Asia, Stop 7: Chiang Mai

The last stop on our SE Asia trip was Chiang Mai. This city was unexpectedly fun due to the backpacker-friendly culture and the accessibility of so many ancient temples. Every street corner seems to have its odd little cafe or trendy youth hostel, and many restaurants have highly decorated gardens and interesting twists on typical Thai food. The expat community is very large, and it is quite common to hear English. Yet amidst the international mix, there there are all the signs of a very ancient and very religious culture. We participated in something called "Monkchat", in which we were able to converse with the local monks. They are trying to learn English, so they could practice their language skills, and we were able to ask them questions about Buddhism and their beliefs and experiences. We loved gaining understanding about the practice of Buddhism while observing it all around us!

We stumbled upon several open street markets. We were tempted to buy everything, but we had no room in our backpacks, so we had to practice some self control. We did, however, partake in street food! It was all insanely cheap and incredibly delicious.

We took a cooking class here, as we love Thai food, but don't often make it at home. We chose a class that let you choose which items from the menu you wanted to make, so we could make different things and have a wider variety of recipes to take home! To start the class, the chef drove us to one of the markets and took us shopping for fresh local ingredients, explaining to us what each item was... some of which we had never heard of nor had any idea of the flavor. The entire group was amazed at the potency and uniqueness of the various spices and vegetables we were collecting and sampling throughout the market.

Once back at his kitchen, we were all put to work peeling, chopping, smashing and grinding. We learned that "curry" isn't a particular spice, as is often thought; curry is any mixture of spices typically found in the Asian world.

We made several dishes including spring rolls, pad thai, penang curry, noodle soup, and of course, mango sticky rice. Devin made his extra spicy with the abundance of hot peppers laying about the table.

A highlight of our time in Northern Thailand was traveling outside the city into the hills where there was an elephant preserve. Many tourists like to ride elephants, but we learned that those operations typically do not treat the elephants very well, and it can seriously hurt them, especially the younger ones. Instead, we opted to go with a company that rescues elephants from the abusive tourism, and instead allows you to feed, bathe, and play with them. After learning to feed them bananas and sugar cane, we gave them a mud bathe, and walked down to the river to wash them. This actually turned into a full mud fight between all the participants, and made for a very memorable day! 

 Once we were in Northen Thailand, we realized that the region has a lot more to offer than we had time to cover in our three days there. We would love to go back to Chiang Mai and do more hiking and exploring of the surrounding mountainous areas, as well as enjoy more of what is a super trendy and quaint city. 

Technically, Chiang Mai wasn't our last stop, as we spent one day in Bangkok before flying back to Barcelona. Although Bangkok has it's famous temples and attractions, we really weren't too excited about navigating a huge city. We used our time in Bangkok to just rest, went to a movie in the theater,  and shopped at a 37-acre market. We don't feel like it actually counted as being in Bangkok, as we mostly hid from the madness of the city.

Our time in SE Asia was like a sampler platter, we have tasted a bit of different areas and scoped out the scene. It definitely wet our appetite for more, and now have a better idea of where and what to concentrate on the next time we go! We loved each place that we went and appreciated the differences between them all as well. This part of the world is beautiful in every way - incredible scenery, genuine people, delicious flavors, and fascinating culture. We can confidently say that we will be back! 

Asia, Stop 6: Railay

Thailand....

Thailand has been a dream destination of ours for a few years. Since we were trying to see so much in this three week trip, we only had about 8 days in Thailand. We knew this was not "enough" time, but we viewed it as a sampler, so that we could get a taste of the country (both literally and figuratively) and perhaps see where we would like to come back to in the future. At this point we had been traveling for two weeks and knew we would be ready for some relaxation. We chose to go to Railay Beach based on recommendations from multiple friends who had been there. Many islands in Thailand are known for there beauty, but equally known for their party scene! We were seeking someplace more quiet, with less to do and more of a chance to just be. That is exactly what we found in Railay.

Although Railay is not an island, it is a peninsula that can only be reached with a long tail boat. So it has the isolated feel of an island, but is also a quick boat ride from a bigger city. We loved our time there, which mostly consisted of just laying by the pool and taking advantage of the delicious food, cheap massages, and beautiful views! 

The only part we did not enjoy was the time we spent sick. Sadly, both of us fell sick with a pretty nasty case of what we think was food poisoning. We had the same symptoms, and it only lasted about 48 hours for both of us, but we don't know what caused it! Regardless of feeling horrible for part of the time, we were thankful to be in such a beautiful place.

The first evening, we stumbled upon this sunset. We quickly fell in love with Thailand.

                 

Slightly scary...

We headed straight for the Mango Sticky Rice!

Railay is so small that it has only one main "walking street" with cafes and a convenience shop

Massages were about the equivalent of $4-5. Unbelievable!

One day we took a boat tour around the Phi Phi Islands. This is the famous Maya Bay (where "The Beach" was filmed)

The sunset/boat combination is just screaming to be photographed!

We love you, Railay!

Asia, Stop 5: Penang

After Vietnam, we went to Penang, Malaysia to meet up with Rachel's cousin Janeen who lives there. We hadn't seen her for a couple of years, and it was so good to reconnect, to learn about her life, and get to ask real questions about the lives and perspectives of Malays.

Janeen lives in a beautiful apartment complex outside of the main city of Georgetown. While we spent much of our time outside of the Georgetown, we did go to the historic center one day, and learned so much while there. We wandered the streets and observed the many different cultures represented in the city, most notably the Islamic influences. We learned all about how the government is official Islamic and enforces Islam for the local indigenous population, but is very tolerant of the cultures and religions of foreigners and non-native people living there. In fact, we were very surprised to learn the official language of the island was English! 

The city is famous for its street art, which can be found everywhere. Some of it is really amusing!

Penang is world famous for it's street food. Everywhere you look you can find small restaurants with chairs set up outside. The food is cheap, diverse, and full of flavor! We were told that the mainland does not have the same level of diversity or development, but that this island is unique in this way. We enjoyed almost everything we ate... with the exception of the infamous fruit Durian, in the form of a cream puff. Although Durian is known as the "King of Fruits" in SouthEast Asia, we have yet to meet a single person who admits to liking it. We had to try it just to satisfy our curiosity, but once was definitely enough!

 Sitting along the water is wooden passageways and clusters of houses built on the sea. The houses were built on stilts and inhabited by the Chinese immigrants who worked on the port many years ago. Although not used in the same way now, the Chinese community continues to reside here, and now many tourists stroll down the Jetty, observing this interesting style of life.

Our last full day in Penang, we hiked through the national park to the beautiful Monkey Beach. Besides observing (and actually trying to avoid) the monkeys, we also ate some delicious beach food, drank fresh coconuts, climbed rocks and played on the rope swing. It was a lovely day! 

We ended 2015 with a fun evening of card games with Janeen's friends, and then went to her apartment's roof to watch the city fireworks. It was a great way to bring in the New Year! 

We are so grateful for Janeen's wonderful hospitality and the chance to experience this beautiful island.With one more trip to the rooftop for a morning view, we said goodbye to Malaysia, and set off for Thailand.