Chiang Mai: Culinary Adventures

A well-timed post on Stupid Easy Paleo while I was in a grumpy I-haven’t-been-overseas-for-years mood, saw me, along with Michael and my mate Jess, join Paleo Nick, Steph from Stupid Easy Paleo & a bunch of other new friends, on a Culinary Adventure in Chiang Mai.

I wouldn’t describe myself as a particularly spontaneous type but alas, around 6 weeks after I read that post, we had our bags packed and were en route to the airport. Sometimes things just feel right & you just gotta roll with it, however wild it might seem!

Getting to Chiang Mai took around 10 hours flying time from Sydney: we flew to Bangkok (9 hours) and then hung out in the airport briefly before continuing on with a short flight (1 hour) into Chiang Mai. I picked up #GIRLBOSS to read on the plane, as well as The News by Alain de Botton & Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.

We stayed at Eco Resort Chiang Mai which was delightful. It was a little way out of the main city but it had a really leafy setting, a deluxe pool and a pretty tasty breakfast buffet!

Each morning we had the option of waking up for a workout at Crossfit Chiang Mai. I only skipped one day & loved having my first taste of Crossfit, especially with athletes like Nick & Steph on hand for tips on lifts & activities I hadn’t really done before. I tried not to fan-girl out too hard when it came to meeting Steph… and I hope think I succeeded! Her blog has been a staple resource since I first tried my hand at paleo – more than a year ago – so it was cool putting an actual person to the name & face.

After posting last month during my macro-focused challenge about being ready to get back in the paleo saddle via Steph’s ebook, The Paleo Athlete, this trip was perfectly timed too – the 12 weeks finished last week. Hello again #paleolife!

Of course being a paleo-focused group, food was never far from our minds! I’ve got a bunch of photos to show off my favourite Chiang Mai eats, the Thai cooking classes we did and all the delights from the markets. I’ll also be posting about the streets of Chiang Mai, the conveniently timed Yi Peng Lantern Festival and our elephant park and ziplining adventures.

Update: Jesse Kahle, the strapping gent on the far left of the photo above, is a superbly talented videographer. His camera rarely left his eye and we are all so lucky to have the below video to capture the spirit of the amazing trip.

To Be Found from Jesse Kahle on Vimeo.

Thanks to all the Culinary Ninjas for a fabulous adventure. What a fantastic crew of individuals! Here we all are, as snapped by our official group photographer, Anderson York (who therefore, was unfortunately not in the photo).

Have you been to Thailand? Chiang Mai is the only part of the country I’ve explored (12 hours in Bangkok Airport doesn’t count as far as I’m concerned!) and I really enjoyed it.