Tues, May 10
Today I thought, hell, I'll rent a motorcycle. I told the Slovakian over breakfast my plan, and he was into it. They aren't really motorcycles, but they call them that here. It was a little 115 cc automatic-transmission scooter, a bicycle really with a little get-go. It was a great day. We went up to Temple Doi Suthep which is up on a mountain and gives a great view of the city -- or it would if it wasn't so cloudy. The temple was nice but I enjoyed the ride up there the most. The road was very high quality, with lots of twists, and we started early enough that we almost had the entire road to ourselves. However, while coming back down a real good rain started, and we took reprieve in a little shelter just off the road.
Once the worst of the downpour ended, we stopped off at a waterfall, took a little detour into the University grounds (nice grounds just next to a mountain with a lake, but very ordinary architecture), quickly visited another temple (Suan Dok), and had lunch. The lock on my day bag broke, and I couldn't get it open, so I went searching for someone with tools. I found a motorcycle repair shop, and he sliced through it with his hand grinder. I was surprised by his decent English considering this is not someone working in the tourism industry. And he knew the word "free". No charge for me.
Later on we stopped for iced-lattes. The restaurant didn't have sticky rice with mango on the menu, so the server (a jolly woman about eight and a half months pregnant) sent "her staff" (her son) across the street to get some. We had made this dessert at the cooking school, and it is so good: rice boiled in coconut juice and sugar with large chunks of mango that is out of this world. The fruit here tastes so much better than it does back home.
At the Night Bazaar later, the absolute fiercest rain I've ever seen caused great commotion among many of the vendors as they jumped up onto chairs and tried adjusting sheets of tarpaulin over their heads. The sheer volume of water meant gallons pouring onto them as different sections of the make-shift roofs gave way. The evening ended with a late dinner of chili chicken with a mango shake, and then we parked the bikes next to our guesthouse and went out for one large Chang beer.
