pictures do no justice to the millions of little jewels and details carved into every square inch of these massive buildings. Besides that, Nicola and I will spend the last day here taking in some last massages and last minute shopping before heading to Singapore tomorrow and then home the next day. Thanks to everyone for following along and Merry Christmas!
