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of northern Thailand,
Chiang Mai is a
charming, fun city.
Roaming its cobblestone
streets, we found great
restaurants, fun bars,
interesting night bazaars,
and, of course, numerous
Wats. We also
experienced the annual
Flower Festival, met up
with one of Keith’s
friends, suffered through
Thailand’s draconian
election-day Prohibition,
ate bugs and watched
the Superbowl at 6:30 in
the morning. Tomorrow,
we fly to Vientane, Laos.
Bev got her Ph.D in computer
science from Stanford and
now teaches at Chiang Mai
University. She showed us
around town, the University
campus, and caused Keith
and me to eat things we
otherwise might have avoided
(roaches, larvae, pork neck,
etc.)
parked on the curb,
and turned into a bar
(right). The guy is
Ryan, who does
freelance camera work
on music videos in Los
Angeles, and then
takes off to S.E. Asia,
E. Europe, or some
other fun place for a
month or so.
traveling for two years straight. Incidentally, the arc on the
glasses-wearing girl's left arm is from my laser pointer,
which fascinated the bartender, and the girl next to me was
obsessed with how great her newly-purchased breasts
were (even after Keith and I both disparaged them as
frauds).
Anyway, we tagged along with Ryan and his English
friends to the Roof Top Bar, which was a very interesting
place (below left). You had to leave your shoes on the
second floor and climb a ladder to get to the roof top,
where you sit on the floor (on pads) in colorful
surroundings.
We said goodbye to Ryan, left the English girls passed out
(bottom right), and found a pool bar with more Brits to
hang out with.
us in pool. They weren’t sure if they were in Chiang
Mai on an extended vacation, or whether they
actually “lived” here (it’s pretty fun, beautiful, and
cheap, so why go back to England?). Once the pool
bar closed (all bars close at 1 a.m.), we hesitantly
hopped on the back of their motorbikes and rode to
Bubbles, the biggest disco in Chiang Mai. This night
on the town turned out to be a good thing, as every
bar and club was closed the very next two nights
(Saturday and Sunday). Apparently, drinking is
forbidden the night before, and the day of, an
election. Although each local solemnly repeated the
mantra that “no alcohol because tomorrow
ELECTION day,” no one could satisfactorily explain
the rule’s logic. In my opinion, those who pledge not
to vote should be exempted from this misguided rule.
We were in Chiang Mai during the annual Flower Festival, which featured a parade complete with a
marching band and floats made up entirely of flowers (which put the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl Parade
floats to shame), as well as hundreds of stalls selling just about everything you can imagine.
sounds of a butchered rendition of Hotel California. Disagreeing over the
gender of the singer, Keith and Bev entered into a wager, and the loser
would have to eat a bug. The singer turned out to be a guy (the 14 year
old drummer), which led to this . . .
shoulder, and neck massage, and
splurging $3-6 gets you a full one hour
Thai massage. The massages are
unbelievably good—I don't think I’ll be
able to stomach spending $60 for a
massage once I return to L.A .
photograph well, but they were also highlights.
mandated Prohibition, we
found an open pool bar and
played pool with Chris (the
guy with glasses, below
right). Chris is from Los
Angeles, but got his
environmental engineering
degree in Germany and now
does contract work
(translation, proofreading)
for German engineering
firms from his home in
Chiang Mai, where he lives
with his girlfriend.
Interestingly, most
Westerners we’ve met in
Chiang Mai aren’t tourists,
but actually live here.
made it out at 6 a.m. to the
surprisingly-crowded Chiang Mai
bar showing the Superbowl.
were heartbroken when the Eagles
lost (I wish you could see this guy's
mullet--classic).
Keith was psyched when his team
won, as we had wagered a night out
in Hanoi.