So-wa-dee-kap (means hello) from Chiang Mai! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Because of where we are, it's sometimes easy to forget what time of year it is. A few reminders in store windows and on restaurant boards tell me it's New Year's Eve, but if it weren't for that, and the date on my watch, I could have no idea what day or month it is. It's a semi-blissful feeling. The only thing that's missing right now is having a job to go back to after vacation. That feeling of not having a plan or a next step in life is very awkward for me because I tend to be a planner and when I don't have something figured out, I feel a bit lost. So for the time being, we don't know what we're doing after February 11th, 2010. We just arrived to Chiang Mai on Tuesday and it is really nice. We've explored about a third of the city, but there is just so much. When you're living in a foreign country, you learn to savor any food that is clean and familiar. So my highlight for the day so far has been eating an egg, bacon, and ham crossants.
January 1, 2010
Happy New Year! Yesterday, I intended to post the above blog, but Rebs needed to do some work and I had already been on the one computer in our lodge for a while. Last night was a very fun experience for us. We went out around 7pm to find that parts of the city had been shut down so people could walk on the streets without traffic. Also, there were plenty of street vendors selling everything from bamboo hats, to clothing to traditional northern Thai food. Rebs bought a very lovely dress that she bargained for. You never buy anything at the given price, especially clothes. As we moved through the crowd, we saw lots of lights up in the sky, and eventually came to where the vendors were selling them. They were paper lanterns, some big enough to fit a standing adult inside. There was a flammable ring in the middle on the bottom, so when you lit it, the bag/lantern would fill with hot air and eventually take off into the sky until the flame burned out. Rebs and I bought one and enjoyed taking a video, which I will post soon. Rebs' aim wasn't so good and we almost got a flaming tree instead. After that, we just wandered around the main area of the new year's party. There was a stage and dancing and singing, but it was all in Thai and wasn't that exciting. What excited me was all the new and different food being sold by street vendors. We had intended to eat out at a restaurant that night, but ended up just walking from stand to stand, picking out what looked good. Sushi, spring rolls, fruit shake, a kebab, and pad thai all made up our dinner. Very filling. For a while, we just sat and people watched. We stood near where they were selling the lanterns, which was really funny for a while. People would try to send their lanterns into the air too early and they would sort of drift sideways and down into a crowd of people. It gave Rebs some anxiety. Some bags also caught on fire. And if a flaming paper bag wasn't enough, some people attached sparklers to theirs so they could see it better in the sky. Several bags got temporarily caught on telephone wires, and at one point Rebs went running away yelling, "Move! Watch out!" She told me later she thought the lantern would catch the power lines on fire, they would snap and fall on us. I just thought it was funny watching her because there was this sea of people ignorant to the fact, and then one crazy lady running around yelling things. I love my wife.
Today, we are headed back out to the Crazy Horse Butress, about 45 minutes outside of Chiang Mai. It's a beautiful area with around 100 bolted sport routes. The last time we were there, we got to climb in a cave, which was a new experience for both of us. The photo here was taken on the walk in. If you look close, you'll see Rebs at the bottom next to the light that's coming through the entrance. That'll give you a perspective at how big this cave is. We plan to climb for two days, staying at a homestay in a traditional home near the crag. There are a couple of waterfalls and hot springs nearby also, so we may do a bit of sight seeing. I'm mostly excited because we are renting a scooter to go out there on. If you're a mother, pray for us. We'll be as safe as possible, and you can hope to see more photos in the future.
