The Kindness of StrangersJim has been going to a favorite restaurant of his for years in Chiang Mai that used to be outside the old city near Chiang Mai University. Last year they moved to a new place that is a little further away and very difficult to find.
Rahn Ahaan Pure Ochaa (see title) used to be located near Chiang Mai University, about 2 miles away and easy to find. Last year they moved to a new location that is a little further away and very difficult to find. We decided to bike out to see if we could locate them for the first time this year. After several wrong turns and going the wrong way down one-way highway (it seemed like the only choice at the time) - we finally found them and had a great meal. I got to practice my Thai and Jim was welcomed like an old friend. We decided that it was worth it to bike out some evening and have dinner there. They said their hours were 9 to 9. Perfect.
So a few nights ago, we had a beer at home and then hopped on our bikes a little after 7 pm, setting out to find them but coming from a different direction. Having been there just a few days before, we expected it would be a piece o' cake to locate their place, but it proved way more difficult to find them in the dark and coming via a new "shortcut."
We finally stumbled on to them around 8 and they were closed! It was Magha Puja Day -a big Bhuddist holiday, commemorating the time that Bhudda attained Enlightenment. The family was sitting in their outdoor restaurant having a Korean BBQ. They were very apologetic, kawtotkaraobpitkuhnglapmaaprungni (so-sorry-we-are-closed-you-can-come-back-tomorrow), but we were so thirsty (hyewNAHM) after our long bike ride up and down sidestreets in vain that Jim asked politely if we could we just sit for a minute and get a beer. Well, that was fine with them. We sat down with our liter of beer, and they brought us a bowl of BBQ'd pork with hot sauce and then chips and then kept bringing us more meat and so we bought another beer and they brought us a plate of cashews and we finally realized that as long as we finished the snacks they were giving us, they would continue to replenish them. So we forced ourselves to leave a little food in the dishes they'd served us and bid adieu.
We haven't been back but plan to this week.
