Before the cooking class we went to the market.
We spent a lot of time smelling stuff.
Matt liked the chilies
There were pink eggs.
There was also lots of meat.
They also had wasp larvae, which is a delicacy. They fry the whole section of hive, and then scoop them out like roasted garlic.
These are pal hearts.
There were also dried chilies.
This is a bundle of ingredients we needed to cook with.
Thailand is weird.
This is our bathroom wall in Chiang Mai.
That is not a poster, it is printed on the tiles embedded into the bathroom wall.
She was naked until Kerri gave her the toilet paper bikini.
Kerri is not allowed to swim in a bikini most places in Thailand. She is asked to keep her shoulders and thighs covered out of respect for the Thai culture.
So Kerri decided she should at least have a bikini.
Then Kerri decided she also needed a blindfold, because from the toilet, you have not one but two copies of her staring at you. And that is just creepy.
This is the palace in Mandalay which was used between 1859 and 1885.
It now has the military government slogan posted at the entrances.
The buildings are peaked wood covered with gold paint.
There are lots of them.
Many don’t seem to have been planned out very well and run into each other.
These are the royal flip flops. The heals are gold, the soles are silver, and there are three rows of rubies around the sides.
This is the royal yak tail whisk. The handle is guilded wood decorated with precious gems.
This is the royal chin rest.
This is the royal spittoon. It is made of solid gold and covered with precious gems. And presumably some royal spit.
This is the royal throne.
This is the royal guardhouse.
This is the no-so-royal view from the top of the royal guardhouse.
Most of the royal clothing replicas were bright pink.
This is Kerri dressed as the king.
This temple was up at the top of a mountain.
Which meant climbing a lot of stairs.
Barefoot.
Past a lot of monkeys.
And no, those monkeys are not potty trained.
Actually the only available potties are just holes in the ground.
And you are not allowed to wear your shoes to the holes.
Which is really disgusting.
But the monkeys are cute.
The temple at the top of the stairs was not terribly impressive.
The main draw is probably the view, but because it was the rainy season that was not so impressive.
When the fog cleared a bit you could see quite a ways.
Mostly Buddhas. So many Buddhas.
Even the statues seemed pretty unimpressed.
Though there was a happy one too.
It did have some cool dragons guarding it though.
Which didn’t coat the stares in grime. Unlike the monkeys.
