Ron and I have settled in and found our rhythm here in our small area of Moon Muang, Soi 7. The narrow lanes intersecting the neighborhood are wide enough for one small car or a motorcycle and strolling tourist. It is peaceful in the mornings and we listen to a few roosters far off and lots of doves and pigeons singing their birdsong with the dawn. From our third story balcony we have a nice view of the hills surrounding Chiang Mai. A few golden temple rooftops glistening in the distance. There is an incredible amount of street art, or grafitti, which ever you choose. Small cafes abound with simple gardens where you can sit shaded by the tropical trees and bushes help keep you cool as it is very hot in the afternoons. Nighttime it is cool and we sleep with our doors open and screens closed so no air con needed. Food abounds. Everywhere you walk there is food. People cooking on the street, cafes, markets offering fresh local delicacies, and always the many coffee houses. Even as we lay in the chaise around our pool, the kitchen of our small hotel is just behind our heads and we are serenaded by the sounds of metal spatulas clanging in the woks and the rich aromas enticing our taste buds. Here is a typical day of ours....
We have had a nice day. Started with mugs of tea in our room listening to the roosters and doves. Slowly the streets start to come alive with motor scooters and people walking around. We went to the next street over by way of the narrow back streets called Soi. We found a place with comfortable real rattan chairs and at table height. Mostly the little funky cafes have tiny stools, or short wooden hard chairs, or cushions at low tables. Ron just can't sit in those. Fortunately the place we like serves a fabulous fruit salad. About ten different kinds of fruit cut in nice small bits with homemade yogurt and musli and honey. I get a hot latte and we are happy sharing both. We walked back through the morning market and I spied a package of what looked like fresh small spring rolls. The young woman told me they were vegetarian and there was a small intriguing plastic bag of sauce that came with them. So I bought them. As we walked past the " Irish Bakery" we stopped to look in the shaded garden and I saw a guy eating a huge sandwich made from thickly sliced wheat bread and cheese and tomatoes and who knows what else. I had to make myself walk away. It looked so good. When we got to our room I opened the package and discovered that the spring rolls were wrapped in a soft warm rice noodle so delicate it melted in your mouth and the inside was skinny rice noodles and tofu and chopped veggies. The sauce was slightly sweet, slightly spicy soy sauce. My God, they were heavenly. I can't wait to go back and get more tomorrow. Cost about 75 cents. Then we went by TukTuk to another section of town to say hallo to the couple who checked my eyes and made my glasses last trip. We went to a nearby place called Mango Tango and had a scoop of fresh mango ice cream, fresh mango pudding, and fresh half of a mango. Yum. Then we walked back to the Main Street to find a tuktuk back home. While Ronnie watched the traffic to flag one down, I spied a woman at a small stand take a large bunch of fried chicken pieces out of a deep fryer and dump them on the counter! I couldn't resist and picked out two huge breast and she then chopped them with a cleaver on a thick wooden cutting board and threw some spicy fried bits in the bag with them and two little plastic bags of sweet chili sauce. The fried bits were shallots and kiefer lime leafs that were so crunchy and delicious. We took our plastic bag back to our room and sat on our balcony and ate all the warm fried chicken with our fingers and it was the best fried chicken, moist and tender....double yummy. By then I also realized I had been carrying around a freshly made chocolate cookie that I had bought at our breakfast place. We still have that to eat. After a swim, and another walk around the street, we went to the little bakery and bought a container of freshly made plain yogurt with fresh strawberry jam in the bottom. And a bottle of water. We sat out front and watched the people walking past looking at the small table set up with loads of fresh breads, croissants, and cone shaped macaroons dipped in chocolate. Fun to watch the tourist looking at all that stuff, who will buy and who will just look and keep walking past. Strawberries grow here up in the nearby mountains, so are very fresh now. I love the small dried ones they sell in the market. So chewy and rich with flavor. Now, it is 5:30 and we still have dinner ahead of us! Should we have som tom or go for the street stir fried Pad Say You? Or try to keep it light and have some veggies and rice? There is a Dutch guy down our street with a homemade pizza oven in his garden and he makes a mean pizza. I tell you it is food heaven here. I really love the street food.
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