Chiang Rai - Jungle Hut and cooking class

Chiang Rai is the Nothern most town in Thailand, before reaching the famous Golden Triangle. The small town is very laid back, much more than Chiang Mai, and the nature is pretty pristine, with soft mountains covered with jungle and bamboo forests. For the first couple of days here, we decide to go to a jungle hut in the mountain, run by a local hill tribe. On the way, we have a nice insight into village life, like these people taking their pig to the butcher with the motorbike.




With spaces just above the tree line and great views over the valley, the place is perfect just for relaxing while enjoying the nature.


We get one of the nicest huts, with a balcony facing the sunrise and perfect for early morning yoga....



There's plenty of nice walks just near the hut, including some waterfalls or tea plantations.

We took a late afternoon walk through the tea plantation

On our second day here, we took a walk to the next hill tribe village through the bamboo forest.

View over the next hill tribe villages, as we came out of the bamboo forest

Arrival in the Village

Local basket making

Back and Chiang Rai and for our last day in Thailand, we finally decided to take a half day thai cooking class. We did not really know what to expect but it turned out to be one of the best experience in Thailand. The cooking teacher was the sweetest grandma and spoke super good english.

We started the class by going together to the market to get the ingredients we needed for the food. She taught us how to say "how much is this", something like "ai ang ai", and was explaining us all the different foods we were seeing.

Caro and our cooking teacher in the market

Here's the place where you buy the curry pastes.
Mainly red curries, but the one the lady is getting
is the green curry, which is one we chose for the things to cook.

Here the different meet, and in the foreground, it's coagulated blood, yummy!!

Here's one of the fruit we tried with her, and which
immediately became our favourite fruit!!

Here is a coconut milk press, indispensable ingredient for
many Thai food, including the famous green curry.

in the market, she would even explain us a lot of the local customs.

Our teacher was giving us very precise indications before we had to it.

All the ingredients prepared before we start to cook them!

So here's the result: 1. Green Curry, 2. Stir fried Veg, 3. Pad Thai (Stir fried noodles with tamarin sauce). The Green Curry turned out to the be one we ever had!! One of the ingredient that gives its typical taste is the Chinese Basil.

Goodbye pictures after this great experience!

David