Biking biking biking

This weekend was my first in Chiang Mai. On Saturday I took my rental bike and spent the entire day checking out the city from tip to tail. Besides the inner city, which is surrounded by a moat and wall, there is a huge sprawl of surrounding businesses, restaurants, and a big university (CMU - Chiang Mai University). At one point I spent about 1/2 hour learning Thai from a friendly-seeming Thai man on the street, who then proceeded to ask me for money for a bus ride to his hometown. The people here are funny - they are genuinely kind, but also want to take advantage of the farang (foreigners) whenever possible.

Saturday night we (the hostel owners and a few guests) closed up the hostel early and went out to Mexican food, which didn't taste particularly Mexican despite the fact that the ingredients were all correct - corn tortillas, beans, rice, salsa, and cheese. Afterwards we went to a farang hangout "The Rooftop Bar" which was quite trippy, decorated in rainbow colors and literally on the roof of a building, open to the air.

Sunday my friend Casey and I took a mountain biking trip through the nearby national park, Doi Suthep. Huge gorgeous rain forest, with all the plants we think of as invasive in Hawaii (bamboo, albizia, melastoma) native here. The forest is riddled with trails, small coffee plantations, and even a few hilltribe villages. It reminded me very much of Southern Costa Rica, both because of the weather (cool and humid) and the landscape. You could see the entire spread of Chiang Mai below. The gear we had to wear felt like a football costume, complete with plastic torso armor, knee and elbow pads, and leg guards. Very silly!



This week I am taking a break from massage and instead taking a Thai cooking class with some friends. We learn how to grow and shop for the food, so it should be a fun experience!