It was still mid-morning, somewhere between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Tucked into the middle seat of a classic kidnapping-style white van, fresh off a stop at Thaweesin Hot Spring, I was busy peeling and handing out onsen quail eggs, drizzled with salt and soy sauce, to my cousins.
It’s a borderline absurd memory, especially since I’d subjected them to a round of weird food cards the day before. To their credit, they actually went for it: they tried the fermented pork, and cousin W pulled off an impressive double down by crunching through a fried cricket. Still, I prefer to file this one under serendipity.
Serendipity, because we hadn’t planned on visiting a hot spring at all (a surprise, since I clearly didn’t read the itinerary all the way through, never mind that I was the one who made the booking). But there we were at Thaweesin Hot Spring, soaking our feet in the warm pool, striking up a conversation with a lovely elderly couple from Mexico.
Then I spotted it: a Ganesha statue perched right above the hot spring. Chiang Mai is filled with Ganesha everywhere, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve fallen head over heels for this town. It always feels like I’m being watched over, a gentle reminder that I’m blessed.
That’s when I noticed the hot spring egg seller, bundled up from head to toe, hands and all. Is it cold, or is it because it’s hot? Either way, Thaweesin Hot Spring eggs, onsen-style, outside of Japan? Yes please!! And quail egg onsen eggs (my absolute fave)? Gimme gimme gimme.
I grabbed a batch of the little ones, plus a big one. I was careful not to haul too many eggs on board; nobody wants to stink up the van. But to my amusement, my cousins said yes when I offered them the quail eggs, with one request: that I peel them. Something I was more than happy to do.
Thirteen Thaweesin Hot Spring eggs later (one completely mushed by my big hands, RIP), we carried on toward Chiang Rai.
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