Brown water rafting and Thai cooking school…

November 5th, 2001 at 12:00am

So to finish the trekking story from Chang Mai…
The last day (Saturday) we hiked for two hours to a road where we were picked up and then taken down to a river. There we got on these bamboo rafts and we rafted down the river for about an hour. I guess you could call it’brown water rafting’ because the water was as silty-brown as could be. Rebecca, Claire and I got the lucky raft with 2 skilled Thai men steering our raft. The other group was not so fortunate with only one guide who lost his bamboo stick after only a few minutes in the water. We all made it though! (It was pretty neat that we actually stood on the raft the entire time.) After that we had lunch and then were driven up to the top of Doi Inthanon which is the highest mountain in Thailand at 2595m. There are 2 temples near the top that we stopped to visit and we also stopped at a waterfall on the way down. Best part of the trip was the price – only 1600 BAHT ($30) for the whole 3 days, including all meals and everything!!

Yesterday I decided to do a one-day Thai cooking class at the Chang Mai Thai Cookery School. For 900 BAHT you get a 6-hour class which on the day I went consisted of a trip to the market and then a chance to prepare (and eat!) 6 different Thai dishes. AND they also give you a cookbook to take home. There were 20 people in the class and the Thai instructors were excellent! I really enjoyed the trip to the market because our instructor explained so much about the curry pastes, noodles, rice, and fruits and vegetables. We also got to see how coconut cream and milk is extracted from the raw coconuts.

Back at the school we each had our own cook station complete with cutting board, knife, spatulas, pots and a burner. First we prepared a spicy coconut soup, then a red curry dish, a stir-fried vegetable plate and a Thai noodle dish. They were all quite good but my favorite was the red curry. The school provided me with tofu, soy sauce and mushroom sauce to replace the meat, fish sauce and oyster sauce ingredients. For dessert we made a banana-coconut warm pudding and we also made sticky rice and papaya salad. I can’t wait to make some stuff at home on my own!

During the class I met a Dutch couple (currently living in Ireland), Barbara and Fierman, who were kind enough to invite me back to their fancy hotel for a swim in the pool after class. What luxury! It felt great to swim after cooking all day. So nice of them invite me…

So, I am currently on a plane to Ko Samui which is an island in the Gulf of Thailand. I can’t wait to hit the beaches!!!! I should be there in another 2 hours or so – would have been even faster but there are no direct flights to Samui from Chang Mai. I managed to get the bike on the plane ok. This morning I rode to the local bike shop in Chang Mai and again the guy working there was extremely helpful. He gave me a box and totally helped me take the bike apart and box it properly. I then had to hail a cab to the airport and I made it just in time to catch my flight. I did have to pay an extra 600 BAHT ($15) for the bicycle which was a bummer but I was expecting some type of charge. I am really looking forward to getting south and spending some quality relaxation time snorkeling and hanging out on the beach.

Brown water rafting

At the market during cooking school

The chef at work

Entry Filed under: North,Thailand