Believe it or not, Nik and I aren’t always on the go.  Many of our days over the past two months have been spent in our Chiang Mai apartment researching, reading, writing, drawing, eating, cleaning and playing.  At a minimum, we start every day around 9:30am with the breakfast of champions: bananas, sometimes mangoes, coconut yogurt and muesli in the bowl, and hot coffee with Non-fat milk in the cup.  This meal is our one constant western indulgence, and it is the ideal way to start the day.  Our mornings are usually pretty quiet, and the only distractions are the ones that fly through the sky, bark or ring a bell.

In Chiang Mai, the commercial airport is very close to town so no matter where you are, you can see and hear the planes.  Luckily, our window looks out towards the primary flight path, and being the 5 year old that I am, every time I hear a plane I run to the window!  Nik used to laugh at me because I wouldn’t realize the planes were passing until they were almost gone, and then I would get mad that I missed them.  I think my reaction time has gotten better though because I started taking photos.

Sometimes they fly low and look like they might hit the apartment building across the street, and sometimes they fly high and the clouds are so low that we don’t see them at all.  Most of them are basic commercial planes, but occasionally we will see smaller prop-planes.  And on clear mornings, we see fighter jets taking off from the air force base.  These guys typically fly in pairs, but once we saw 5 take off within 5 minutes.  Pretty nice!!

The other distractions occur at street level.  In the mornings, there is this lady that walks to work with her two dogs.  This sounds normal enough, but only the lady walks. The dogs ride in this little push cart, and make a raucous barking at all of the neighborhood dogs.  I don’t know how the woman can stand it every single day!!!  Recently I have noticed her walking home as well, but on the way home, the dogs don’t bark.  Strange.

Then there is the ice cream cart!!!  Around 11:30 every morning, we start hearing the bells of the ice cream cart.  I think there are two or three local guys that work in our neighborhood, or perhaps it is just one super busy one!  He used to walk in front of our apartment building, but about a month ago, he changed his route so that now he turns the corner.  I was super bummed when this started happening because I liked looking down at his rainbow umbrella!  (Sorry for all the exclamation points, but ice cream makes me happy!!)

Also, the window next to our desk looks west over the vacant lot across the street towards the mountains.  I often find myself staring out this window daydreaming while I watch the clouds.  We have seen a few great sunsets, and it is always fun to watch the storms role in.

Our first apartment together has been wonderful.  I will miss it, but at least I get to take Nik with me!

Nik’s Blog: Our Chiang Mai Apartment near Wat Jet Yot

Bird Watching at Mae Hia Agricultural College: Asian Koel**, Red Wattled Lapwing**, Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo*, Spotted Dove**, Green Bee Eater*, House Sparrow*

I can officially call myself a novice ornithologist!!  This morning a good friend, Marisa, took me with her on a birding expedition just a few kilometers from our apartment.  She had scoped out the location, Mae Hia Agricultural College in Chiang Mai, a few days ago, and thought it would be perfect for a novice, such as myself.  We left our apartment at 6:30am (I know…way too early!) and it took about 15 minutes to drive down the Canal Road to the campus.  When we arrived, it was raining, so we sought shelter, but after 30 minutes the rain stopped and we started exploring.  The area is mostly grasslands at the base of Doi Suthep with a few ponds.  There is also a large forested area near by, but we didn’t make it that far.

As my first experience, it was highly successful!  We probably saw at least 10 different species in 2 hours, 6 of which I remember, and have shown above.  I also saw a rooster, which Marisa thinks could have been the undomesticated Red Junglefowl, and another large bird that could have been a pheasant of some sort.  This trip was very encouraging and now I want to purchase better binoculars and wake up every morning at 6:30!!!

Nik and I see the Common Myna nearly every day outside our window. The markings are beautiful!! *

By the way, birding is huge here in Thailand.  There are over 900 native species in this country, which is about the same number as all of the United States and Canada combined.  Some other locations in Northern Thailand for bird watching are Doi Inthanon National Park (wish I would have known this last week!), Doi Chiang Dao National Park, Doi Ang Kang, Doi Lang, Chiang Saen, and Doi Phu Kha National Park.  Marisa has also taken some early morning trips up to Doi Suthep and has seen the stunning Grey-Chinned Minivet.  I think I’ll try that next!

Here are some great resources in case you’re more interested:

Mae Hia Agricultural College @ ThaiBirding.com

*Photos By Carl-Johan Svensson

**Photos from Wikipedia

And according to my friend, the field guide of all field guides for Thailand is the Princeton Field Guides: Birds of Thailand by Craig Robson.

In other birdwatching news, this month the Vaux Swifts will be in Portland, Oregon at the Chapman School for their annual migration.  The Chapman School is in Nik and I’s old neighborhood near NW 23rd Ave, and I recommend spending an evening on the hill with friends, take-out and a cardboard sled!  The best time to go is at sunrise or sunset each day.  For more information, visit the Audubon Society of Portland’s Swift Watch 2008 website.

Assorted Jelly Candies

We tried these pyramid shaped candies for the first time at the Sunday Walking Street in June, and we haven’t been able to pass a stall without a bag full since.  I believe they are handmade, and I don’t know what they are called, so if you do, please tell me!!!  At the market, there is a huge table with 8 or 10 mounds of individually wrapped jelly candies piled by flavor.  You grab a bamboo basket, and mix and match your favorites.  Some of the flavors that we know are Durian, Black Sesame, Peanut, Coffee, Strawberry, and who knows what else!  The texture is a cross between gummy bears and sugar taffy, and they aren’t nearly as sweet as we expected.  We normally pick up 10-20 pieces for about 20baht.  You can find them at most outdoor markets in Chiang Mai, as well as in Central Huey Kaew Mall tucked away in a corner on the lowest level.

Crispy Pancakes (Khanom Buang)

Another street favorite are these miniature crispy pancakes, or Khanom Buang.  The pancakes spread thinly on a large iron skillet with a flat wooden tool, and as they are cooking, coconut cream is smeared on top (the white sauce) and then they sprinkle shredded coconut before folding each one like a taco.  The orange coconut shreds are a little salty, and the yellow shreds are a little sweet making the perfect combo of crunchy & sweet & salty!  These were made at a street stall near the Siam Bank on Suthep Road in Chiang Mai, and were 20baht/plate.

Nik and I went to the Sunday Walking Street in Chiang Mai this evening, and we discovered how the fish balls were made!!  This woman makes up a pink fish paste, then squeezes balls out and drops them into boiling water with a spoon.  Easy as pie!

Personally, I think these fish balls are pretty gross.  The texture is kind of like super dense tofu/rubber, and they taste like nothing more than bland fish.  They are often served in noodle soups or grilled on a skewer.  I do eat them as a source of protein, but not because I like it!!

I often have expectations of how I think a certain day or trip should go, and our recent adventure was no different.  Nik and I have been planning a trip to Doi Inthanon National Park to go camping.  We do not have camping gear, but I had done a little research and found that they rent tents and blankets at the Park Headquarters.  They also provide free fire wood and have several restaurants throughout the park to eat at.  Perfect!  Nik and I could make the 1 1/2 hour drive in the morning, rent and pitch our tent in the afternoon, then have the rest of the day to see the highest peak in Thailand and sit around a campfire.  The trip would be very inexpensive (500 baht max) and simple.  Here was our chance to reconnect with nature and leave our cushy amenities behind!

Well, as with most expectations, mine weren’t met.  We didn’t leave Chiang Mai until 12:30, so we had to find lunch half way to our destination.  This was difficult because there weren’t many towns, and we didn’t see any street side vendors.  We finally went through a small town, and I had to convince Nik to make a U-turn to go to a small soup shop.

When we made it to the park, we were slapped with a 400 baht/person plus 20 baht/bike entry fee.  I guess I missed that in my research, so there goes my cheap getaway.

Storm Clouds*

At the time, the weather was beautiful, but we could see storm clouds rolling in.  We decided that we should go on to the top to get the best views, and as we reached the top, the clouds met us there.  We could see to the north, but not to the south.  Ugh!

The Highest Spot in Thailand*

We left the summit after some dilly-dallying around 4pm, and if the park headquarters was anything like the ones in America, they would be shutting down in about 30 minutes.  The clock was ticking.  We made it to the headquarters and they were still there, but they don’t rent tents.  The man at the information desk was very apologetic and told us that there were some bungalows just around the corner.  I was insistent on the tents, so he made a call and found out that someone had tents in a town called Ban Mae Klang Luang.  On our way to the village, the sun was setting, and a nice yellow glow was cast over the rice fields.  To me, this meant it was going to be dark soon, and we still didn’t have a tent or fire, so we better hurry up.  To Nik, this meant we had to stop and take photos.  We stopped.  But that view wasn’t perfect.   We stopped again.  Daylight’s fading….we need to set up camp!!!  Nik finally got his shot.

The Shot: Rice Fields at Sunset

We made the turn toward the village, and saw a small snack stand with 5 or 6 locals sitting around drinking beer and smoking cigarettes.  This must be it because there wasn’t much more.  We stopped and asked about tents.  I’m not sure anyone understood our question, but they pointed to another building 100 meters away that looked like the rec-lodge at summer camp.  This was promising, but no one was there.  We looked around for a minute and noticed that there were also bungalows.  The bungalows were simple, but they were at sitting between the base of Nik’s rice field and a large stream.  Slightly defeated, we agreed that a bungalow could be nice.

Eventually one of the locals came over to offer assistance.  He obviously didn’t own or work at the place, so he made a call on his cell phone.  I assume he was calling the owner, but no one answered.  Then a silver pick-up truck pulled in next to us with 5 men in the back.  One of them with a green t-shirt wrapped around his head seemed to be a friend of the original guy, and he started acting as the interpreter.  They were both laughing a lot and didn’t act like they knew what they were talking about.  The first guy went up to the desk at the rec-lodge and found a book.  He looked in it, then the guy in the truck said, “500 Baht for bungalow.”  I’m guessing the book was nothing more than a guest book, so I don’t know where the 500 baht came from.  Nik and I talked a little by ourselves, but 500 baht was more than I was willing to pay after the 820 baht hit at the entrance. So we asked, What about tents? He looked in the book again, then they talked and laughed back and forth a little more, and the guy in the truck said “250 Baht for tent.”   At this point I felt like I was being had.  It seemed like these were just two random guys trying to get us to give them money, so we walked away.  As we got back to the main road I asked Nik, “Did I really just make us turn down a comfortable bed in a quaint bungalow at the base of the most beautiful rice field in Thailand because it was $15/night???”  Nik said, “Yep, you did.”  But he backed me on the sketchiness of the situation.

Defeated, we went back to the park headquarters and checked into a bungalow there, which was 600 baht/night and didn’t have anything close to the atmosphere.  Ugh!!!  What a day.

Eco-Lodging & Cafeteria

But it wasn’t over.  We still had to eat dinner, and I still had hopes of being one with nature.  One way we could do both of these would be to go to the fresh produce market that we passed earlier, then we have a nice picnic in the park.  Sounds good, right?  As I suggested this, Nik informed me that we didn’t have any gas.  Neither of us remembered how far away it was, but we decided to risk it.  We’ll walk.  We were tired and hungry, but fresh produce would be worth it.  Luckily, we didn’t have to walk very far!!!  Horray, maybe this day wasn’t a complete failure.  But wait.  The market stalls are there, but there’s no market.  It was closed.  Back to the park headquarters to have dinner at the soulless cafeteria that is probably going to rip us off even more.

The cafeteria wasn’t that bad.  We both had Pad Siew for 30 baht each, but we weren’t any closer to nature.  We bought a few sweets at the little convenient store, went back to the bungalow, and sat on the porch and read while listening to frogs and crickets.  Me and nature….I guess.

The Porch*

I’m not exactly sure why, but we went on a walk.  It was pitch black outside, and it took our eyes a while to get used to it.  We found a stream, then we saw something glowing in the field on the other side.  It looked like a long white illuminated tunnel, and that’s exactly what it was.  Most of the farms near us were flower farms, and these white tunnels were made of translucent white plastic stretched over bamboo arches with compact florescent bulbs hanging from each arch.  During the day, they weren’t that spectacular, but at night, they looked like enormous glowing silk worms crawling through the valley.  We walked around for about an hour trying to get a good view so that we could take a photo.  We never found the right shot, but the adventure was worth it.  I even took us hiking up a drainage ditch!  Finally, me and nature!!

Flower Farm: Day | Night*

We had a satisfying night’s sleep, and woke up this morning with a new take on life.  We had no expectations, and just rolled with it.  We filled up the tank before visiting most of the park’s waterfalls, and had lunch on a bamboo platform floating in the water!  After lunch it rained and rained and rained, but as I have mentioned before, escaping the rain has created some of the best moments on our trip.  Our lunch host offered us a dry seat in her kitchen, and we happily obliged.  Then we made our way up to a hillside picnic shelter where Nik read “The World according to Garp” and I read “Invisible Cities”.  The rain calmed down and we headed home.  It was  a long ride, and we were exhausted. It was very nice to finally take the hot shower I had been anticipating the entire trip home!!!  Wait…I thought I was done with expectations?

Gas Pump

Sirithan Waterfall*

Mae Klang Waterfall*

Wachirathan Waterfall

Dining Companions

Dining Room with a View*

Nik’s Blog: Trip to Doi Inthanon National Park, Thailand

*These photos were taken by Nik.