Chiang Mai: Wandering the Sois

I go wandering a lot. I set out to purchase shampoo, and as I walk along I think, "Gee, I've never been down that soi." A few hours later I arrive back at the guest house. No shampoo, of course.

A soi is a lane, narrow and usually crooked. They have no names of their own, but are numbered based on their order along the larger street where they originate. The first soi off of Ratchamanka is Soi 1, the second Soi 2, and so on. An address would be Top North Guest House, 15 Moon Muang Road Soi 2.

If a soi connects two streets, somewhere it changes names. Start out on Ratchamanka Soi 4, walk to the end, and emerge from Ratchadamnern Soi 2. Cross the street and continue on what seems to be the same lane, and you are on Ratshadamnern Soi 1. It's confusing, and it doesn't help that the numbers are printed on all the maps in devilishly small type.Since the sois are so crooked, merging and intersecting with each other, they are hard for the directionally challenged, meaning me.

However, they are great for just walking along, seeing what you see and finding what you find. A residential neighborhood with only the Thai alphabet on display, a wat that isn't on the map, a shop selling things you haven't seen before, a monk at a pay phone, or a terra cotta pottery factory. Those are just a few of the things I found on my latest wander. Who knows what awaits me the next time I go wandering.

Chiang Mai: Foods I Don't Eat

Chiang Mai has no shortage of unusual foods. An innocent sounding dish, such asherbed chicken (well, it was 'herbed with chicken' on the menu) is full of a sharp, thin, straw-like herb. Edible, but just barely. The flavor was great, but straw just isn't a desirable texture.

Sometimes the color is a bit off-putting. Bright green dough for a dumpling-like thing is not really appetizing to my western eye. Green is a vegetable color. It's only other use is in icing, usually for St. Patrick's Day. And green beer is OK then, too. But dumplings?

Chicken feet are popular. I've approached several carts because I thought I had spotted satay. But instead of chicken on a skewer, I found chicken feet on a skewer, along with some other things I don't ever, ever want to identify.













Street vendors roll along the streets with their charcoal burners smoking, offering various roasted insects. Scorpion anyone? Preceded by a grasshopper appetizer, perhaps?

I'm not totally sqeamish. I love escargot. I like, for instance, octopus sashimi, and sea urchin. I've even eaten takoyaki, which are tiny grilled octopus on a stick, though I only get that brave when drunk. I have eaten soup with various strange things floating around in them: Chicken feet, pieces of cow stomach linings, unrecognizable things.

But bright green dumplings? I'm not sure. That's just wrong. Maybe I'll try them out though, and let you know.