Thailand days 2-5: Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is the largest city in Thailand’s north, and while still quite large feels a lot less busy than Bangkok. Like many cities, it’s pretty quiet on Tuesday nights, so when L and I checked out the 6ixcret drag show, for the first half of the show we were the only audience before another couple wandered in. All credit to the performers, they turned it on as if it was a full house, and all credit to us, we tried to make as much noise as we could (some strong mojitos helped). For all the pop and disco, drag is punk, polish is fine but attitude is everything, and these awesome queens rock.

Wednesday was a tour of the various local creations the region is known for. While we were expecting a bit of demonstration of various craft such as jewellery making, weaving, umbrella making, and woodcarving, things are still pretty quiet in these parts so instead we were generally shown all the merchandise. We did our bit of shopping to stimulate the local economy, and to be fair L was ok with me not buying her the most expensive item at Thailand’s largest jewellery showroom, pretty as it was. I also got my first taste of khao soi, Chiang Mai’s local specialty. Khao soi is a spicy coconut soup, with wet and crunchy egg noodles and meat or vegetables. On the side is lime, local pickles, and tiny red shallots. It’s a tasty dish, not as punchy or pungent as laksa, but is a nice chilli hit.

We’re very close to the night markeys, and they’ve provided dinner, where for 200 THB ($9) we can get a big plate of seafood in a spicy sauce, no cutlery just disposable gloves.

Thursday (today) was spent flinging arrows at targets at Archers Rest, a little cafe with a long backyard converted into an archery range, because a double espresso shot needs a deadly weapon on the side. L has done more archering over the years than me, but we both did a solid job – L hit centre more than me but tended to shoot wider around the target, where i seemed to consistently put arrows into the top right quarter. Much fun.

Tonight is a searcb for more food, followed by checking out Chiang Mai’s other drag show.