Settling into Chiang Mai

This may be my last post to you from the road. What?! It’s a little hard for me to wrap my mind around, frankly. How it is possible that a month ago I’d never left the continent and now I’m in the tail end of a five week foray into Southeast Asia? I did not wade gently into this whole travel-the-world thing, that’s for sure.

However, the last ten days have been gentler than before, and it’s been an absolute dream. Mom and I began this trip full speed. We didn’t spend longer than three or four days in a place before jetting off to a new city and by early February we were starting to feel the effects of being in constant motion. We had originally planned to travel through Cambodia before ending in Bangkok just in time for our flight home, but when we couldn’t get a bus from Dalat to Ho Chi Minh City (thanks to the Vietnamese Lunar New Year), we were forced to reevaluate. That’s when we decided to spend the second half of our travels in Chiang Mai, taking it a little slower. Giving ourselves space to breathe, to settle into a rhythm, and to get to know a place in a way we hadn’t before.

How nice it is to breathe.

Some things Mom and I have done while breathing:

Museums. We’re a museum-loving duo, and Chiang Mai gives us our fix in the form of several history institutions and one terrific contemporary art museum. A particular highlight was the Highland People Discovery Museum, where we learned about the practices and lifestyles of the many hill tribes that surround Chiang Mai. It was fascinating to learn a little more about the past lives of this city we’re temporarily calling home. Plus, the Lanna Folklife Museum had a collection of Buddha statues beautiful enough they had Mom and me planning a heist.

We also, as mentioned above, paid a visit to the new MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in San Kamphaeng, a neighborhood a decent drive outside of downtown Chiang Mai. It’s a small museum, most of the art is whatever main exhibit is on display as the permanent collection isn’t large, but it’s well worth the trek. Currently on view is Diaspora: Exit, Exile, Exodus of Southeast Asia, a powerfully moving reflection on immigration and other border-related issues in the region, specifically in the last thirty years or so. The art was fantastic and heart-wrenching and it was really wonderful to see works from Thai artists.
Plus, the front outside wall of the building is pretty awesome on its own.

Eat. It will come as no surprise that delicious Thai food is plentiful here, so it follows th at Mom and I have been munching our way through Chiang Mai. I won’t overwhelm you with too many plate photos but we did have one meal that was entirely picture worthy. Here’s a shot of our appetizers, each one exquisitely hand-shaped. Those flowers are food!

Walk. When we’re not eating, looking at art, or sitting in a cafe sipping smoothies, we’re walking the city. It’s a fairly easy place to get around if you’re not looking to leave the city center (if you are, forget it. You wanna hike or visit the famous Doi Suthep but you don’t ride a motorcycle? Good luck) and we’ve spent many an hour wandering the laneways.

Overall, our time here so far as been nothing short of lovely. No, we’re not ending up in hotel rooms we barely fit in or losing our debit cards or spending seventeen consecutive hours on public transportation, but that’s okay. That’s more than okay. The time came for some well-earned R&R and I’m soaking up every minute. As a friend of Mom’s described it, Chiang Mai is our savasana.

So, there you go. A little glimpse into our final weeks abroad. I may check in for one last chat before heading home, but no promises. However, I would like to use this space to post some more resource-oriented posts and I think this site (although not this URL) may continue to be a place for blog posts for my future travels, so don’t un-bookmark it quite yet. Regardless, thank you so much for following along. I’ve loved reporting from the road and I look forward to many more chances to do so.

In love and adventure,

E