Wattage

[left to right: Khao Soi deliciousness; a songtau; a shrine at Wat Prahat Suthep]

Got a little bit of a late start today, but when we finally got rolling, we went straight to the noodle shop right here in the neighborhood and got some Khao Soi. I have GOT to figure out how to make this stuff at home. It's noodles (shocker) with some kind of spicy sauce/broth, topped with crunchy fried noodles. Then, you top it with either red onions, fresh-squeezed lime juice, or pickled cabbage. Or all three, as I prefer. Then you eat it with chopsticks in one hand and a funny spoon in the other. I could eat that every day.

Wendy grabbed us a songtau (red truck) and we headed to the base of Doi Suthep. There we switched songtaus and headed up to the most significant wat in Chiang Mai -- Wat Prahat Suthep.

[left to right: before the burn; foreigner haters; bells at the wat]

When you get to the top of the mountain, there are lots of tables and booths with people hocking jewelry, flowers, fresh-squeezed OJ (I will have to take a photo of their oranges... they are GREEN on the outside--you won't believe it!), and anything else they think tourists and/or worshippers might like to buy. Then you see the stairs. The story is that back in the day, the king of Thailand wanted to send an offering to Buddha. He put it on an "auspicious" white elephant (it says that on the plaques several times) and set the elephant free to go where it would go. So, the elephant climbed Doi Suthep to give the offering and then died. Anyway, we didn't die, but it was definitely a loooong climb.

[left to right: women lighting candles; a monk blessing a man's medallion; the inner sanctum at Wat Prahat Suthep]

At the top, there was a mix of non-Buddhist tourists, Buddhist worshippers, monks, and native Thais selling stuff. The Buddhists were walking circles around this big golden steeple-like structure, holding flowers in their hands in prayer position. Others were lighting candles and incense, ringing bells, and praying. In one of the rooms, there was a monk giving blessings. Foreigners were allowed to go in there and take pictures, but we had to stay seated. You're always supposed to keep your head lower than the monks' heads.

Later that afternoon, we went to the tailor to pick up my lovely custom made dresses. I'm so happy with them! For dinner we went back up the mountain to a Thai restaurant called Palaad Tawanron that has spectacular views of the city and a Thai bluegrass band! It's not really bluegrass, of course, but they were playing guitar and upright bass and banjo. It was pretty funny. Some of the songs they did were American and you could tell they didn't really know the words they were singing. Too cute.

[left to right: choking on a pepper; a gecko on the bathroom ceiling; trying not to giggle at the guy singing "ruv me tender, ruv me true..."]

After dinner it was the night market. What a crowded, over-stimulating place! We shopped, got massages (again), and ate banana roti from a street vendor. Roti is basically a fried pie, but they drizzle sweetened condensed milk over it and they cut it into little squares so you can eat it with a stick. Mmmmm....


Tomorrow we're going to Thai cooking class all day, so hopefully I'll learn a thing or two!