สวัสดีครับ / Sawat dee krap!

Since our last newsletter, we escaped the urban jungle of Singapore to the lush green forests of Thailand. We stayed in the outskirts of Chiang Mai in a lovely little property surrounded by loud lizards and beautiful birds.

For the last two and a half weeks, our daily routine has looked something like this:

1. Shruti goes for an early morning walk in the neighbouring forest with Boon (the resident dog), while Nate settles into a cozy corner at the coffee shop next door. Everyone knows Boon by name here, and she always joins us for our morning cup of coffee.
   

   

2. We head back to our villa to make breakfast, always including fruits we’ve picked up at the local market. Shruti is happy to report that this summer she is eating her weight in mangoes.

   

   

   

   

   

3. We set out to explore a different part of the city – Old Town, a local market, a Buddhist temple or a walking trail. We either walk or ride our tomato red scooter, and Nate’s finally getting used to being a ~passenger prince~.

   

   

4. Lunch at a local spot, usually recommended by our host Ake and other friends. We quickly found our favourite place for pad see ew and kept going back. Lucky for us it’s walking distance from our villa. Nate will miss this most of all.

   

5. We spend the hot afternoons mostly indoors, reading or sketching, or coding on our laptops. The friendly stray dogs in the area come by and cool off under the house.

6. It has poured almost every evening. We cook dinner using fresh produce from the market as thunderstorms rumble outside. These dramatic weather noises have paired well with our Lord of the Rings movie marathons.

   

   

   And before you think we didn’t do anything touristy, here is photographic evidence of the contrary.

   

   

   Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is a Buddhist temple that was first commissioned by King Kuena in the 14th century. Over the centuries, it has expanded into a large temple compound.

Chiang Mai has been so special. We’ve had a good balance of being surrounded by nature and navigating crowded markets. Trying out local foodie spots and cooking with fresh herbs.

But the best part has been feeling like we’re part of a community. We’ve become regulars at the coffee shop and we strike up conversations with other folks that have lived here for years. We smile as we pass by the same people on our walks in the morning. And most important of all, Boon has adopted us.

17 days have flown by. We will miss the large lizards chirping loudly at night outside our window (it’s something that made us jump the first few nights, but soon became our new white noise.) We’ll miss the red centipedes that come out after the rain. We’ll miss the lychees and khao soi and walks in the forest. We’ll even miss the hot humidity (okay, maybe Nate won’t miss that).

ขอบคุณ / khop-khun khrap Chiang Mai, thank you for being so welcoming. We’ll be back again one day!

Next stop, Hanoi!