My taxi driver informed me that second to Bangkok, Chiang it is the largest city in Thailand. Bangkok holds 64 million people! Chiang Mai has a mere 233,000 people, and probably swells a bit during touristy months. I’m definitely in a city that feels like Brooklyn more than Manhattan.
For you Atari fans, crossing the streets here is the live version of Frogger. Where there are cross walks, I press a large button on a poll and in seconds the light changes from red to green. I have 15 seconds to cross three lanes of traffic and then the game of Frogger begins—me against oncoming traffic.
The good news is that despite the crazy amount of cars, scooters, tuk tuks, and group taxis no one honks. Really. And people appear to notice pedestrians but from what I can tell it’s really my job to pay attention to them.
I considered for a second renting a scooter to join the fun when Krishna, the night manager at my guesthouse, gave me a ride to school (about a three-mile trek across town). His orientation to the city was very useful, albeit a little scary as we crossed the Ping river on a narrow sidewalk and he stopped looking at the road and gestured widely with one arm the beautiful view on both sides. Right before that he told me that he likes to race bikes and showed me the very large scar on his arm.
After that I decided to stick with my original plan and rent a bicycle.
Krishna has been a great help in the last 24 hours. When I arrived last night I wanted to eat and planned to check out the vendors across from the guesthouse. Instead he asked me if I eat meat, and when I said I eat anything he walked me around the corner to another spot. He ordered for me and told me to sit at the table and how much it would cost and then returned to his post at Mountain View. I was the only foreigner and the food was great. I had a soupy noodle pork dish with small egg-like chewy things. I will get more acquainted with what I’ve been eating a report back. It’s all been good, and what costs $8-14 at my favorite Thai place in queens is under a $1 here.
Tonight I visited the vendors for dinner. There are give or take 12 carts set up along a busy road and lots of chairs and tables outside. I spotted a dish that looked good and hoped that the menu was in English, but it wasn’t. Easy enough to point out what I wanted—another pork dish, but this time with rice and Chinese broccoli. I think.
I am getting up at 5:45a to begin my yoga routine before class. Thanks for reading!
