Chiang Mai

This place is great, and my time here started off with a bang. I checked into my (very nice) hotel and wandered around town. I found a great used bookstore and picked up 6 or 8 novels I'd been meaning to read. I kept walking down the street and decided to stop in a bar for a bottle of Singha. Before long I found myself playing Jenga with the waitstaff.

Because, hey, who doesn't love Jenga?

Jenga gave way to billiards. These girls were total pool sharks and kicked my ass.


Then things got weird. Someone ordered plates of fried bugs. I believe I tried some but my memory of this part of the evening is a bit fuzzy.


Then some random elephant showed up.


Then I woke up my hotel room.

Yesterday I spent the day out in the mountains. I hung out with some elephants


floated down the river


climbed up to a waterfall


and ended the day with some whitewater rafting. Not a bad day's work. The jungle is beautiful.



And earlier today I took another cooking class. Like the last one, it started with a trip to the market.


My steamed fish in banana leaf, yellow curry chicken, and chicken cashew were all very good.


The instructors weren't as funny as Shecky Nguyen, but then he wasn't as cute as they were.


Also, I'm pretty sure I discovered the inspiration for Van Halen's "Ice Cream Man".