Chiang Mai: 4/1 to 4/6

As I type this, we sit in our taxi on our way to Chiang Rai, a city even further to the north of Thailand. We were supposed to be on a bus, but they were sold out until 2:30 pm, so here we are. But more about that later.

After arriving in Bangkok on 3/31, we slept one short night and then flew to Chiang Mai. It is a must-see tourist destination here in Thailand, and we decided it should be our first stop. We stayed in a wonderful guesthouse called Chowdhury House, where we had a very filling breakfast everyday as well as infinite kindness and assistance in planning our time there. My favorite memory is when we were leaving for our massages, the manager/owner said "have joy," when we would usually say "have fun." We were also perfectly located in Old Town/The Walled City, making most of the star attractions very walkable. 

In no particular order, here are the highlights of what we did while we were there:

Visiting Wats - the three main temples (wats) in the Old City are Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Phra Singh, and Wat Chiang Man. We hit all of them in one day, as well as a few smaller temples whose names I can't tell you because they only have signs in Thai script. I really enjoyed the architecture, particularly the undulating snake-dragons that guide you up to the main building at each. I'm toying with turning them into a photography project when I get back. My favorite temple was Wat Chiang Man, because we were welcomed to join the festivities celebrating a new statue of the first king of Chiang Mai, who is buried behind the main chedi of this temple. A kind man explained the reason for the celebration and some of the history of the temple, just because we were standing together speaking in English and he approached us. Another gestured to the food, inviting us to eat with them. And a woman spoke to us while we were eating and invited us to pour water on the Buddha for good luck. 

 

Thai Cooking Class - This was a definite tourist attraction but I am so glad we did it. Kerry found a place called Thai Orchid Cookery School that had a great reviews so we reserved spots ahead of time. Turns out we found one of the original four cooking schools in Chiang Mai (there are more than 40 now). I learned so much about thai cooking, herbs, fruits, and vegetables that I never would have been able to figure out on my own. And we got a recipe book to take home so we can cook all we learned back in the States! Our hosts were a wonderful husband and wife team, and I hope other people who visit Chiang Mai can spend a class with them.

 

Elephant Sanctuary - There are no elephants in the city, of course, but a day trip to visit them in the surrounding hills is worth it. There are many camps that do not treat their elephants humanely, so we took care to find a sanctuary where they are not ridden or tortured. I found Hug Elephant Sanctuary through a friend I studied abroad with in college, and I'm so glad we went there. It was a small operation, but I felt good about supporting the local people. We were with a Polish family, and there were plenty of elephants to go around (even though they only have 2). Sadly one of their elephants died a few months ago, but they are charging forward to take care of the two they have left, Wandee and Yo. I left feeling honored to have spent time with these magnificent creatures and to have learned more about the conservation efforts surrounding them. 

 

Doi Suthep - One of the larger mountains near Chiang Mai houses a very important temple, the short name of which is Wat Doi Suthep. We were told by many it was a "must-see", so we dedicated a morning to visit. This was one temple where I definitely wished I had a guide, or someone to explain what everything was, because it was complex and intricate. Additionally, one of the royal family's palaces is on this mountain as well as a small Hmong village with a hill tribe museum. We visited all three places in a "red taxi" (songthaew in Thai). It was fun to get out of the city and see what life is like in non-urban Thailand.

 

Shopping - Chiang Mai is known to be a great place to buy souvenirs, both for yourself and for family. My friend Soraya, whose family lives in Bangkok, has to set herself a limit so she doesn't buy too many pieces of clothing when she visits because last time she bought 40 lbs of clothes. And there are plenty of venues besides permanent shops. There is the Saturday Walking Street, a pop up evening market on the south edge of the old city outside the wall, as well as the Sunday Walking Street, a larger version on one of the main streets inside the wall. Both reminded me of El Rastro, the Sunday morning market in Madrid I visited most weeks for shopping and for gift buying. There are food carts, plastic chairs set up for streetside massages, tables filled with jewelry and trinkets, and of course racks and racks of the infamous Elephant Pants. While you don't see too many local people wearing the ones with elephants in the pattern, these light, cotton, one-size-fits-most pants are ideal with the humid heat here in Thailand. Every tourist gets a least one pair (I got 2), because besides looking cool they are also the perfect bottoms to visit temples in, being both respectful and comfortable. 

In addition to these two street markets, there is the Night Bazaar, a nightly market mostly contained in a few concrete buildings but spilling out onto the street as well, located east of the Old City near the river. There were amazing artists there, painting and drawing as they sat next to their works for sale. More clothing and jewelry could be found, along with massage stations not offering a human's touch but the nibble of a fish to eat away your dead skin (no I did not try this). All of these large markets are at night, allowing people to come after work and also avoid the daytime sun and heat. 

 

Massage - As I mentioned before, there are plenty opportunities on the street during the markets as well as among the shops to get a massage. But with a bit of research on Kerry's party, we went all out and it was worth it. There is an amazing Spa in the Old City called Fah Lanna Spa, that has received great reviews online and boasts a complete experience. And they did not disappoint. We were picked up from our guesthouse and taken to the spa where we were served an iced tea. Our feet were washed and scrubbed before we were led to our room to change into provided clothes. We each got a Traditional Thai Massage, which was one hour of pressure and manipulation, using their hands, feet, knees, and elbows. It was nothing like the massage I had in the US, and I think it was way better. I didn't realize how sore my legs were until they   were becoming relaxed. Afterwards, we were served hot ginger tea and a rice cracker before being driven back. The best part is that it only cost $20 USD!!

 

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In between all these larger activities, we wandered the streets, browsed shops, and ate food in various restaurants and from street stalls. We walked to the river, checked out a used bookstore, and visited a market to buy fruit and basil seeds. There is so much to see in Chiang Mai, that you could spend a long time there, although we felt that we experienced everything we wanted in the four and a half days we were there.

Thailand here we come!!

So we are at the airport, aggressively early at our gate. But we've been ready for 2 says so it's definitely time to go. I don't think I've ever packed so light on a trip before. This rivals Ecuador when I packed a duffel and a backpack for 8 weeks. 

I made this cool itinerary map on a free website to demonstrate our plans. I'm not sure what the quality will be when it's blown up om a computer but hopefully it's discernible. I'm so excited to start this journey with Kerry and Patrick!

(In case it's not, you can pop over to Kerry's blog because she typed out our itinerary with the dates we are in each place.)

Nashville, land of bachelorettes and Kentucky fans... 3/8-3/12

I was very excited to visit Nashville. My mom had previously been for work trips, and said it was a fun place to go out on the town. But when we started looking for AirBnBs, I started to think maybe it was a bit too pricey of a city for us, being on a medical student/living-on-loans kind of budget. So we went the hostel route, booking the Downtown location of the two hostels total in all of Nashville. And it wasn't until we were wandering around the city looking for dinner, that we realized why it seemed like a financially insurmountable city: SEC Tournament. College basketball. While I love watching the Terps in person and on TV, I was not exactly thrilled to share the city with hundreds and hundreds of Kentucky fans, dressed completely in Royal Blue, taking up space in every bar and restaurant, gobbling up the reasonably priced AirBnBs, and even invading our hostel. Kerry and I agreed we would have enjoyed Nashville more if it hadn't been saturated with blue.

That being said, we did have a good time. It definitely is a more expensive city than we are used to, but it just posed a challenge of finding good ways to spend our money, and fun free things to do. The things we always spend money on (food, beer, souvenirs) didn't change much, but our two splurges were pretty great:

Belle Meade Plantation: A very cool manor house with grounds that was active for over 100 years in the various economies of Nashville, now a museum, restaurant, and winery. We got a tour of the house by a man in period dress and a wine tasting of 4 of their house wines at the end. It was a beautiful, sunny day when we were there, so we enjoyed wandering the grounds afterwards.






Musicians Hall of Fame: I'm sure some people are shocked that we bypassed the Country Music HoF, because it's the big attraction in Nashville. But Kerry and I are admittedly not huge country music fans, and were worried we wouldn't appreciate the homage to country enough to spend $20. Our trusty free map from our hostel showed us that there was another HoF in town, and Kerry found a Group-on bringing the admission down to $14.50 each! This wonderful museum is dedicated to all the people behind the albums we enjoy so much, as well as the Grammy awards. I really enjoyed learning about the process and all the un-sung heroes. They even had an interactive section which was awesome! Well worth the price.

I don't have a long list of free things to recommend, but they are definitely worth checking out:
- Tennessee State Capitol (free tours but we did self guided)
- Tennessee State Museum
- Hatch Print Show (you can just wander the gallery and watch them work for free)
- Warner park (two different parts, lots of trails)
- Frist Art Museum (just had to show a key proving you were staying downtown!)
- Bicentennial Park and Centennial Park
- Nashville Farmer's Market (we didn't make it but it looked really cool to wander in)

And as always, we ate amazing food and drank some delicious beer. Yazoo Brewing Co. gives an awesome tour that includes 3.5 samples, so it was pretty much a flight + a fun tour.

We were super excited to get home on Sunday, and finally sleep in our own beds. I think Nashville is a place I would enjoy even more if (1) it weren't SEC weekend, (2) it didn't snow and drop to such cold temperatures, and (3) I wasn't on such a low budget. Definitely a place to consider re-visiting later in life.

Austin, aka our dream home: 3/3-3/7

We had such an amazing time in Austin, we didn't want to leave! I'm so glad that we made this part of our road trip, because it is now a must see in my opinion. Every day was filled with new food, new beer, and new sights to see. We didn't even get to accomplish everything or taste everything we wanted, so I guess that means we have to go back!

I think one of the coolest things we did was a mural tour. Kerry had looked up some murals that are great photo spots throughout the city, and then discovered that someone had made a Google maps tour that we could follow around. Since it was drizzling Sunday morning (and parking was conveniently free downtown), we decided to embark on this tour. It was like a Chinese fire drill tour! I would pull over in a nearby parking lot or street parking spot, all 3 of us would climb out and take photos, and then run back to the car out of the rain! We realized about halfway through that this mural tour from Google maps was incomplete, so we quickly drew up our own additions and pretty much doubled the number of spots. It definitely made the tour a bit on the longer side, but there were just so many murals to see! We didn't even get to them all (even more things to do on our next visit). The coolest place was the Hope Outdoor Gallery, which is often filled with people but was abandoned on this soggy Sunday morning, so our photos turned out great.

Another one of my favorite experiences was getting to eat breakfast tacos at Taco Deli with Aditi! She is a friend who I met while doing my away rotation in San Francisco, who goes to Texas A&M School of Medicine. Ironically, she was in DC for the last month on a rotation, but got back the night before we left. Without her recommendations, we wouldn't have had such an amazing time. And it was great to catch up and hear about what she has been up to since I saw her in September. I can't wait until we meet again!

I could rave about all the food we ate, all the local beer and coffee we drank, and all the cool hikes we did for pages and pages, but I want to keep it brief. We had an awesome time despite the rain, and I really hope to go back some day. Here are some of my favorites:

Favorite coffee: Taco Deli Blend at Taco Deli
Favorite BBQ: Rudy's Country Store & Bar-B-Q
Favorite taco: Fried avocado taco at Torchy's Taco
Favorite beer: Wait you want me to pick just one?! :P
                        but probably Stranger Friends by Austin Beerworks
Favorite hike: to Sculpture Falls in the Greenbelt
Favorite mural:

New Orleans, or Nawlins as they call it: 2/26 to 3/2

We got to see so many incredible things while in New Orleans! I've already written a separate post about the parades for Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras, but there was so much more to explore. I won't go into the details of everything, just the highlights to keep it brief

First, here's a list of the delicious places we got noms while in NOLA:
- Melba's Restaurant, for the best po'boys and a daiquiri to knock your socks off (32 oz for $5 on Sundays)
- McClure's BBQ at NOLA Brewing's Tap Room
- Rosa Mezcal on Magazine St after Mardi Gras to refuel with $2 tacos
- Cafe Du Monde in the Quarter to experience the quintessential Cafe au lait made with Chicory Coffee and Beignets covered in powdered sugar
- Daisy Dukes for southern comfort food like fried oysters and gumbo
- Marigny Brasserie to start our night of live music on Frenchman Street

Some of the cool places we visited:
Mardi Gras World - A museum dedicated to all things Mardi Gras! The warehouse was eerily empty since all the floats that are normally in production there were out in preparation for the parades that night. But we got to have some King Cake and learn about the process of building floats. Definitely worth it.

Algiers - the neighborhood across the Mississippi River, accessible by ferry, to wander around the Levy Walk and see the longest running gas station in the south

New Orleans Pharmacy Museum - the shop of the first licensed pharmacist in the US, a museum filled with cool relics of the pharmacies of the past and narrated by a quirky, sassy tour guide

Frenchman Street - We heard from everyone, locals and tourists, that this was the place to go and enjoy live music. Especially if we weren't the type to enjoy Bourbon St, a sticky and smelly place filled with drunk college kids. We had an amazing time! Every bar had a different type of music, and they were all great. (No pictures since the fancy camera didn't make the trip out that night)
Lafayette Cemetery #1 - we missed it the first time because it closes at 3 pm every day, but once we got to walk around it, I learned so much about the way cemeteries were built and all the traditions associated. I'm so excited Kerry found a self-guided walking tour to educate us!

Overall, I enjoyed NOLA. I wish the public transit had been more reliable, but I think that's a result of being there during the main Mardi Gras celebrations. There are many more neighborhoods and places to explore, but I think I got a pretty good exposure to everything quintessential Nawlins.

Mardi Gras: A Retrospective

I had good intentions of writing this post the day after Mardi Gras, but NOLA got away from us, especially with the arrival of my other roommate Katie. So here goes.

I fully expected Mardi Gras to be a loud, drunken bacchanal filled with underage drinking and other debauchery. I had been warned that pick-pocketing was rampant, and to stay hydrated. Family cautioned against flashing for beads. But these aren't the things I experienced at all.

Lundi Gras: Krewe Proteus followed by Krewe Orpheus
   After arriving at the parade route a few hours before it was scheduled to pass by, we settled in a grass patch next to the road. We watched the rest of the parade-goers pack and unpack various BBQ paraphernalia, open up chairs to reserve spots for relatives coming later, and play with their children in the blocked off street. People of all ages, genders, races, and outfits passed by as they made their way to their chosen vantage point. Music played. I wandered up the street for a few tall cans to drink while we waited. We befriended a French Canadian couple sitting near us, who hadn't had plans to visit NOLA until they saw a Carnival parade in Corpus Christi. And all this, even before parade began.
   As the floats came down the street, we all stood in excitement and anticipations. We caught beads and other trinkets. We were never packed in like sardines, or made to feel like our space was being invaded. I got to appreciate the incredible artistry of the floats, the wonderful music of various marching bands, and catch some awesome souvenirs in the process. It was a thrilling experience, and I couldn't wait until the next day's parades.

Mardi Gras: Krewe Zulu, Krewe Rex, and the truck floats

   Although we enjoyed the Lundi Gras parades, we were not under any illusions that Fat Tuesday was going to be that calm and relaxed. We got up early, protected are important belongings from potential pick-pocketers, and coated ourselves in sunscreen. My friend Will had told me that getting there early ensured a spot and maybe a coconut, an apparently coveted gift from the float riders. Once we arrived, it did take some pacing and scoping out to find the perfect place. We settled between a large family who was already enjoying their daiquiris in the street, and a collection of chairs waiting for the family from the neighboring home to come out.
   AND WE CAUGHT COCONUTS. THREE OF THEM.
   But that wasn't even the best part. The most amazing part was that we ended up befriending three young children along the way, as well as various other parade-goers. We helped them catch beads and stuffed animals, and they in turn shared their energy and laughter. The atmosphere was still extremely relaxed, family-friendly, and enjoyable. No pick-pocketers were ever in sight, and we still never felt like sardines. I couldn't believe it. Bead-laden and sunburnt, I walked away from the parades exhausted but so satisfied with our experience.

While I don't feel an urge to return to next year's Mardi Gras, or even the following year, I am so glad I got to experience it. I learned so much more about the traditions, and the celebrations that continued for the months leading up to these two days that we were a part of. 

Laissez les bon temps roulez! (Let the good times roll)

The Roomie Road Trip begins!!!!

I can't believe that I'm sitting in a studio apartment in New Orleans, writing this post. It means that all of my medical school rotations are over, and I can finally relax and enjoy these next few months. The best part of that is that Kerry and I have filled them with fun and exciting adventures! We drove down here to NOLA over the past few days, with occasional pit stops and a night over in Greenville, SC. We have planned out the itinerary of our trip, and I can't wait to experience it all and share it with you. Keep an eye on Kerry's blog as well (the link is in the description at the top of the page) because we will probably alternate posts since we share one computer.

Here is the map of all the places we are hitting, so you can follow along the way!