Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is a lovely city, well worth the visit.  The old city, hemmed in by a square brick wall, is dotted with Buddhist temples glittering in the sultry sunlight.  The temples and stupas here are very different than the humble gompas and stupas in northern Nepal.  Here they are much more grandiose, the heads of dragons and other mythical beasts bedecked in sparkling silver, red, blue and green glass, the woodwork around the windowsills and doorways carved in intricate patterns and painted in gold enamel, the jade and gold and ivory Buddhas sitting erect -- all Buddha-like -- on their pillowed seats in hallowed, golden halls.  It would reek of kitschy, Disney-worldesque pastiche if it wasn't so holy and if didn't move me in some ineffable way. 

Monks wander the streets and alleyways of Chiang Mai swadled in orange robes and old western men cruise the nightclubs under the stars, like sharks patrolling a reef, in depraved pursuit of female companionship (to put it delicately).  There is an indolence here that is contagious -- it makes one want to sit at one of the streetside cafes and sip on a cold beverage and read a good book.

The food is a dream come true.  On more than one occassion I've said, in the middle of a savory Thai feast at home and at the peak of giddiness brought on by a mouthful of pad thai, that I could eat Thai food every meal for the rest of my life. I can now say without a shred of doubt, after having eaten about 7 exquisite, cheap Thai meals in row, that I wasn't lying.  I could bath in a broth of Thai chilis, in all their sweet, mesquite, voluptuous heat, and rinse in a stew of coconut milk and green and red and yellow curries.  The food is insanely good -- I expected nothing less.

Tomorrow we leave for the Thai/Laos Border.  We have to spend a night there, then the next day we get a longboat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang in Laos.  The boat trip is two days -- we apparently spend the night in a small, sleepy town on the banks of the river.  If Luang Prabang is all that I hope it is we may spend awhile there.

Erin and I want to wish everyone a belated Happy Thanksgiving and to let everyone who may have felt sorry for us for having missed out on a Thanksgiving feast that, while we didn't have turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes, we had pumpkin pie for desert and it was delicious.

Hope all is well.