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8/06 8/07
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Saturday, 7/31
Wake-up call 6:30 am, leave 8:00 am.
After Doi Suthep, we stopped for our buffet lunch. It was okay, but a bit of a disappointment after the buffet lunch the day before. At the dessert table, there were many bowls of unidentifiable items. I asked a woman who was getting some dessert what the items were and she was able to identify some, but not all. An employee who was nearby came and helped me with the dessert. It turned out that the items were to be combined (in any combination you wanted) as each item alone was either bland or just boring. The end product of glass noodles, big tapioca (I think) that was shaped like lima beans, coconut milk, raw sugar syrup and ice was actually very good (wish I could find it served here in Los Angeles, but even in Thai Town, I haven't found it). After I ate it, I thought about the ice and was concerned about getting sick, but I was fine. I also tried one bite with basil seeds which looked almost like purple frog eggs. It didn't really have much of a flavor, but I didn't care for the texture.
Afterwards, we continued visiting various handicraft factories/showrooms. We went to jade, bronze, silverware, lacquer ware and umbrella factories. Most factories had some type of lecture/demonstration to explain the product before we went into the showroom. Some of the lec/dems were amusing, if for no other reason than they all used similar phrasing -- their product is the best, the original, etc.
This is a picture of workers sanding off the edges of silverware that have just been pressed. I felt so bad for them as this HAS to be back-breaking work.
Wat had not planned to take us to the umbrella factory,
but I asked him if we could go as I knew that Chiang Mai is known for
handpainted umbrellas.
After we saw the demonstration of how the umbrellas are made, we walked through
an area where you could have your clothes or handbag or whatever else you wanted
handpainted. We thought it was really neat, but we didn't have anything on that
we wanted to have painted. Amy was saying that she wished that she had known
about it beforehand because she would have brought some clothes with her to be
painted. At that point, I asked her about having her shoes painted and she
happily agreed. There were many artists with their sample books showing what
they could paint. Amy looked at one person's samples and I was really hoping
that she would choose him/her because the artist was a transvestite and it would
have been a great picture, but she didn't like any of his art. Instead she chose
the woman next to him and had her draw butterflies on her shoes.
Since we had spent time having the painting done, we just barely got into the showroom when the bus would be leaving. As this was going to be our last stop, we decided to ask Wat if we could stay behind and have the showroom drive us back to the hotel later. On our way to find Wat, we saw Amy and Tim who told us that they were going to do exactly what we wanted to do. We went and told Wat that we wanted to stay behind with Amy and Tim to be able to continue shopping. While we were getting our things from the bus, Noi gave Amy a branch of longan.
We continued to shop and bought several gifts here. Amy, Tim, Amy and I were driven back to the hotel in the factory car.
In front of the umbrella showroom.
After we got back to the hotel, Amy and I went out to exchange some money and to shop for about an hour. I stopped at a film developing shop across the street from the hotel to buy more film since I couldn't find one of my boxes of film (5 rolls) and was worried that I might run out. I also used a pay phone to call Vorachak. He was having a hard time hearing me, so I asked him if he could call me back at the hotel in one hour.
We proceeded to go shopping and look for tamarind for Amy. Although it's usually used for cooking and not to just eat, Amy liked the tartness of it and wanted some to just nibble. We never found any. We found a money exchange place on the street with a very good rate ($100 = 40.93 Bht with no commission) and I tried to go back to the internet cafe, but they were closed until 8/4 for the Buddhist Lent. After shopping (and buying, of course) for a bit, we went back to our room to get ready for dinner as we were told that dressing nice was optional. I was hoping that Vorachak would call while we were getting ready and began to worry when he hadn't called yet as we were almost ready to leave. The phone finally rang just as we were ready to go downstairs and it was the front desk telling me that Vorachak was downstairs! We rushed downstairs and met Vorachak and his wife, Ann. Although I'd only met them once about five years before, I still recognized them. I told Vorachak that there must have been a misunderstanding (apparently, he thought I was telling him to COME to the hotel in an hour rather than CALL the hotel in an hour) as we were just leaving for the kantoke dinner. He told us that the kantoke dinner was bad and that he would take us for a better dinner. Although I wanted to go to the kantoke dinner and see the hilltribe cultural show, I would have gone with him and his wife, but Ann said that we shouldn't miss the kantoke. We quickly took a couple of pictures and made plans to meet for dinner in Bangkok at the end our trip. Later that night, it hit me that in all the rush and confusion, I hadn't thanked Vorachak and Ann for the treats they'd left for us in Bangkok -- how embarrassing!!
It was very funny -- Ann didn't remember having met me at first, but later, while Vorachak was gone getting the camera and Amy was gone telling Wat where we were, she said that she was beginning to remember me, but that before I wasn't so. . .(and then she put her hands close together and then widened them, indicating that I'd gained weight). I laughed and, unfortunately, agreed.
After dinner, we returned to the hotel and I rushed back to the film developing
shop to buy the new battery for my camera. I was so glad to see that they were
open and then to find that they had the battery I needed! Whew!
As Amy and I walked back to the hotel, we stopped to talk with Surin at the bus.
We asked him if he slept on the bus and he showed us where he slept (in the
luggage storage area!). We asked about Noi and he indicated that Noi slept above
(in the seating area?). We asked (and pantomimed) if they were able to wash and
he said yes and tried to show us something. I think it was the water container
because he was telling us a number. The limited water supply and the apparent
usage made a previous comment that Wat had made make more sense. He had told us
that there was a toilet we could use on the bus, but it should only be used for
emergencies. I think Amy was the only one to use it, once. Surin said that
sleeping on the bus was very nice, but they had no A/C. They turn the A/C on in
the morning so that the bus will be comfortable by the time we get on. Amy felt
really bad for them.
Amy asked me to take a picture of this sign because most, if not all hotels, do not allow durian in the hotel because of the stench.
We changed our clothes and went to see if Amy and Tim were still planning to go to the night market. We waited for them to get ready and all went together, although it was difficult to stay together once we got to the night market because of the crowds. We stayed together for awhile, but then got separated about halfway. As it was getting late and some vendors were beginning to close, I told Amy to go ahead to the vendor we had seen the night before to get the pants she wanted and I would catch up with her. Apparently, on her way, a boy stopped her to flirt, asking her how old she was and whether she had a boyfriend. After I caught up with Amy, we headed back and the same boy asked me if Amy was my daughter. I told him she was and he asked me how old she was. I told him 18 -- Amy had told him 16 thinking that she would be "jail bait" if she was under 18 (Amy, you're not in the US, remember?). He, jokingly, asked me if I would give her to him because he liked her and I told him that she had a boyfriend. He was very cute and very funny. As we walked away, he told me to remember his face. After Amy and I had walked a little bit and were laughing about the whole encounter, I told her that I was going to go back and take his picture. We went back and I told him that I would take his picture to be able to "remember his face".
We crossed the street to check out the other side. Amy found a vendor selling
really beautiful beaded purses, but they were a little expensive -- of
course, not really considering the product, but you do get used to how
inexpensive everything is and, after awhile, if something is 400 Bht (approx.
$10), it seems outrageous! She bargained with him and we joked about getting a
"student discount". Another girl (seemed British?) walked up and said that she
needed a student discount also, but she was very aggressive and unfriendly.
Thankfully, she left and we were able to finish our negotiation.
We returned to the hotel and saw Amy and Tim
having a drink in the lobby. We joined them and just a few minutes later Ryan
joined us. He was soaked! We'd gotten back just before the downpour!
This is the only picture I took of our room and it is DEFINITELY lived in! We had all our purchases spread all over the room as well as the clothing we'd washed and *tried* to dry (too much humidity - not everything dried that well and we tried to use the blow dryer, but...). Amy and I are usually pretty neat people, so this was a disaster for us! We called it our "Rock Star room".
I told you we looked pretty cute in our hotel robes!
:-)
I was up until 2:00 am packing and trying to complete the day's journal.
CHIANGMAI PLAZA HOTEL (Chiangmai)
. . . . 8/1/04