Despite the fact that I should be studying for my exam on Saturday, I am going to go ahead with another blog entry. Spent Monday evening through Wednesday in my old Thai hometown, Chiangmai. It was sooooo good to go back and I LOVE that town! Even though after 4 years a lot had changed (tourism has exploded and McDonald's and Starbucks have found their way into this previously untouched city), it is still the place that I know and love. I went back this week for a specific reason- Loi Krathong! This is the Thai festival of lights that is one of the biggest holidays of the year, and Chiangmai is the place to celebrate it. My friend Heather came along with me and we had a FABULOUS time.

We arrived Monday night, and after the longest-ever wait to get through customs (1 hour standing in line) we finally got to our guesthouse, and set off to find some good food. I tolok Heather to my favorite Chiangmai restaurant, Riverside. Mmm, probably the best food I have had in months! We stuffed ourselves full of nam prik ong (Northern thai specialty- a spicy tomato-based dip with fresh veggies), beef with basil, and tom yam soup (another old favorite- though it can be found throughout Thailand), and of course had a few cocktails to toast the holidays! Riverside is a fabulous restaurant because not only is the food good, but they always have live music and it is right on the riverfront. This was all the better during Loi Krathong because the riverfront is the site of all the festivities. Here, the river is adrift with flower wreaths adorned with candles, and the sky is full of homemade paper lanterns that drift so high that it looks like a sparkle of orange stars lighting up the inky black sky. People are in a very festive mood and shoot firecrackers out over the river and sell all kinds of local delicacies along the banks. Here are some pics from the river:





Day two was basically spent doing one of my other favorite things in Chiangmai- shopping! Chaingmai is famous for its night bazaar which sells all kinds of things from Thai handicrafts to bootlegged CDs and DVDs to t-shirts and tennis shoes. Of course, we couldn't wait until the evening for shopping, so I took Heather to my favorite fabric shop. This is a wholesale shop that exists in a back street of the Wararot market, where you can find beautiful hand-woven materials made by women in the hill tribe villages, as well as some of the highest quality thai silk. We also rented a motorbike during the day and spent several hours speeding around town and visiting some of my old haunts.

Here are a couple of motorbike pics:




Of course, we couldn't resist going back to Riverside for dinner again that night, though this time we tried one of the other Northern chilli dips- nam prik num. I had forgotten just how spicy this one was! And I have to admit that I've lost a bit of my tolerance to spice....

Day 3 we planned to take a cooking class (this is one of the best things to do in Chiangmai- so fun and you get to try lots of great food), but Heather had eaten something that disagreed with her and we agreed that in such case a cooking class might not be the best idea. So later, when her stomach ache had died down a bit, we hopped on the motorbike and headed out of town to the Bo Sang umbrella village. More shopping....

So, here's a pic of Heather and I (she is very tall). Now I need to get back to studying!