Day 83 of 100: Yes I went to Thai Cooking school !!

I decided to attend a Thai cooking class today. I was joined by classmates from the US, Canada, Germany, Austria and switzerland. Our instructor, Gayray, was so funny and remember to check out the video clip on how she taught us to do pad thai noodle. The cooking class was really fun and i highly recommend it to everyone.



M|y Thai cooking school classmates



Swiss classmate from Bern

American classmates

Pad Thai noodles

Dessert: Deep Fried Banana

Green Curry, Tom Yun Kong soup (Hot and Sour Soup)

Day 82 of 100: 2nd day of Loi Krathong celebration

The Loi Krathong celebration usually only last for 1 day in other parts of Thailand. However, in the north especially Chiang Mai, it is a 2-day of celebration with a huge parade of hundred of float that lasted for 5 hours. If you have a chance to experience Loi Krathong, make sure you come to Chiang Mai.

Day 81 of 100: Arriving in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a paradise after visiting India

After surviving last 11 nites in Inida, I probably need to find a paradise so I arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Chiang Mai, unlike other resort towns in thailand, has no beach but is surrounding by mountains in the Northern part of Thailand. Originally i was visiting this city with my friend Sandy after she realzied that today is one of the largest festival of the year (Loi Krathong = Floating Lantern Festival). However, after bailing out from the trip to Dubai and India, Sandy bailed out AGAIN!. However, her choice of the date and city was excellent. If not because of her, i wouldnt be in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong. it was simply amazing! 

"Loi Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November."Loi" means "to float" and a "krathong" is traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk. During the night of the full moon, Thais will float their krathong on a river, canal or a pond lake. The festival is believed to originate in an ancient practice of paying respect to the spirit of the waters. Today it is simply a time to have fun."

My Flying Lantern

Flying lantern with random, drunk aussie tourists!

Day 78-80: The Holy River (The Ganges), Varanasi

The Ganges river is the holy river for the Hindu religion. Varanasi is located by the holy river therefore you will find the daily life of the local residents totally dominated by the Holy river. This is the holy river where the hindu come for bath, laundry, worship, buring the dead body as well as using it as drinking water and bathing the buffalo...all next to each other..holy cow!

Nightly Hindu worship ceremony. Trust me, this is not one of those performance doing it for the tourists.       

"The 2010 Varanasi bombing was a blast that occurred on December 7, 2010, in one of the holiest Hindu cities, Varanasi. The explosion occurred at Sheetla Ghat, adjacent to the main Dashashwamedh Ghat, where the sunset aarti, the evening prayer ritual to the holy river, Ganges had commenced, on these stone steps leading to it, where thousands of worshipers and tourists had gathered.^[2][3] It killed a two-year old girl, sitting on her mother's lap, the mother was one of three critically injured, more than 38 other people were injured. In the ensuing panic after the blast, a railing broke causing a stampede leading to an increase in the number of injuries."