Trips and Travel
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Thailand - I met my wife in early January in Bangkok and flew up to Chiang Mai together. We spent a day and a half getting organized and then rode up to Pai for 4 nights. Beautiful part of the country and the road was nice and twisty through the mountains. Pai is a fun town and very beautiful. After Pai we rode back to CM and spent almost a week exploring the area. One of the highlights was attending a cooking class in a beautiful location - very well organized and we cooked 5 dishes each which was probably the best meal(s) on the whole trip. Before heading home, we spent my birthday in Bangkok and had a blast. I found Pronto by luck walking through a shopping area. Luckily they didn’t have any IH pieces in my size otherwise I would have blown my budget. Afterwards we went to see Muay Thai fights and was truly impressed by the performance. After that we went to Khaosan Rd and had a couple of drinks and explored the area. It’s changed a lot since my first visit 35 years ago and is a still a good time. I made it back home today and it was a long trip back. Will sleep well tonight.
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@Denman-John Thank you again for the beautiful photos. They are very inspiring and help to get through the winter boredom. Only 31 more days for me.
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@endo You’re going to have such a great time and the food is so fresh and delicious. Have you decided where you’re going in Thailand?
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@Denman-John Yes, it will be two islands in the Andaman Sea, Ko Phayam and Ko Chang (not the one off the coast of Cambodia). To me, it looks most like what we remember from the 90s. Just huts at the beach without electricity, relaxed people and bars/restaurants, no cars.
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@Denman-John Looks like such an amazing trip
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@Denman-John The second time I visited Thailand the cooking class I did in Bangkok was one of the best things I did. I think they have since moved to Chiang Mai. What was the name of the class you did? My sister-in-law is going there next month and I have told her she has to do a cooking class so would be good to give her a proper rec. The one I did was called May Kaidee and was great fun!
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@AdamC I did one two years ago and it was fantastic. I am a veggie so they altered the dishes that I learnt.
Lovely lady and excellent chef.
They give you a little cook book at the end too.
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@Denman-John Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
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@scooter said in Trips and Travel:
I'm drinking this...
I did NOT see that as a shovel head at first.
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@Denman-John to echo the others many thanks for posting the pictures.
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@endo “Just huts at the beach without electricity, relaxed people and bars/restaurants, no cars.”
Fuckin’eh! That sounds so nice. I’ve never been to those islands so I’m looking forward to hearing what your impressions are. How long are the ferry rides?
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@AdamC It surprised me because I didn’t think a cooking class could be so much fun! My wife is a sushi chef/foodie and did all the research/booking. The whole experience was so well put together. They picked us up at our hotel in the morning and did a market tour first, showing us the ingredients we would be using and giving us a few minutes to explore. We then drove to the outskirts of Chiang Mai (15mins) to where the Zabb E Lee Thai Cooking School is. https://zabb-elee-cooking.com/ Getting out of the van I knew I was in for something special. I’m a gardener/landscaper by trade and this place is world class in its presentation. There were 10 people per class and the 5 or 6 bamboo buildings were works of art in and of themselves. In the middle was a pond that the buildings surrounded that had bridges, stone walkways and beautiful tropical plant life between them. They also had a nice veg garden area in the back of the property. The kitchens were spacious and felt luxurious. Each person got to choose 5 different dishes to cook and we all ate together at the end. It was the best meal I ate on the whole trip. Highly recommend!
Sorry for the photo dump
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@Denman-John Do not apologise. This sounds and looks absolutely stunning. I have a deep love and appreciation for Thai and SE Asian culture, food and people in general. If you have any other recommendations for me to pass on to her, I would be very appreciative. I have given her lots but my trip ~15 years ago was a little too much focussed on having a good time as opposed to soaking up as many experiences. Dont get me wrong, we did some brilliant stuff but should have done so much more considering I was there for 4 months.
