The Maller Family Travel Gazette: |
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| We've taken the opportunity to enjoy our time in Chiang Mai by having some unstructured time. We finally met Yvon, J. R. Chiang Mai's delightful proprietor, who booked the in-country portion of our trip. We took off on a walk to find an Israeli restaurant for which we had seen a sign. Unfortunately, when we got there we found that it was either out of business or not yet fully constructed. But such is our luck that seemingly from nowhere a fresh faced, twenty-something American kid on a scooter appeared and directed us to another Israeli restaurant on the other side of town. On the way, we got ourselves lost, and yet another angel, this time an older Thai woman, helped us reorient ourselves and we eventually found our way. Chiang Mai's Jerusalem Falafel Restaurant is run by a gregarious Israeli woman named Zahavit, and we enjoyed one of the most delicious (if not slightly more familiar to us) meals of the trip so far. We shared stories, and had an altogether wonderful time. After lunch we all squeezed into a "tuk tuk", the funny little three wheeled motorcycles piloted by friendly taxi drivers. Our ride back across town was all of 40 baht, which figured out to $.25 per person, an amazing bargain. We then got a whole family massage, which met with mixed reviews. Thai massage is not the same brand of touchy-feely technique which us "farang" (tourists) are used to, but bears more resemblance to a beating. I suppose it's an acquired taste, like stinky cheese. I loved mine, but the my companions less so. Finally, this morning we awoke to a delicious surprise, as we spied a Starbucks in the neighborhood, and we had our first real coffee in almost two weeks. | |