Day 8 - Sunday, February 20 - Chiang Mai

I got a great night slep and woke up at 8:30AM.

Showered and headed over to the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. Established in 1993, it's the first "cookery school" to open in Chiang Mai. It is owned and run by Sompon Nabnian and his English wife, Elizabeth.

There were 13 people in the class - all English speaking but from all over the world (i.e. Holland, Belgium, Italy, Canada, US). We met in the courtyard of Sompon's restaurant called "Magic Wok". The school itself is in a classroom out back and beyond the classroom is a huge outdoor courtyard with cooking stations set up.

First we all met, introduced ourselves and the teacher came in. I can't pronounce her name, spell, it so you'll have to believe me that she was a great Thai Cook who must sideline as a comedianne. She was a character.

The way the class is structured is following: you convene in the classroom and she shows you how to make a dish. You then go outside into the cooking area and everyone makes an individual portion for yourself based on what you just learned in the class and eats it. We were handed a cookbook of all the dishes they teach at the school so we followed along as she was teaching and cooking the demonstration. The classroom even has the mirror above her prep table and stove so you can see what she's doing.

The first hour was spent teaching us how to make CURY PASTE. She showed us how to make Panaeng Curry Paste and then we each made ours. We set it aside to use in our first dish which was Panaeng Curry with Pork. Following are the dishes we made:

Panaeng Cury with Pork

Fried Fish with Chilli and Basil

Chiang Mai Curry with Chicken

Sweet and Sour Vegetales

Each one was better than the last and I was pretty impressed. All you need is a wok and some spices and all this could be yours too!!!

The last 2 were made and eaten together as our "lunch break". So far everyting was AWESOME and we were busting at the seams. Although, each a small individual portion, it was a lot of food. We went back into the classroom and learned how to make our final 2 dishes:

Spicy Glass Noodle Salad - a light rereshing, yet SPICY, salad

Black Sticky ice Pudding - a great Thai alternative to our RIce Pudding. SO MUCH BETTER THAN KOZY SHACK, my all time favorite in the stores

The class was over at around 3:30P and I headed over to check out the huge "weekend market" in the center of the city. I was told it was a great market and it runs from Sunday noon til midnight. I only walked a few blocks of it and turned around - I needed to be back at Libra at 6P for a pre-trek meeting.

The meeting started at 6:15P. There are 12 of us leaving tomorrow at 9AM for our Hill Tribe Trek. That being said, there wont be another blog until Wednesday night or Thursday AM the earliest (my time). I'll write all about the trek when I get back but basically, it's a 3 day trek throught the mountains visiting local Thai Tribes and living in their villages. We stay in huts in their village and they cook dinner for us. Along the way, we hike, take a 3 hour trip on a bamboo raft, and ride elephants. I'm looking forward to it as everyone says the treks are great.

We got our backpacks, sleeping bags, and instructions for what to bring and we all parted ways. It seems to be a good group of people.

Headed over to the Weekend Market and started walking. I had no idea how large it was. It went for MILES and MILED and just as you thougt you were nearing the end of the street, it contined on a street running perpendicular. This market had to be more than 3 miles of streets and vendors on each side. The stuff people sell here is much higher quality for dirt cheap. It is predominantly more of an arts and crafts market.

I walked for hours and eventually had no idea which street I needed to still walk to say I completed the whole market. At about 11PM, I thought it was time to quit. If I was going to be here next Sunday, I would come back and buy everything in site for my new import business. Abbott Kinney may be too expensive now - anyone have any ideas where my store should be? Anyone have any suggestions for a name?

I'm at an internet cafe now and it's just about midnight. I don't suspect anything happening to me on my walk back to Libra so until Wednesday or Thursday, have fun, take care, and enjoy. I promise on of my goals when I get back from the trek is to get some pictures up on my site. Until then.............