Cooking School

December 11, 1pm, Chiang Mai

Yesterday I had a local guide show me around the local market where absolutely everthing was for sale except actual human persons. Among the foods was a variety of stir fried insects; which are apparently popular snacks here. We saw a few temples, one of which had the largest Buddha that is carved from teakwood.
Last nite an add on to my tour was announced... a visit to a Thai cooking school where I would be taught to cook a dish and then allowed to eat it...it was coconut soup with chicken and assorted vegetables. But the interesting thing was that me and 10 other westerners were on stage as part of an exhibit at the Chiang Mai Food Exposition. We were the only tourists there, everyone else was a local. Sort of like a couunty fair atmosphere. And we were a source of great amusement as we prepared our dish. All in good fun; the Thais have fun at whatever they do. After I ate my food, I looked around at the amazing variety of foods there......sticky rice sausage, assorted vegetables and meats, noodles, rice, etc. I stopped at the booth of a local Italian restaurant and had a nice lasagna to fill me up after my coconut milk chicken soup. At the end of the evening we received a graduation certificate from the Director of the School in a grand ceremony.
This morning my official 3 day tour of the North started, with a temple at the top of a local mountain and a visit to a teakwood furniture factory and a silk shop.
Tomorrow, an elephant training camp visit is part of the day.