A Trip to Chiang Mai

We recently spent a week vacationing in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second-largest city, which is located in the northern part of the country. Some very good Thai friends of ours, Fong and Kaew (pictured below), accompanied us on the first part of the trip and did an outstanding job of navigating us around the city.

The key attraction in Chiang Mai at the moment is a huge floral exposition in honor of the king. We spent most of one day touring the expo with Fong and Kaew.

The umbrellas that you see are to ward off the baking hot sun, not rain.

This group of Thais in colorful costumes were part of a cultural show.

We did so much walking during our visit to Chiang Mai that, when we visited some nearby hot springs...

a soak in warm water followed by a foot massage was much needed and appreciated.

We also enjoyed shopping at the night bazaar...

visiting a crafts center where artisans produce hand-painted umbrellas...

and having a delicious Sukiyaki meal (our first), which you cook at your own table in boiling water, somewhat in the style of fondue. Fong and Kaew guided us through this new experience.

Later in the week, after Fong and Kaew had returned to Bangkok, Doris and I took a trip up Doi Suthip, a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. There’s a temple at the summit...

where we took pictures of, among other things, monks taking pictures with their digital cameras. I don’t know why this strikes me as odd—it just does.

I’m told that the rows of bells outside the temple are rung by visiting Thai Buddhists in the belief that the pealing sound will grow and spread the individual’s fame and success.

We did our part to contribute to the health of the Chiang Mai economy by buying a carload of souvenirs, including a miniature, carved teak elephant (about two feet tall), a painting, a textile wall hanging, painted umbrellas, a marble vase and marble bird bath, a floor lamp, etc.

For our trip home, we just barely were able to squeeze all of our purchases into our Mazda van, pictured below with our latest (and hopefully now permanent) driver, Khun Akachai.

"Madame Lonely?"

I mentioned in an earlier blog entry the many challenges we face here every day in trying to communicate with Thai people, whether it’s in English or in Thai. We’ve had many funny experiences. Some seem funny only much later, after our frustration subsides and we regain our perspective and sense of humor. This past weekend, some Filipino friends of ours told us a thoroughly enjoyable story about their own difficulty in trying to transcend the language barrier.

The husband of the couple was out of the country on business, which the couple’s usual driver knew about, because the driver had taken the husband to the airport. One morning while the husband was gone, the wife of the couple got into the car and settled into the back seat. She got the usual “Good morning, Madame.” Drivers here have a variety of names for their male customers, such as “Mister,” “Boss,” or even “Master.” A woman customer, on the other hand, invariably seems to get called “Madame,” with a posh accent on the second syllable of the word.

So, after being greeted with “Good morning, Madame,” the wife noticed the driver intently looking at her in the rear-view mirror. The driver then said, “Madame lonely?” She found this a bit too personal a question and a serious intrusion on her privacy, so she decided to ignore him. He continued looking at her, though, and then expanded his question: “Madame lonely? 750 baht.” (The baht is the unit of currency in Thailand, and 750 baht equates to a little more than $20.) At this point, the wife became quite incensed at just what kind of proposition the driver was making. As she sat there fuming, unsure what to say or do next, the driver turned around in his seat, repeated his question and then produced for her examination a bill for 750 baht from a nearby laundry. It was only then that the wife realized he was trying to say “laundry” instead of “lonely," and was simply asking whether she wanted to go pick up and pay for her dry cleaning!