Near-death on a Vespa

Day two in Chiang Mai was amazing.  Started out simple enough: I'd been awake for hours (thank you jet lag) listening to alley dogs fighting and then quieting, only to be roused into a howling chorus a few minutes later.  At some point, I noticed that the sun was up, the early morning rush hour sounds were growing louder.  I ventured next door for some coffee, and made for the square that is the old city.  The main roads that draw the perimeter of the square are heavily trafficked with tuk-tuks (motorized three-wheeled rickshaw taxis), motorbikes, vespas, sawngthaew (pick-up truck taxis with two rows of seats in the bed) and bicycles.  There are a few crosswalks, but I have yet to see anyone actually use them.  Instead, crossing the street feels a bit like a real-life game of Frogger, only without the extra lives.

There's a moat surrounding the square, decorated with fountains, flowers, and what look like piles of giant wrapped Christmas gifts.  After a few blocks, I found a street vendor with several tables full of prepared foods, and a grill full of various kinds of meat-on-a-stick.  There was a line of people here, which was the criteria suggested for determining which vendors were tasty, sanitary and reasonably priced.  I watched for a minute, taking in the process, and then I walked up to make an order.  Immediately, a bag of very small fried fish - still whole - was placed into my hands, and everyone laughed (kindly) as I thought about it and gave the bag back. I pointed at some of the grilled meat, and was told that it was, "moo." (Amazing what a little creativity will do when trying to overcome language barriers!)   I ended up making my selections based on what looked easy to eat without utensils or explanation, and left with meat-on-a-stick (pork, I believe) and something wrapped in large leaves and grilled (they told me that what was inside were more of the small fish. I decided it was a good day to try something new).  

As I walked deeper into the square, I ate my delicoius skewered pork (yes, we'll go with that) and then moved on to whatever was in the leaves.  I tried not to look like an idiot as I figured out whether you were supposed to eat it like a sandwich, leaves and all, or unwrap it and just eat what was inside.  I decided to unwrap.  Inside was what looked similar to a Korean seafood pancake (First thought: sweet! I love those!).  I grabbed a small piece, noting the whole fishy-fishy that I was holding in my fingers, and took a bite.  I'm a texture girl when it comes to food, so when I took a bite and felt the tail, I had to muster some serious self-control to not spit it back out.  I forced myself to focus on the taste (not bad actually), and to appreciate the experience, even if the thought in my head was, "EW!! I just got poked in the tongue by tiny little fish bones!!" I finished my one bite and decided that was enough.  I kept walking, and finally found a trash can about twenty minutes later.  Once I'd gotten rid of the evidence, I sat down on a ledge and tried to decide where to go next.

 While I was pondering, an older Thai man nearby asked how I was doing.  We started talking - about who each of us was, why we were sitting there and what the day would hold.  After awhile, I asked where a good place was to eat.  He told me to hop on the back of his bicycle and he would take me there. I thought about this for a minute and decided it sounded like a great plan.  I hopped on the back and away we went, dodging cars and bicycles and pedestrians.  Not gonna lie, it was mildly terrifying.  When we got to the restaurant (or vendor... but with tables), there was a table set up with about ten different pots; you pull off the lids, decide what looks good, place your order and go sit down.  I got chicken curry (SO yummy!) and something else that looked (and tasted) really good, but was so hot that it had me in tears - much to the amusement of my new friend Guy.  (I'm absolutely sure that I'm spelling that wrong, and that I pronounced it wrong, but it sounds somewhat close to that and means "little chicken.")  Many meals here are served with a spoon and fork, and Guy laughed at me for only taking a fork.  (My favorite thing about him - he laughed often and without reserve. It took him about a minute to recover from his amusement at the sight of me putting sunscreen on my feet.  It's the little things...)  He handed me a spoon, and I copied him: spoon in your left hand, fork in your right; use the back of the fork to help push food onto the spoon, and eat from the spoon. Once that was settled, we talked politics, movies, religion and music.  When I told him my name, he immediately launched into "Miiiiichelle, my belle...."  This set the stage for the rest of the morning - he randomly sang lines from various American "hippie" musicians. "Woodstock was my time; I'm a hippie, but without the drugs!"

After we ate, he swapped his bicycle for his vespa (once, he forgot to make sure I was holding on before he took off, nearly sending me flying), and drove me to his favorite temple. "This one has the most beautiful Buddha." (If you can zoom in, the detail is remarkable.)

He explained proper temple etiquette (shoes off before you enter; do not stand - walk in and sit cross-legged or with your feet tucked under you; and, if you choose, bow three times: once for the Buddha, once for his teachings, and once for the monks), told me that pictures are allowed, and gave me Buddhism and history lessons.  "Buddha teaches you to fight your mind... and win."  This continued at the other two temples, one of which was Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (the one up on the mountain in the pics taken from my room), which is one of the most sacred temples of the north. Sadly, it's now swarmed with tourists, but it's really quite beautiful. The wat was built where a white elephant - carrying an honored Buddha relic - stopped and died, the relic having "chosen" that site.

After our temple visits and lunch in the forest, it was time to call it a day, and I went back to my room for a nap.  As he dropped me off, Guy smiled, bowed his head and wished me a beautiful life.

Snakes (it's not a dragon) are believed to protect Buddha.

Buddha on the outside wall of one of the temples.