Chang Mai, part deux

Have been out of easy access to internet for a while, so have a bit of a backlog to update. I think the last time I posted we were about to go to some muay thai last Friday evening, or thai kickboxing for those who are not down with the kids.

The first thing which struck me about the kickboxers was how small they were. When I had a look at the lineup I realised that the lowest weight division was up to 26kg. Mind you, those 26kg 9 year olds could still probably beat me in a fight, and the 42kg 12 year olds could definitely kick my ass. Their ability to withstand pain (ie repeated kicks to the shins) was quite amazing.

The day after the kickboxing we had a lazy day by the pool. The original plan was to hire scooters and go look at elephants, but that was quickly discarded in favour of working on our respective tans. In the evening we went to watch the All Blacks thrash some poor unfortunate minnow, and then we went to the night market.
I must be changing in appearance, because people couldn't pick where I was from. First, when we were watching the rugby someone asked if I was italian. In his defence, I was wearing a blue and white tshirt so this was understandable. Second, when we were at the night market one of the vendors asked me where in Japan I was from. That was just odd. Finally, I was holding a shoe at one of the stalls in the night market , wondering if it came in size canoe. A westerner comes up to me, and asks me how much for some of the shoes at the stall. I have only been out of my country of origin for a week, do distinguising characteristics really rub off that quickly?

I previously mentioned a plan to hire scooters. On the way to the night market we hopped in a tuk tuk, where there was an advertisement on the back of the driver's seat for a day long tour of the elephant park, monkey farm, snake farm etc. After a bit of bartering the tuk tuk driver made us an offer for driving us around which was cheaper than the cost of hiring scooters ourselves, so we decided to pay them $8 to drive us around for four hours.
The next day we were chauffeured to:
The Orchid Farm and Butterfly Farm. Pretty low key, but kind of cool.




The Monkey Farm. This was for monkeys where poachers had shot the mothers and left the babies to die. These monkeys were trained to pick coconuts, on the grounds that they were better than humans and also safer. At least for the humans who would otherwise be picking coconuts. There was one tame monkey, which was well behaved enough to sit on people's laps. It sat on Marie's lap, and I duly took a photo.

When it sat on my lap it decided that it wanted to roll over and have its belly scratched, and then climb up and sit on my head, and then perch on my outstretched arm.

Marie said that it was recognising its own kind. My retort was that in that case her children would be half monkey... Then they had a monkey show. They asked me to try and shoot a ball into a basket, I got 1 out of 3 which wasn't a complete disaster. Then a monkey came out and shot 4 out of 5, I was suitably humbled. There were also monkeys doing pressups, riding tricycles etc.

Snake Farm: We saw some pythons and cobras along with assorted other snakes here. There was also one cage with a mongoose in it, was this dinner for the snakes? They had a snake show where you could hold a python, which was pretty cool.

It was heavier than I thought it would be, and it felt like an expensive handbag. While I was holding the python and posing for the camera one of the snake trainers reached down and pinched the back of my leg. Naturally I jumped a mile, haha. Then later on the two trainers bought out a holding pen, and talked up a great buildup about a 'jumping snake', and started poking around inside the holding pen. Then one of them reached inside, hooked a length of thick rope and threw it across to me. Again, I jumped a mile. There must be something about my face which says 'I will be a good sport'.
That evening we wandered down to the old town area of chang mai. Every sunday this turns into a giant market- we took 3 hours to cover about two thirds of it. Admitedly that did include a half hour foot massage, and assorted street vendor treats. My life is so hard.

The next day Marie and I went on a thai cooking course, which was really enjoyable. All the publicity tells you not to eat breakfast that day, and there is a reason for that :)

We made a dish, then ate it, then made another dish, then ate it, then made another dish, then ate that. Then we went to the market, and our guide explained all the different fruits and herbs. I picked up some durian. Then we went back to the cooking school, and made some more dishes and ate them. I had durian instead of mango with the sweet sticky rice for dessert, and it was really nice. I think the problem with the durian I have had previously was that it was overripe. If you can catch the durian before that point it is really creamy and rich, without the rotten smell around it. Marie thought it tasted soapy...