Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai - Super touristy, but feels a bit like Northern California. It was a very comfortable place to stay for a few days though and a bit cooler because it's in the northern mountains. Initially we booked 3 nights, but added two more because the place we were staying was really comfortable and it  was so relaxed there, which we needed after the street racing chaos of Ayutthaya.

yeah, this is one of about a hundred chic coffee places in Chiang Mai-- they roast their own beans

There are so many beautiful Wats (temples) in Chiang Mai that it's difficult to keep track. Everyone is welcome inside and you can make an offering or just stand with your mouth wide open gawking at the incredible details and woodwork

details

jade

wall surrounding a Wat

Proof that it's possible to get sick of Thai food after eating it for 2 weeks. This was a Soul Food place run buy a guy browsing the internet in back with 2 large snow white braids and a giant Santa beard. It wasn't the best burger I've ever had, but the homemade pickled shallots were incredible. I'll definitely be making some when we get back

Crazy paint job 

Chiang Mai has a moat and old city wall around the old town. It makes for really nice public areas. We noticed that in the largest one of these public areas there was a pop-up military "box" where soldiers sat all day and night watching TV-- discouraging any "gatherings".

Weird dog on stool. It was standing there panting as we walked by. There was no owner in sight. It was just hanging out there.

Keeping with the animal theme, people here really like dressing up their cats, even outdoor semi-feral seeming cats had dirty clothes on. This cat is named Poupon. Its name was on the hat.  

Great mussels fried in rice batter with cukes

What??? There is a photo darkroom and gallery space here? You can rent space and print photos? Yep, we bought a polaroid that was for sale inside. They also sold soft drinks. What a find!

Tom Yum soup made by the restaurant at the Women's Correctional Rehabilitation Center. They also have a massage training center where you can get a budget massage after a long day of walking.

Nice paper cut outs

Old wooden Wat

Lert Ros - we ended up eating here a few times. 

Sticky rice, papaya salad, grilled pork and grilled tilapia stuffed with lemongrass. 

They grill the fish right out front

Baan Jaja - great little budget hotel where we stayed for 5 nights. This was the patio/entry where they had a breakfast each morning

It was a great stay. Although, after 5 nights we were definitely ready to hit the road to some more remote, less touristy locations. Next stops-- Lampang and Phrae

Ayutthaya for 2 nights

After Bangkok we headed up to Ayutthaya for some ancient temple gazing. Ayutthaya is on the major train route from Bangkok up to Chiang Mai. So, it's well-touristed. When you arrive in Ayutthaya, it's a short walk from the train station to a small ferry that takes tourists across the river that is the same river that runs through Bangkok, the Chao Praya.

Bangkok's Hua Lampong train station

3rd class no AC train car to Ayutthaya. It was only an hour and a half so we opted for the cheapest mode of transport

cool old handles 

Ayutthaya station

Really cool benches

After getting off the ferry and walking a block, if you make a right there is a large market with food, clothes, home goods, etc. We found some really incredible rice flour macaroons in there. Deep inside there were many rats. So, we sort of booked it back out to the outskirts. It's definitely a winding maze of vendors though with all sorts of raw meat, fish, veggies, spices, etc in the center.

This UNESCO World Heritage site is known for being the second Siamese capital (1350-1750). The ruins there are really stunning with many prangs (bell shaped towers) throughout the town. The actual town of Ayutthaya was not very pleasant. There were some really nice people, but this town definitely had issues. It didn't feel unsafe, just a little sad. There seemed to be a gang presence (all the tags seemed to reference the same group) and it had a really popular racing scene. Most tourists get around on bikes, and the locals like to buzz past you with their cars going 90MPH close by to try to scare you. It was a bit terrifying on the larger roads. The street lights also didn't seem to be working at almost any intersection.

Temples sometimes sell thin gold sheets and you can rub them onto a buddha like this, eventually it becomes completely covered

The Singha dragon

The highlight of Ayutthaya, aside from the ruins, was the night market scene. We sampled some local specialties along with some stuff we've had other places. These are two highlights. We made the mistake of going to a highly rated, yet really terrible restaurant called Malokor. Yet, these treats made up for the experience.

Roti Samai - Crepe-like wrapping around this really interesting burnt sugar tasting cotton candy-like filling that looks like hair. It's a specialty in the town's Muslim quarter and can be found throughout the town. We grabbed a bag of it on our way out of town and ate it on the train.

This was a really interesting steamed red curry custard steamed in a band leaf bowl with coconut cream and a red pepper on top. It also had a layer of fish in there. It was one of the best things we've eaten so far, packed with flavor. It inspired me to think about making some red curry tamales when I get back.

The tuktuks here have a really unusual shape. Apparently Ayutthaya is the only place in Thailand with tuktuks shaped like this. We read they may have come from Japan, and they certainly have that feel. They are a real source of pride and people deck these tuktuks out! Perhaps, that's part of what's fueled the Ayutthaya car culture.

Next stop--- Chiang Mai!

Getting around by river boat in Bangkok

The public transit in Bangkok is well designed, affordable, and easy to use. There are multiple modes: river boat, canal boat, skytrain, subway, bus. There are also tuktuks, motorbikes, and taxis. So, even though transit is really great, it can be overwhelming for tourists. The only way to reach the riverside areas, unless you plan to walk miles each time, is to hop on a riverboat ferry. The riverboat ferry connect to the Skytrain at Saphan Taksin Pier, which is very helpful. 

When someone who looks like a confused tourist strolls into some of these stations, they are often bombarded with offers by local longboat drivers or people trying to sell them the tourist boat pass. It's 150 baht (under $3) for unlimited rides that day, which sounds like an okay idea, but we decided not to ride the tourist boat and were really happy we didn't. The orange line express boat is only 15 baht per ride and goes to many more stops. We even took it as far as we could and ended up in a great part of Bangkok called Nonthaburi, where durian grow, that had an amazing city hall and free museum.

Map of some of the many modes of transport in Bangkok. We mostly stuck with the BTS (skytrain), river boat and canal boats. The airport rail link was also super easy to use and prevented a costly airport taxi ride.

The boats get really crowded during rush hour times and people cram on like sardines. This makes it look a bit more civilized than it generally is.

We found that if we took the cheap boat rides (cruises for us because we didn't want to shell out 2,000 baht on the official tourist cruises), we could see interesting spots to check out later.

Some of the less travelled boats make for great sunset viewing. The Asiatique boat, which went out to  what was supposed to be a great market, but ended up being a high end strip mall, was a great boat because it's free and they don't pack people in. 

 Normally, these seats would all be taken and then there would be two rows of people crammed in the middle. Just when you think you can't even budge, a lady comes pushing through shaking a metal money container and collects the 15 baht from each passenger. It's actually really amazing because they remember who has been on and can tell who gets on at each stop. There are some stations where you can pay in advance and then the ticket taker will just tear your tickets after, but there's really no need when riding the non-tourist boats.

Several of the piers have fish food vendors. The seemingly calm waters are actually filled with catfish that rush to the surface when someone tosses in food. 

Many of the piers also have small restaurants that also serve cold beer and drinks. The food at them seems mediocre because almost everyone in them is just having a beer or other cold drink, but they are a fab place to sit and cool off while enjoying the view. My new favorite drink is a coconut water smoothie! Every place you go has a stack of coconuts they are prepared to cut open. It's really refreshing after a hot day.