Chiang Mai Culture Day

We arranged to spend the morning in the handicraft section of Chiang Mai to do a bit of shopping and to watch the Thais in action. Our first stop was the Thai Silk Village, where we were given a short but informatory tour on the process of silk weaving. We saw the moths become silk worms, the silk worms eat mulberry leaves and produce silk, the washing and dying process, and finally the weaving itself. The women in the village are able to weave about four meters of silk per day in assorted patterns and colors, and they are wonderful to watch! They move so quickly but with what seems like very little caution to the task at hand, probably because they have been doing it for years!

We also stopped at the jade factory and learned all about Burmese jade. The shop literally looked like the inside of Papa’s garage… all the same gear! And I was so proud to know what all of it did! We looked around and admired the ten foot tall jade sculptures as well as the quarter of an inch earrings, all made by the same process. Next we stopped at the unimpressive umbrella painting shop, where no one spoke English so we couldn’t ask any questions or learn about the process. And last we went to the leather store, where we learned the difference between different types of leather and the Thai practice of not killing animals for their hide but waiting until they die. Regardless of whether this is true, we were amazed by the sting ray leather in particular: it can’t be scratched or cut by any sort of knife! A special tool is needed to work with the leather, and it was cool even though it was pretty ugly.

After a short stop over with the always entertaining Mr. Joe Sexy the tailor, we walked through the old, walled city of Chiang Mai to the Sunday Night Market. We expected this to be similar to all the other markets we have been to (loud, pushy, and more than slightly stressful), but were pleasantly surprised by the local, mellow vibes. Most tourists didn’t stay long because the locals weren’t willing to bargain on their already low prices, but the prices were a fraction of what other markets charge! It was fascinating to see more of the local cuisine and handicrafts and hear the music of the locals trying to raise money and awareness for the dying art of traditional Thai tunes. This was by far the coolest market (and cheapest and most interesting) that we have been to and we ended up staying until the market shut down, about four hours after we arrived!