Chiang Mai: Kingdom of Vegetarians

Chiang Mai is a smallish city in Northern Thailand, about equidistant from Laos and Myanmar. Jenny and I spent longer than we anticpated there, because there is so much to do, both in the city and in the surrounding countryside. Actually let's be real: we wanted to stay because there was too much delicious food to pass up. There were more vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Mai than I've ever seen in any city. Ever. Just from walking around the city we passed at least 12 to 15. The most tragic part was that there weren't enough meals in one day to eat at all of them. There were vegetarian restaurants of every class and variety: one had outdoor garden dining and waterfalls, one was run out of a Buddhist university behind a major Wat, one had a cooking school attached (which we also attended), one served only organic ingredients and was also an organic market. It was unbelievable. We had pad thai, tom yum soup, spring rolls, fried rice and every sort of curry you can imagine. This was green curry at the Buddhist university cafe. Mmmm.

We did some other things besides eating (and getting loads of Thai yoga massages). The most exciting was a trip to an elephant training village. We were nervous about going with any tour company advertising elephant rides, because of the stories we've heard of mistreatment and exploitation of the elephants. The place we went had 5 female elephants, which we learned to control by certain Thai commands (Yud! = stop, Buay! = go forward) which I struggled to pronounce and keep in order. We learned how to make the elephant turn left, right, go forward, go backward and stop. Then we rode two per elephant to a watering hole and a river where we gave them a bath and had a waterfight (they had an advantage becuase of the water holding capacity of trunks). Jenny and I rode Nongmai, who was the young (8 year old) and naughty elephant, becuase the Mahout (elephant trainer) said we were the best at commanding the elephants. I think it was because we shouted the commands really loud whereas everyone else was quite timid. I figured she might not understand my Thai pronunciation, so the louder the better, right? She wasn't so naughty, just very hungry and self-determined. She was adorable though. These are my new elephant friends.