Chiang Mai Day 2: Temples and a Thai cooking lesson

This morning we were up before the crack of dawn to meet out guide, O (at 5.30am!) to head up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep to catch the sunrise and join the offering of alms to the monks at the temple.  A beautiful clear morning, and very tranquil at the top of the mountain looking down on Chaing Mai below.

After the alms offerings ...

It was time for a wander around the Temple complex. Pretty spectacular - especially with all the gold!

Though we were also pretty amused to discover a bank of ATMs at the entrance...

After breakfast, we headed down to the local market (Worarat Market) for a wander (providing entertainment in our turn as we tried to dodge the various motorcycles, mopeds and cars driving through, stopping occasionally for a purchase or pick up conducted without leaving the  vehicle - a novel form of drive-through) and then around the Old City, stopping at Wat Chedi Luang:

Then it was on to the Longneck Village, which is home to a number of hill-tribes, and specifically a number of individuals from the Pedong tribe and who had come to Thailand (initially the Thailand - Burmese) border as refugees from the fighting in Burma.  Having been intrigued by photos of the same briefly glimpsed in a travel diary from many years back, it was fascinating to finally meet members of the tribe in the flesh.  O explained that the rings worn around the neck and legs were originally to prevent the female members of the tribe from attacks by tigers (the neck) and cobras (the legs) in the jungle, although it is largely more cultural now (the nearest tigers in Chang Mai being at the 'Tiger Kingdom' attraction not far from our hotel) Having tried the neck bracelet kept for tourists for photos, I can vouch for the fact they are incredibly heavy!

After that somewhat busy morning, it was back to the hotel to chill for a while before the pool.  Sadly monsoon season decided to remind us of its presence around 2pm - so we headed for the covered lounging area and (aside from a brief trip to the gym) whiled away the afternoon there until it was time to head off for the second adventure of the day: Pantawan Cooking School!

The experience started with a trip round the local market (well, local to the Cooking School!) tasting various delicacies (including the local sausage - pork with turmeric, and kaffir lime leaves) and getting to know the produce we would be using (Thai holy basil v sweet basil anyone?!) and then out to a beautiful house complete with its own organic garden, small lake and resident geese to begin cooking dinner!

First up: Thai green curry.  Angus was pretty pleased with how his turned out:

Then pork with Thai basil (v v good - and quick! Will definitely be gracing the Williamson dinner table henceforth), pineapple fried rice, and last (but certainly not least) a rice noodle salad. 

Finally, time to kick and back and enjoy the fruits of our labours with a local beer (Chang)

Off to Chang Rei in the morning - apparently there may be elephants.....  More to follow....