We were dropped off in Chiang Mai and left to fend for ourselves after 2 days of complete dependence on our thai minibus group. We also don't travel alone much since we are always meeting our teacher friends so this was exciting, and also a little intimidating to be in such a big city alone. Our song-thaew dropped us off by the night bazaar which is a giant night market through the middle "Old Town" Chiang Mai.
This would be our base for most of the trip and seemed to be the area with the most going on. We were eager to get to our room and change after our full day of travel so we wandered around for a bit before finding a charming hostel on a side street. I was actually quite impressed, this place had a nice serene setting, with a cozy decorated room, and was considerably cheaper than the barren hostel rooms you pay for in Bangkok. I once again sensed this was the kind of vibe Chiang Mai and all of the North offered. It was a big city, but everything seemed to move so much slower, and quieter, making the city seem at peace. We settled in our room and decided our best option for the night (since we are near no english movie theaters) would be to see the much anticipated AVATAR! And it was awesome.
Our first morning in Chiang Mai was pretty leisurely. We strolled the streets in no rush and found a breakfast place where I got my signature "we are in a city so I must eat the things I never get in Inburi" breakfast of banana pancakes with honey and a coffee shake. We didn't really have a plan for the day so knew the streets were lined with many WAT'S (temples) so we walked until we found one that caught our eye. It was a giant golden temple that reminded me of a big block of cheese. We admired for awhile, and talked to some locals, and said some prayers and rang the gong for good luck before we continued on.
We kept walking and bought some things at market stands before becoming all too tired again and having to go back for a nap. Hey.. were on vacation! After clearing our minds again we had the idea of getting a massage! Another vacation staple. We thought we would change it up this time however, and get them from ... inmates! We heard there was a women's prison that taught the inmates the art of massage as apart of a rehabilitation program. The money the women earned from the massages would go straight to a fund that they receive when they are released. We didn't really know what to except but went into this with open minds and thought it would be a interesting twist on the many massages we have received in Thailand. When we got there we were given scrub like clothing to put on versus the regular towel. The setting wasn't quite as peaceful as actual massage parlors, as there were lots of people coming in and bright lights versus the dimmed ones you usually find, but the massage itself was fantastic. The women were so sweet it was hard to imagine that they were inmates in the first place. They gave us THAI massages which is where they stretch you in all sorts of crazy ways and this can sometimes be VERY painful. But here, beside from a few cringes it was incredibly relaxing. They use every part of their body from their elbows, shoulders, knees and (toes!) feet to massage you. The most memorable part was towards the end the lady had me lean against her body and then she pulled herself (and me) into a back bend. Ahhh, this was by far the best massage we have received yet in Thailand. Prison massages RULE
That night we had plans to check out the night bazar, sans luggage, but I ended up with a terrible stomachache. Something about all the new foods of the North didn't sit right with me. So we just relaxed and had dinner at a nice restaurant on a side street instead. I am in love with Masaman, a kind of thick soup made with coconut milk that has potatoes, peanuts, and chicken, and can't always find this in Inburi so treated myself to a giant bowl. We decided to check out a Moy Thai boxing show that was right down the road from our hostel. The show had about 8 fights for us to see. The first fight started and we were surprised to see the kids set to fight were about 11 years old..and looked like they were 8. The first half of the show kind of kept with this trend. It wasn't what we expected but they were feisty and there were a couple of good moments in the fights. The middle show was a kind of joke show where they brought our 4 BIG men who were blindfolded. They then rang the bell for them to fight each other. They were just swinging wildly and ended up attacking the ref. The ref came back with a mega karate kick that sent them flying which was funny. The final show was the only really good fight. In the first round one of the guys hit the other so hard that the opponent flew backwards and was knocked out cold. And not only was he knocked out, he was sprawled out like a starfish. They had to spend a long time making him smell stuff to wake him up before shamefully carrying him out..
The next morning, and our last day in Chiang Mai, we had a full day tour planned! We were picked up around 10 am in a minibus with about 8 other people. Our first stop was an orchid farm! Orchids are my favorite flowers and these were so beautiful they looked like they had been painted right on the bushes. We strolled around the gardens for awhile and enjoyed the scenery, and I was already a happy girl.
Our next stop was an OX-CART ride. This was pretty funny. We got in an ox-cart and it took us down a paved busy road.. and then turned around and took us back to the bus ahaha. It was incredibly slow and kind of weird. But it was one of those ridiculous things you can only laugh at. There was a small village by the ox-cart station that I didn't really understand because our tour person decided he wasn't going to act as a tour guide at all but instead just stand by the van. The village did have an adorable little girl though who was selling bracelets. She couldn't have been more than 2 and could barely speak but she carried the bracelets and mumbled '10 baht.. 10 baht'. It was sad that a 2 year old was selling things, but she was such a cutie we couldn't help but to give her attention and of course, buy a 10 baht bracelet.
After the ox-cart adventure. We headed to what we were really looking forward to, the elephant show! The show had about 10 elephants and someone on the mic who narrated. The elephants sat and bowed and did many little tricks. Then they put on music and they elephants danced by swinging their trunks in giant circles! They all got instruments after that and formed a little elephant band and played a song! I hadn't realized the magnitude of the strength of their trunks before that, but the riders would stand on the trunks while the elephants lifted them with ease. The elephants played sports for awhile, one would kick a soccer ball with his back leg which was amazing. Then came the best part! Elephant painting! They brought out an elephant named Suda and she painted a picture with her trunk! They didn't help her at all she held a paintbrush in her trunk and would dip it in different colors to paint. The picture was of an elephant with a flower in it's trunk that it had pulled from a flowering tree. She even signed her name on the top. Felix loved it so I bought him one for a Christmas present and now we have a lovely elephant painting BY an elephant :)
After this the tour provided a giant buffet lunch, and a little visit to a waterfall and then we got ready for elephant trekking. We hopped on top of a wobbly bench on top of the elephant and started trekking on a path beside the river. It was incredible, to say the least. There was a a baby elephant that followed beside us the whole way as one of our elephants was the mother or father. It was so adorable and would reach it's trunk up to try to get food from people, just like a baby would. The handler would tell it no and it kept persisting anyways. The path was very bumpy and rocky and we felt like we were going to fall off half the time but the elephants paved their way through with ease. Felix is now persisting me to write: Who knew they were so limber! The ride itself was pretty thrilling just for the fact that..well,we were riding elephants! We made a turn from the path (we were the leaders) and started towards the water. No one told us about trekking through water so we assumed the elephant was making a wrong turn but nope, he got right in. All the elephants followed behind and we started to wade through the water which was awesome. The baby had to swim and it would hold it's trunk high above the water. I couldn't stop watching her she was so cute. At one point there was a lady in full clothing, jeans and a shirt, wading through the water with an inner-tube full of drinks and snacks. This was odd enough, but the baby saw her and decided to chase her down with it's trunk extended while she screamed aha.
After the elephant ride, we had one last activity which was bamboo rafting. The raft made of bamboo logs tied together and two benches on it and us and another couple took our seats. We had someone to paddle for us who stood in the front. By this time we were pretty exhausted, I could have happily laid down on the bamboo if it wasn't slightly submerged in the water. The river was quiet and while the ride wasn't too eventful, it was relaxing after all the excitment of the day.
After rafting we had some extra time while we waited for the rest of our group to finish. We were back in the area with the elephant show so we wandered around the grounds there. There was a fenced in area with a mother elephant and her baby. We thought the baby we met before was very young but we could tell this was one had only been born a few weeks before. As a newborn it was still working with it's motor functions. I gave it a miniature orange but it's feelers on it's trunk were'nt strong enough to grasp it yet. Despite the young age the elephant was still smart however. It knocked the orange out of my hand and to the group and it immediately stomped on the orange to make it splatter everywhere and happily sucked up the juices. Ahh.. I could have taken it home right there and then..
After our full day, we got right off the tour bus and headed straight to the bus station. It was time to say goodbye to the peacefulness of Chiang Mai and it's wondrous elephants. I know we will come back again to visit MUCH of the city we didn't have time to see, but for now we were set to begin our journey to our final destination of the week: LAOS! We were set to meet around 15 of our teacher friends in Vang Vieng and go tubing on the river for the next 3 days! Dirty and smelling of elephants.. to Laos we go!
This would be our base for most of the trip and seemed to be the area with the most going on. We were eager to get to our room and change after our full day of travel so we wandered around for a bit before finding a charming hostel on a side street. I was actually quite impressed, this place had a nice serene setting, with a cozy decorated room, and was considerably cheaper than the barren hostel rooms you pay for in Bangkok. I once again sensed this was the kind of vibe Chiang Mai and all of the North offered. It was a big city, but everything seemed to move so much slower, and quieter, making the city seem at peace. We settled in our room and decided our best option for the night (since we are near no english movie theaters) would be to see the much anticipated AVATAR! And it was awesome.
Our first morning in Chiang Mai was pretty leisurely. We strolled the streets in no rush and found a breakfast place where I got my signature "we are in a city so I must eat the things I never get in Inburi" breakfast of banana pancakes with honey and a coffee shake. We didn't really have a plan for the day so knew the streets were lined with many WAT'S (temples) so we walked until we found one that caught our eye. It was a giant golden temple that reminded me of a big block of cheese. We admired for awhile, and talked to some locals, and said some prayers and rang the gong for good luck before we continued on.
We kept walking and bought some things at market stands before becoming all too tired again and having to go back for a nap. Hey.. were on vacation! After clearing our minds again we had the idea of getting a massage! Another vacation staple. We thought we would change it up this time however, and get them from ... inmates! We heard there was a women's prison that taught the inmates the art of massage as apart of a rehabilitation program. The money the women earned from the massages would go straight to a fund that they receive when they are released. We didn't really know what to except but went into this with open minds and thought it would be a interesting twist on the many massages we have received in Thailand. When we got there we were given scrub like clothing to put on versus the regular towel. The setting wasn't quite as peaceful as actual massage parlors, as there were lots of people coming in and bright lights versus the dimmed ones you usually find, but the massage itself was fantastic. The women were so sweet it was hard to imagine that they were inmates in the first place. They gave us THAI massages which is where they stretch you in all sorts of crazy ways and this can sometimes be VERY painful. But here, beside from a few cringes it was incredibly relaxing. They use every part of their body from their elbows, shoulders, knees and (toes!) feet to massage you. The most memorable part was towards the end the lady had me lean against her body and then she pulled herself (and me) into a back bend. Ahhh, this was by far the best massage we have received yet in Thailand. Prison massages RULE
That night we had plans to check out the night bazar, sans luggage, but I ended up with a terrible stomachache. Something about all the new foods of the North didn't sit right with me. So we just relaxed and had dinner at a nice restaurant on a side street instead. I am in love with Masaman, a kind of thick soup made with coconut milk that has potatoes, peanuts, and chicken, and can't always find this in Inburi so treated myself to a giant bowl. We decided to check out a Moy Thai boxing show that was right down the road from our hostel. The show had about 8 fights for us to see. The first fight started and we were surprised to see the kids set to fight were about 11 years old..and looked like they were 8. The first half of the show kind of kept with this trend. It wasn't what we expected but they were feisty and there were a couple of good moments in the fights. The middle show was a kind of joke show where they brought our 4 BIG men who were blindfolded. They then rang the bell for them to fight each other. They were just swinging wildly and ended up attacking the ref. The ref came back with a mega karate kick that sent them flying which was funny. The final show was the only really good fight. In the first round one of the guys hit the other so hard that the opponent flew backwards and was knocked out cold. And not only was he knocked out, he was sprawled out like a starfish. They had to spend a long time making him smell stuff to wake him up before shamefully carrying him out..
The next morning, and our last day in Chiang Mai, we had a full day tour planned! We were picked up around 10 am in a minibus with about 8 other people. Our first stop was an orchid farm! Orchids are my favorite flowers and these were so beautiful they looked like they had been painted right on the bushes. We strolled around the gardens for awhile and enjoyed the scenery, and I was already a happy girl.
Our next stop was an OX-CART ride. This was pretty funny. We got in an ox-cart and it took us down a paved busy road.. and then turned around and took us back to the bus ahaha. It was incredibly slow and kind of weird. But it was one of those ridiculous things you can only laugh at. There was a small village by the ox-cart station that I didn't really understand because our tour person decided he wasn't going to act as a tour guide at all but instead just stand by the van. The village did have an adorable little girl though who was selling bracelets. She couldn't have been more than 2 and could barely speak but she carried the bracelets and mumbled '10 baht.. 10 baht'. It was sad that a 2 year old was selling things, but she was such a cutie we couldn't help but to give her attention and of course, buy a 10 baht bracelet.
After the ox-cart adventure. We headed to what we were really looking forward to, the elephant show! The show had about 10 elephants and someone on the mic who narrated. The elephants sat and bowed and did many little tricks. Then they put on music and they elephants danced by swinging their trunks in giant circles! They all got instruments after that and formed a little elephant band and played a song! I hadn't realized the magnitude of the strength of their trunks before that, but the riders would stand on the trunks while the elephants lifted them with ease. The elephants played sports for awhile, one would kick a soccer ball with his back leg which was amazing. Then came the best part! Elephant painting! They brought out an elephant named Suda and she painted a picture with her trunk! They didn't help her at all she held a paintbrush in her trunk and would dip it in different colors to paint. The picture was of an elephant with a flower in it's trunk that it had pulled from a flowering tree. She even signed her name on the top. Felix loved it so I bought him one for a Christmas present and now we have a lovely elephant painting BY an elephant :)
After this the tour provided a giant buffet lunch, and a little visit to a waterfall and then we got ready for elephant trekking. We hopped on top of a wobbly bench on top of the elephant and started trekking on a path beside the river. It was incredible, to say the least. There was a a baby elephant that followed beside us the whole way as one of our elephants was the mother or father. It was so adorable and would reach it's trunk up to try to get food from people, just like a baby would. The handler would tell it no and it kept persisting anyways. The path was very bumpy and rocky and we felt like we were going to fall off half the time but the elephants paved their way through with ease. Felix is now persisting me to write: Who knew they were so limber! The ride itself was pretty thrilling just for the fact that..well,we were riding elephants! We made a turn from the path (we were the leaders) and started towards the water. No one told us about trekking through water so we assumed the elephant was making a wrong turn but nope, he got right in. All the elephants followed behind and we started to wade through the water which was awesome. The baby had to swim and it would hold it's trunk high above the water. I couldn't stop watching her she was so cute. At one point there was a lady in full clothing, jeans and a shirt, wading through the water with an inner-tube full of drinks and snacks. This was odd enough, but the baby saw her and decided to chase her down with it's trunk extended while she screamed aha.
After the elephant ride, we had one last activity which was bamboo rafting. The raft made of bamboo logs tied together and two benches on it and us and another couple took our seats. We had someone to paddle for us who stood in the front. By this time we were pretty exhausted, I could have happily laid down on the bamboo if it wasn't slightly submerged in the water. The river was quiet and while the ride wasn't too eventful, it was relaxing after all the excitment of the day.
After rafting we had some extra time while we waited for the rest of our group to finish. We were back in the area with the elephant show so we wandered around the grounds there. There was a fenced in area with a mother elephant and her baby. We thought the baby we met before was very young but we could tell this was one had only been born a few weeks before. As a newborn it was still working with it's motor functions. I gave it a miniature orange but it's feelers on it's trunk were'nt strong enough to grasp it yet. Despite the young age the elephant was still smart however. It knocked the orange out of my hand and to the group and it immediately stomped on the orange to make it splatter everywhere and happily sucked up the juices. Ahh.. I could have taken it home right there and then..
After our full day, we got right off the tour bus and headed straight to the bus station. It was time to say goodbye to the peacefulness of Chiang Mai and it's wondrous elephants. I know we will come back again to visit MUCH of the city we didn't have time to see, but for now we were set to begin our journey to our final destination of the week: LAOS! We were set to meet around 15 of our teacher friends in Vang Vieng and go tubing on the river for the next 3 days! Dirty and smelling of elephants.. to Laos we go!
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