Chiangmai

Rose of the North - that's what Chiangmai is called. Went to Chiangmai last weekend dengan 4 other friends for 3 days and 2 nites. We departed at 8.50 a.m. from LCCT and arrived at Chiangmai airport 2 hrs and 50 mins later. Once arrived in Chiangmai, dah ada pick up van to take us to the hotel. Sebelum datang, Stef dah book accomodation kat Suriwongse. Part of the package was tour to handicraft centres before check in kat hotel. All these handicraft centres memang dekat antara satu sama lain. All in one street and of walking distance.

The first place Noi, our guide took us was to Saa Paper and Umbrella Handicraft Centre. Chiangmai memang famous for handmade paper umbrella. They still use the traditional way including the equipment and it was a very tedious process. Just like its name, the paper is made from the balk of a tree called Saa which is soaked in the water for a period of time with some checmicals sampai lembut. Bila tengok cara diorang buat paper tu, I teringat the traditional way Chinese made paper yang I pernah watched on Discovery Channel. They used a frame with a net cloth yang diregangkan and masukkan dalam kolah filled with water mixed with Saa tree yang dah hancur dan lembut tadi. Then, a thin layer will appear on the net. Nak buat ni nampak aje senang but requires skill. Kalau tidak, you won't get a smooth thin layer. This piece akan dijemur bawah matahari for at least 3 hours sampai kering. Kaki payung pulak is also handmade from bamboo. Once the put the umbrella together, they will paint and decorate the umbrella. Paint used memang water resistant and takkan luntur. In spite of the complexity of the process, the price of these umbrella is between RM4 - 10 depending on saiz. Selain daripada tu, you can get the artist there to handpaint your pants, bags, or wherever you like for a small fee.

The next place we went to was the Siam Celadon where ceramic things are made and sold mostly pinggan mangkuklah. Mula-mula bila tengok quality and how exquisite the workmanship was, ingatkan mesti mahal gila-gila. Tapi bila tengok harga, rasa macam tak percaya. Memang very very very cheap. Apalagi, shopping sakanlah. I bought a tea set, plates, mugs for myself and a few other stuff as souveniers for loved ones. For all these the damage was just a little over RM100 (about BHT 1,000). Our next stop after lunch was the silver factory called Louis Silverware. Sebelum masuk the showroom, there was a briefing and demo on how they mix the silver and macamana carvings were done. When we saw some of the finished pieces displayed some as as big as more than 5' x 3' not mentioning the detailed craftsmanship, we were so amazed and impressed by how creative and skillful the locals are. One of the pieces took 3 years and 8 months. Kat sana, biasalah we all women sibuk bargain and bought silver jewelleries. Finally, our last stop was at ShinawatraThai Silk. This place actually belongs to Thailand PM. Noi told us that the famous Jim Thompson Silk tu pun ambil supply kat sini sebab they do not have a factory. Kat entrance they was a display of the process on how caterpillars dibela and dibiak sampai jadi kepompong. About 70% of the caterpillars digunakan untuk sutera and the rest dibela untuk pembiakan. One of the staff showed us how to identify a genuine Thai silk from the fake one. Kalau a genuine Thai Silk dibakar, ada bau macam rambut terbakar tapi kalau yang fake, bau macam plastic terbakar. Harga kat situ memang mahal. The cheapest I saw pun BHT2750 (RM275) for a silk blouse. Ended up buying T-shirts aje kat situ.

When Noi dropped us at the hotel, she gave some tips when shopping at Night Bazaar. Kalau nak bargain, go as low as 50%. T-Shirts should cost not more than BHT150 and if you do not agree with the price, just walk away. Night Bazaar ni betul-betul depan our hotel. It starts at 4 p.m. and closes at 12 p.m. Malam tu, lepas dinner kat Royal India Restaurant, Zura and I went to check out the bazaar. Things sold there among others, T-Shirts, clothes, wood carvings, silverware, cotton, silk and other types of handicrafts. There are also artists kat situ painting potraits. The potraits nampak betul-betul real macam photographs in black and white. Really mind blowing. Lama jugak dudukl kat situ admiring the potraits and watched the artists at work.

The following day was free and easy. In the morning, after breakfast, we explored the city. Actually, Chiangmai is the second largest metropolitan city in Thailand. Although dah modern tapi masih ada traditional charm. We walked through the streets, stopped at a couple of shops and lepak at a bar while main snooker. Bar ni special sikit sebab there were a lot of graffities with messages written on the wall by tourists. One interesting one saw by Anita kat dalam toilet, "If you are not leaving on the edge, you are taking too much space". Whilst the rest checked out a tattoo shop opposite the bar, Zura and me decided to visit the Three Kings Monument in the new city and 2 ancient temples located in the old city, Wat Phra Sing and Wat Chedi Luang on foot.

Three Kings Monument ni was built to commemorate the 3 13th century kings who chose the site of the new city, King Kue Na, King Saen Muang Ka and King Mengrai. Unlike the common temple architecture you normally see in Thailand, Wat Chedi Luang architecture has Myanmar influence. The legend says that it's old name was 'Chotikaram' or 'Blazing Temple'. A large earthquake in B.C 2088 caused the summit of the chedi to collapse. It was reconstructed several times after the earthquake but the structure continued to collapse and no further restoration or construction was made. Wat Phra Sing, formerly called Wat Lee Chiang was constructed 700 years ago by King Pirayos of Mengrai Dynasty. The most renown Buddha image, Pra Buddhasihing was installed here after the chariot carrying it broke at this spot. Because of this incident, Wat Lee Chiang became known as Wat Lee Chiang Pra and consequently got its present name, Wat Phra Sing.

Balik ke hotel we took Tuk-Tuk, dah tak larat nak jalan. Mula-mula tu ada satu driver tu nak charge BHT100 , we all rasa mahal and walked away. Then another driver approached us and offered us BHT50, we immediately said YES! Our itinerary at night pulak was watching Simon Chiangmai Cabaret Show. The performers were transverstite yang dah memang fully 'transformed' which means those yang dah went through series of surgeries of you-know-what lah. Bila tengok memang lawa-lawa lah, kalah perempuan. The performance was decent, taklah raunchy although the performers wore sexy and revealing constumes. In between the performances, adalah 2 'minah' yang buat comedy sketch. Memang kelakar sampai went to the audience and teased some of them to touch his errr 'her' boobs. In general, the whole show was quite entertaining.

We did not do some other major highlights in Chiangmai like visit the hilltribes villages, the Elephant Camp, Doi Inthanon - the highest peak in Thailand among a few. Masa pun tak cukup. Nak buat benda-benda tu kena stay longer. But at least have an idea to go again the next time to do all these things pulak. Nak cari halal food pun senang, kat Anusarn Food Market, just a walking distance from Suriwongse. Chiangmai definitely a must place to visit.