Thailand Day 13: Chiang Mai

I got up early this morning for a solo run and wanted to check out Chiang Mai University, which is a major university located about a mile away from our hotel site. For my new readers reader, my graduate degrees are in Higher Education/Student Affairs, so I'm always interested in checking out post-secondary institutions when I travel abroad. If you really want to go deep down the keglog rabbit hole, you can find posts from my exchanges to the University of the West Indies - Mona (Jamaica) from 2009 (link) and the University of Costa Rica - Turrialba (2012 - link) on this blog.

It was (and still is) super rainy this morning and also a weekend, so the campus itself was very quiet--absolutely no people walking around and very few cars. Although it was a bummer to not get a sense of what campus life would feel like with people, the campus itself was peaceful and very pretty.

A little about Chiang Mai University (Wikipedia):

Chiang Mai University (CMU) (Thai: มหาวิทยาลัยเชียงใหม่) is a public research university in northern Thailand founded in 1964.[1] It has a strong emphasis on engineering, science, agriculture, and medicine. Its instructional mission includes undergraduate, graduate, professional and continuing education offered through resident instruction.

Ranked 3rd in academics and 5th in research, according to the Thailand Office of the Higher Education Commission.

Here are a few shots of campus:

Entry gate into campus

I always love a good campus fountain

A photo of the English department

The Geological Sciences department has a bunch of dinosaurs outside of it. Triceratops is my favorite. 

Okay, I'm about to head to a climbing gym with some students. 

[updated 2:09]

The rain has been relentless today. While it has cramped our Chiang Mai itinerary considerably (no visit to the Wat, no hike in the national park...), I love being outside in rain. The streets are pretty epically flooded right now. I was wading through water at least a foot deep while traveling two and from lunch (more on that in a second). I watched multiple people help push motorbikes that had stalled out, and I got soaked more than once by the splash of a truck driving by the sidewalk. 

Flooded streets in Chiang Mai

Backing up a few hours, Noi (Thai host) was kind enough to coordinate a visit to a rock climbing gym for me and interested students. We had originally planned to visit a gym that seemed to resemble U.S. American-style commercial gyms (indoor space, ropes, courses sponsored by IFMGA, etc.), but we found out at the last minute that they were closed because of hosting a private group until the afternoon, so we pivoted to a different gym: the Alpine Outpost. 

Students scoping out a route

When we pulled up, I didn't know what to expect. The gym was part of a larger complex of outdoor-type activities. It looked like there was a small pump track (for bikes), hammocks, and a cafe--it certainly had an "outpost kind of vibe." For those of you familiar with climbing, the Alpine Outpost is a bouldering gym only. And for those of you who know me pretty well, you know that I try to avoid bouldering at all costs :) as I prefer roped climbing.

The outdoor climbing wall itself was maybe a little bigger than Westminster's space, or similar in size to UGA's outdoor bouldering wall, with a tarped roof. The students and I had such a great time at this place. We had the wall to ourselves the entire time, and over the course of the 90ish minutes that we were there, the climbing wall staff member (there was only one) grew increasingly more conversational with us, showing us specific movements to complete specific routes, showing us strength training exercises--even getting out the speaker so a student could connect their phone to music. It was this really fun, intimate climbing experience in a truly unique setting. If you find yourself in Chiang Mai, spend a morning or afternoon at the Alpine Outpost.

Repping my SLC gym "The Front"

Students getting on the wall

The bouldering wall is outside, set in a cute little courtyard

Happy climbers (and our climbing instructor)

We got back to the hotel around lunchtime, and it seemed like most of the group (that didn't climb) were out somewhere in the city. Like your average houseplant, I need to be fed and watered pretty regularly, so I set out to find a local lunch spot, and as the students scattered very quickly upon our return to the hotel, I found myself in the position of eating lunch solo. Which, on a study abroad trip, can be a pretty rare feat, so I'm not necessarily complaining, although I always enjoy getting to know students and colleagues better over meals. 

While I would consider myself a *competent* independent international traveler, I wouldn't always consider myself a *confident* independent international traveler, so venturing out on my own in search of a local place that didn't necessarily cater to tourists felt a little daunting. Traveling internationally with access to the internet/GPS has made these types of experiences much easier, although I hate feeling reliant on my cell phone for this sort of stuff. 

I googled "Northern Thai Cuisine" and found a place that was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Chiang Mai is located in the northern part of Thailand and has different cultural influences on its cuisine. This food blogger has a post about it if you want to know more (link). From what I understand, the cuisine of Chiang Mai/northern Thailand has Lao (from Laous) and Shan (from Burma, now Myanmar) influence more-so than southern parts of the country.

I'm glad I was brave. The restaurant that I found, TongTemToh, served what was hands-down the best meal I've had on the trip so far. I appeared to be the only tourist in the restaurant, which is usually a good sign in my experience, but the place clearly was a popular lunch spot. And had excellent grill smells. I ordered a Burmese-style pork curry that was 10/10 fantastic. I had thought about bringing a book with me to the restaurant and decided against it because of the rain, but after settling in for lunch, I regretted not having a book because I could have posted up at that restaurant for a few hours and been perfectly content reading, people watching, and enjoying the rain from the comfort of a covered patio.

Burmese style pork curry with steamed rice

I may be out of blogging commission for a few days because we are headed to a rural village tomorrow (Omkoi) and I'm not anticipating having access to internet. On the docket for tonight is our group outing to a Muay Thai fight. Cheers!