Cooking School Graduation

Back in Chiang Mai now after a few days at the cooking school - fantastic! I really like Thai food, and the school we chose was a great find (Vivian's friend had been there two years ago). The fellow who started the place (Sampon) is a renown cook around here, and he recently opened a resort nearby where we stayed. The school started around 11am (picked us up in the city the first day) and we cooked 5 dishes throughout the day. Each one was first demonstrated for us in an air conditioned classroom, and then we went to our own wok station and prepared and cooked the ingredients. Then we ate! (5 dishes, 4 different eating sessions - by the end I thought I was going to explode! The food was fantastic though, and I think I can replicate the recipes competently).

Joc and Carl prior to starting Thai cooking lessons

The resort was a great find too - it opened 3 weeks ago and wasn't quite fully complete. We were the biggest group to stay there yet, so Sompon was there the whole time to make sure it went well. He's a funny guy - doesn't smile much until he teases slightly, and then he breaks into a huge grin. I think he liked us, and we certainly were treated like royalty. He has a pool that we spent a lot of time in, the rooms were great, and when we finally were hungry (the second day I disciplined myself better and didn't nearly die of gluttony), he cooked us an amazing meal that included several local flavors we hadn't had yet. It was truly fantastic.

Carl, Jennie and I did 2 days of it and then came back into the city for today and hired a driver to go back to the climbing area, where we enjoyed five hours of great climbing. I led a 5.10b/c cleanly (my hardest lead ever, which is pretty cool given we haven't been climbing. The power of visualization).

The Chapmans left today to fly back to the states. We'll miss them - they were a great addition to the trip! We did pick up Ben Johnson again (friend we'd last seen in Indonesia) and Aaron Verstraete (who will be doing the Bain habitat trip with me). Jennie and Christie go to Laos tomorrow, and Ben, Aaron, Viv, Carl and I are planning to rent a car and do another climbing day as well as a Wat (temple) around here. I'm looking forward to it.

Then Wednesday morning we head for Hanoi for the next country! We decided to skip Laos to be moving a little less frequently, though now we're thinking of trekking in Sapa (Northwest Vietnam, and I stop that had not previously been on the itinerary). Since we didn't end up trekking here (the minitrek didn't count) I think it would be fun to add. Then to Halong Bay, which I have been looking forward to revisiting ever since I left there 6 years ago. Very exciting.

Now, off to feast!

Hope everyone's doing well ...

written by

GoBlue on June 11, 2007 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Joc's Journeys

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