Thailand 2015 Pt. 1: Chiang Mai

We just spent 3 weeks in Thailand and had one of the best trips and funnest adventures ever. From the food to the people to the temples and mountains and rivers, we explored and relaxed and really got close to each other. Cathy, Theo, and I have done some traveling together, but this would be the biggest trip yet.

A good part of a trip's success comes from the planning. In this respect, Cathy earned a smashing success with this trip. She planned it in 3 parts of 1 week each.

Part 1: Chiang Mai.
Part 2: Spicy Villa Ecolodge in Mae Wang, a mountainous region outside of Chiang Mai.
Part 3: Koh Mak, a sleepy island in the Gulf of Thailand, nearer to Camobia than Bangkok.

Part 1: Chiang Mai

We started off our trip in style at Tamarind Village. It's a gorgeous resport int he middle of the old city,   the  type of place that's usually beyond our means whetrn aveling. But boy are we glad we staed there.

The food was fantastic, thepool a delightful retreat from the heat, and the staff one of the biggest pleasures of the trip. To say they took good care of us and Theo is a huge understatement. They pretty much adopted Theo. The boy fell hard for these lovely Thai ladies, and who can blame him?

We explored the city from this base at a relaxed pace, save the unprecedented early morning pre-sunrise trips brought on by Theo's jetlag. But, every problem is an opportunity, and we made the most of this one, taking trips to temples or wats outside the city to watch them come alive with the sunrise. Some of our best experiences were in the predawn hours--not lease of which because it was by far the coolest time of day.

Wat Humong was our favorite, a lovely place with ponds and hills and a really humane approach to domesticated animals, especially dogs.

I got to do some meditating here, as well as in a couple wats in town, and this, pond-side, with the birds waking up and the fish feeding off the surface, was certainly the best.

Chiang Mai was where we spent time seeing temples, or wats. And we saw many many beautiful ones of all levels of grandiosity and gaud.

And we also did a zipline trip!

This was pretty incredible. I was suspect, but totally enjoyed it, as did Cathy. And needless to say Theo flipped out over it.

The food in Chiang Mai was pretty amazing. So simple and so amazingly delicious, from spicy curries to rich slippery noodles to soup and satay and sticky rice and GOD I miss the food. 

Our stay at Tamarind Village was enjoyable beyond words. The rooms and grounds were beautiful, the staff even moreso, the food was amazing, and the pool was absolutely the thing for cooling off in the Chiang Mai heat, keeping Theo happy and tired, and relaxing our butts off.

The art exhibit opening they hosted, featuring amazing tapestries by Thai artist Kachama, was both a fantastic event and an eye-opening for me on the quality and value of this sort of art. Really amazing stuff, both artisanally/artistically and as cultural comment and reference. 

We were very sad to be leaving Tamarind Village--especially Theo--but we were excited to get into the mountains and the jungle for the next part of the adventure.