Business as (un)usual in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

So I’m 3 weeks into a month-long stay in Chiang Mai, Thailand and it’s really hot, mid to high 90’s, but not as hot as our time Bangkok where it was mostly over 100′ with the heat index every day. Like Bangkok, and most of our 5 months on the road so far, it’s been sunny almost every day, (sorry.) There are plenty of things to do here and plenty of things not to do.

Most tourist and expats rent motor scooters here. Except me. I had planned on doing it and taking one of the 5 hour romantic loops out of the city and around the countryside. 2 things stopped me. One , I’m almost 60 and even getting into a little fender bender could fracture my ankle and put a damper on the next leg (get it?) of our trip to Vietnam next week where we’ll be moving around a lot for about a month. Two, the local police have scooter road blocks set up everywhere. One of our neighbors here has a scooter and won’t even ride now because of the roadblocks. Here’s how the roadblocks work. About 8 police set up on the side of the road and flag scooters down. 2 of the officers sit at a table and let you know what infraction you’re “guilty” of. They’ve got old-fashioned forms complete with carbon paper. The fines vary but the latest word on the street is $16 USD for not having an international license., etc. So it’s $7.50 to rent a scooter for the day and more than twice that for the fine. Add that to the fact that someone may careen into you and fracture your ankle and you won’t be able to hike in Vietnam and it’s even less appealing. Not to mention the helmet that you get with your rental – it’s been on so many different heads. Anyway, let’s talk about business.

Above is one of my favorite innovative business ideas I’ve seen so far on the trip. By day the place is, you guessed it, a motor scooter rental shop – Nat Motor. The bikes are displayed outside under cover. Scooter rental shops are open from 8 AM – 6 PM. The scooters are wheeled inside around closing time and the shop closes. Then a few hours later, 8 foot long, large gas grills on wheels are pushed outside and an outdoor kitchen is set up right where the scooters were. Tables and stools are arranged and by 8 PM the “Funky Grill” is in full swing. Food starts at about 30 cents per grilled skewer. They have beer and plum wine available too. The place is always busy.

Next stop is my favorite bookstore in the world, The Lost Book Shop. It’s in the old city. I’ve really stepped out of my comfort zone during my travels and started to read some fiction. Most of my life I’ve been reading non-fiction, biographies, history, business, self-help, how-to, computer programming and technical books. I figured I’d try some fiction. We picked up an old copy of The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and I dove in and finished it quickly. When I inquired at The Lost Book Shop about the 2nd book in this 5 book “trilogy” the knowledgable clerk brought me to the Douglass Adams section. I got the 2nd book and she also got me an old copy of the 5th book. Stay with me. At The Lost Book Shop you purchase a used book for $7 USD. You bring it back after you’re finished and they give you $3.50 back in cash or store credit. Conceivably the shop could sell the same book multiple times over netting $3.50 each time and still end up with the book. By the time I finished book 2, the nice clerk had already taken it upon herself to put aside an older (and less expensive) copy of book 3 for me. She didn’t ask or know my name but I guess she could tell I was hooked on Douglas Adams. We’ve been back and forth to the shop a few times trading some other books we had. The Lost Book Shop is a great place and I’m going to miss it. The 5 book “trilogy” by Douglas Adams is great. I’m into book 3 and it’s 2 days before the Earth gets destroyed (again). I find it inspiring that Adams had such an awesome imagination and was able to put it into words and make it very funny, interesting, sociopolitical, sci-fi.

A few weeks later we were wandering around the old city, needed some coffee, and went to Harinezumi cafe. On the way inside I did see what I thought was a chinchilla in the window. I won’t spoil it for you yet. I ordered my latte, double shot, and the barista asked me if I wanted a hedgehog with my latte. I looked around for Candid Camera. Then I thought what is one to do with a hedgehog and a latte? Do you share the latte with the chinchilla? Feed him a double shot with a straw? I declined and replied latte only please, sat down and waited for my drink. A while later a waiter crossed the room serving up a live hedgehog on a platter. Please note: they are to play with and not to eat. I got my latte and tried not to stare. Things were kind of boring, similar to the cat cafe, so the staff sprung into action and rounded up a half-dozen guinea pigs that they just happened to have caged up on the other side of the cafe. They must have teased them with treats because before you could say Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotic the furry rodents were running up and down a guinea pig walkway across the cafe. The show was on! So yes, guinea pigs and hedgehogs in a coffee shop. But please, if you own a coffee shop back home, please don’t try this. It’s just not right.

One of my goals for this trip was to deepen my understating of Chi Kung and Tai Chi while in northern Thailand. The one thing I planned to do in Chiang Mai was more Chi Kung and Tai Chi training. I settled on Body & Mind Healing. After the first week, Rod, the owner of the school told me it was his last week as he was going on his yearly retreat to the U.K. and closing down for a month. Rod is a great teacher and runs a great business. I was bummed but remained open to what presents itself during this trip. I had a great week with the folks pictured below as they welcomed me into their community and were very patient with me.

Another “thing” we’ve been doing while travelling is taking cooking classes in different countries. We’ve done them in Kerala, India and Ella, Sri Lanka and here in Chiang Mai, Thailand and learned a lot. The class here in Chiang Mai was by far the best so far. Since there’s a huge expat and digital nomad influence here there are tons of vegan and vegetarian places. We chose Morning Glory for our cooking class. The course at Morning Glory was well-organized. It started with a trip to the market for an explanation of and to shop for local ingredients. Then we learned about the 5 tastes in Thai cooking. We made chili paste from scratch. We got a small paperback cookbook and made almost all the recipes in it – Massoman Curry, Vegetarian Pad Thai, Mango Sticky Rice, Tom Yam Soup, Green Curry, Spring Rolls and Pumpkin Hummus. We were tested to identify the different tastes in what we had cooked and adjust our cooking accordingly. The food was amazing. We’ve been trying out our recipes back at our apartment for the past few weeks and it’s very tasty! Watch out Siam Orchard!

Well I have to get back to writing more about young Gedhun now (see 3 of my previous posts). Having the time and actually taking a stab at writing fiction has been freeing, frightening and challenging. But 2 people told me they liked it and that made my day. See you soon, either in Vietnam or Tibet 🙂